Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, drummers often know right away when their drums don’t sound right. It could be a rattling, buzzing, or flat sound that’s telling you that there is something wrong with your drums. No matter what it is, you need to fix it as soon as possible to continue playing them.
There are five main reasons why your drums sound bad, which I’ll go into detail about below. If the issue is not one of these five problems, you might have a more serious worry on your hands.
1. The drum toms are the same pitch as the snare drum
Having your toms and snare being pitched the same way, or too similar, can cause conflicts between the two. The harmonics and frequencies will begin working against each other rather than with one another.
If the frequency of two drums is too close together, a muddy sound will be created rather than the one that you’re aiming for. Too much vibration can be the main cause of drums sounding bad.
2. Your drums are cheap
It’s always tempting to go for a cheap drum set to avoid having to pay the astronomical prices of new music stores. A too good to be true deal sounds good at the moment, but once you receive the drums, you quickly realize your mistake.
Drum heads need to be high-quality to sound good, and if the price is cheap, the drum head is not likely to be of that high quality. Luckily, it’s normally just the drum head that needs to be replaced in this instance, so you don’t need to waste your money on two separate drum sets.
3. The drumset rings unpleasantly
Drum Sets might ring for a number of reasons. Perhaps the top to bottom heads aren’t tuned properly, or maybe the placement is incorrect and causing too much vibration. Cheap tuner springs are another common cause of this issue, as well as old drum mounts installed on the drum shell.
You’ll also need a dampening rug underneath the drumset, which is often overlooked yet a common cause of why a drum set rings. Luckily, many of these issues are easily fixed and the ringing can be stopped.
4. Your cymbals are cheap
Cymbals are similar to drum heads in the way that they cannot be low-quality. Otherwise, they’ll sound bad and make the rest of your set sound bad too. You need to make sure that you’re opting for quality over quantity when it comes to your cymbals.
If cymbals are the issue, replacing them with a higher-quality alternative will make a world of difference.
5. Lack of dynamics
The dynamics of your drums is the control of how hard you’re striking the drums. There are six levels of drum dynamics, ranging from Pianissimo (playing them very softly) to Fortissimo (playing them very loudly).
If you don’t have control over your dynamics, it’s likely that your kit will have the excess ring and therefore sound bad. You cannot simply switch from Fortissimo to Pianissimo and expect it to sound good - you need to work your way through the dynamic levels to make the transition smooth and amazing.
Unfortunately, the fix for this issue is not as simple as the rest of the problems we’ve looked at. Instead of quickly replacing something on your kit, you’ll need to practice your craft until you’ve mastered dynamics. Once you’ve done this you’ll see an improvement in your drum’s sounds.
How do I know if my drum heads are bad?
There are several indicators that might make you think that your drum heads need replacing. When drum heads get to the end of their lifecycle, they will start to make your kit sound bad. So it’s important that you replace them efficiently to prevent your craft from taking a hit.
There are some obvious ways to tell if a drum head needs to be replaced, such as a hole in the middle of it or if the head is dented and won’t un-dish itself. This means that the head has been too stretched and won’t return to its once glory.
Another way to tell if your drum head is bad is to note whether it can achieve pitch. If the head cannot achieve your desired pitch anymore, it shows that the skin has begun to stretch and cannot keep continuous contact with the shell anymore. A drum head that cannot achieve the right pitch every time will quickly become a hindrance and therefore needs to be replaced.
As I mentioned before, drummers have a tendency to know when their drums sound bad. If your drumset was once sublime but is now sounding bad, it’s often the drum heads that need to be replaced rather than the entire set.
Depending on how often you play, you should be replacing your drum heads every six months or so - provided that there’s not a glaringly obvious issue that needs to be fixed right away.
How do you stop a snare buzz?
The buzz is all a part of the snare’s charm - within reason. Removing all of the snare buzz will leave your kit sounding like an electronic drum set, which might be the sound that you’re going for. However, others just want to remove some of the excess buzz that might be overpowering their music.
There are a few ways to stop a snare buzzing so much, with the main being to remove everything from your setting that is causing the snares to buzz. Rack toms too close to the snare might be to blame, with the vibrations causing an excess buzz.
Below are some other tips to prevent your snare buzzing:
- Ensure that the snare wires are properly installed
- Make sure the snare frequency is different from the tom’s frequency
- De-tune the lugs near the bottom plate
- Use a thinner top head
- Rotate the entire drum so that the wires are as far away from the toms as possible
- Opt for a higher quality set of snare wires.