That’s right. We drummers need to tune our drum kit just like our bandmates on the guitar and bass. Keyboardists are the lucky ones!
If you’ve ever tuned your drum set before, you know how tedious and frustrating it can be. It can be pretty complicated and daunting at first but, as with most things, the more you do it, the easier it will become.
Although pretty boring, tuning your drum kit is essential. Unlike pianos or guitars, drums don’t have a key to tune to. But the more you hit your drum skins, or heads, the more they will stretch out and become uneven.
Over time, this loosens the tension of the skin. That “pop” you get from hitting the snare. Yeh, that becomes dull if the skin is stretched.
Luckily, most of the time, all you need to do is tune your drum set. As long as you have a drum key and some free time, your drums could sound fresh again for upcoming gigs!
If you’ve been playing drums for a while, you’re probably up to scratch with how to tune your drum kit on your own. If you have little tuning experience or just want an easier way to tune your kit, using a drum tuner may be the best option.
While many drummers prefer to tune by ear, a tuner will offer a visual of the tension on each lug and is probably the easiest way to tune with an untrained ear. Even if you tune by ear. Backing it up with a tuner can always be beneficial to ensure your kit is sounding as professional as possible.
There are many drum tuning products out there that claim to provide the best possible results. While some of them do, your best chance is by using the tuner properly.
The way in which you tune your drums depends on the type of tuner you’re using. Some examples are drum dials and electronic tuners. Drum dials accurately tune all of your drums by measuring the head tension. They do not measure the rod torque tension.
Electronic tuners work more like a guitar tuner. You simply clip it onto the side of your drum (your drum’s rim). You then hit the drum and it measures the pitch as a frequency. This gives you an actual note representation.
Drum tuner designs have changed very little over the years. The good news is that they remain simple to use and are a must-have item for many drummers, especially studio players.
Most digital drum tuners denote whether you need to loosen or tighten your drum skin. Unlike analog tuners, electronic versions nearly always measure the pitch rather than the tension. They can filter out overtones to help decide the pitch your strike produces at every lug position.
On the other hand, some electronic versions, such as the DrumDial Digital Drum Tuner work by assessing the tension rather than pitch. It can accurately measure each rod point by reading and gauging the head for a better rebound performance.
Drum tuners are simply useful tools. They make tuning drums easier and quicker. Most are more accurate than using a torque key by ear too.
Do drum tuner apps work?
You can do just about anything these days with the help of an app. Go shopping? No, thanks, I’ll shop with my app. See friends? No thanks, I’ll speak to them through this app.
While there are pros and cons of apps, they’re not going anywhere. Fortunately, some apps make our lives easier. And when it comes to tuning drums, I’m sure you’ll agree that anything that makes this job easier is very welcome!
So, can you successfully tune your drum set with a tuner app on your smartphone? The short answer is, yes. Many of these apps are very useful when getting your drums back into shape.
There’s no doubt that most of us prefer to use physical drum tuners for tuning our drums. Well, they are made for that specific function so why not take advantage of them? But, what if you lose your drum tuner or want to try something different? Well, a drum tuner app can help a lot. But, there are some drawbacks.
The microphone on many phones is not as accurate as those that come with a physical tuner. Therefore, you may struggle to get the most precise tuning results every time. Apart from that, there isn’t a great deal of difference.
Many tuning apps come with advanced settings. These allow you to customize the tuner so you can get a specific sound on your kit. Don’t expect to get the same sound results as your favorite drummers as these recordings are mic’d up to the max in professional studios. If you just want a drum set in tune (why wouldn’t you?), then a drum tuning app will suffice.
Tuning apps can be effective, especially as you don’t need any additional tools. You just turn the app on and start tuning.
You can take advantage of a range of tuning apps. One is the chromatic tuning type. This allows you to tune just about any instrument to basic notes. Before you tune your drums with this kind of tuner, make sure you decide which note you want to tune to so you get the best results.
Other versions include Drumtune Pro. This has been made by drummers, for drummers. It is certainly one of the most comprehensive drum tuning apps out there. On the menu, you choose which drum you want to tune.
For instance, if you choose a tom, the app will load up a tom. You then hit your tom in the center where you will hear the fundamental pitch. Hot nearer the edge and you’ll see a higher lug pitch on the app in Hz.
Just hold the app in one hand close to the drum while you hit the skin with a drumstick in the other hand. Continue to do this around the drum until you have an equal tuning.
Once tuned, just have some fun!