Snare Drum Tunung Fundamental Frequencies

  • Thread starter kenshireen1
  • Start date
    • This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
K

kenshireen1

Very well Known Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Messages
834
Reaction score
91
Location
atl
What is the correlation of low/mid/high tuning ranges and their corresponding frequencies or notes
Would G# be considered a medium tuning range for example?
 
To my ear, a fundamental of E-F# is low, G and G# medium to medium high, and A and above high.
 
What size is the drum?
Standard assumption would be 14" but there are other sizes out there that would affect the tuning range.
 
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
I set my Acrolite to 229 hz. Top lugs. 343 hz. Bottom lugs. Gives you a 3rd octave F. Nice round warm tone.
 
mark2456 said:
I set my Acrolite to 229 hz. Top lugs. 343 hz. Bottom lugs. Gives you a 3rd octave F. Nice round warm tone.
Click to expand...

I start with a pitch that I want. let's say G3. I then get all my lugs to sound the same using tapping and my ear.
Then I hit the middle of the snare to get the fundamental frequency.. I then tinker with the batter head,
The reso is always cranked up high... I do not measure the frequency.

Just for the heck I will tension my acro to the same specs as yours... and see what I get.
 
Hm. I have always tensioned my snare drums for feel and snare response, never pitch. I don't even think about the pitch unless I hear something quirky and I will check the pitch at each batter head lug and bring them around but, otherwise, it is all about ease of playing and rebound, not pitch. I always end up in a high range regardless of the drum.
 
I run singles between my bass, toms, and snare with the throw disengaged. If they sound pleasant together, then it’s in tune. I have no interest in any one drum being at a certain note.
 
on a related tangent, how do they sound out front? ... is there a similar effect as with tuning toms, in that higher tones (to our ears behind the kit) sound lower out front?

case in point: I assembled a snare that to me behind the kit sounded like crap. I'd bring it to rehearsals that I recorded and I'm thinking "is this the same snare I was playing?"
 
On a shallow drum, low tuning might be a bit quieter unmic'ed.
In my expereince you get maximum projection using medium tuning. Snare tension should also be medium , letting the tone come through, a bit like a noise gate.
 
Seb77 said:
On a shallow drum, low tuning might be a bit quieter unmic'ed.
In my expereince you get maximum projection using medium tuning. Snare tension should also be medium , letting the tone come through, a bit like a noise gate.
Click to expand...

Are you still D on the batter over G on the snare side for a final [sharp] G?
 
agogobil said:
on a related tangent, how do they sound out front? ... is there a similar effect as with tuning toms, in that higher tones (to our ears behind the kit) sound lower out front?

case in point: I assembled a snare that to me behind the kit sounded like crap. I'd bring it to rehearsals that I recorded and I'm thinking "is this the same snare I was playing?"
Click to expand...

I’m in the medium medium low camp on the snare , a tight or high tuned snare sounds to cutting or too loud to me in a small club setting. (My typical venue)

Nate’s Dyna sounds fat , full and balanced in the mix. Itfits the music. One would generally think a funk snare would be tuned higher but It can sound equally as good and maybe more pleasing to the ear at a lower tuning. Room sound vs music genre vs balance thery’re all connected and no specific rules.

 
Tracktuary said:
Are you still D on the batter over G on the snare side for a final [sharp] G?
Click to expand...

Haven't touched my snare side heads in months. Some might need re-tightening, but I wouldn't go higher than g on the bottom. Batter head to taste, medium or on the looser side.
 
Seb77 said:
Haven't touched my snare side heads in months. Some might need re-tightening, but I wouldn't go higher than g on the bottom. Batter head to taste, medium or on the looser side.
Click to expand...

I've found that having the batter much tighter than the reso gets a boxy sound (not desirable at all). I tried Eb over F-F# and hated the sound on the recording.
 
Moreover...
1571250335927.png
 
Ptrick said:
To my ear, a fundamental of E-F# is low, G and G# medium to medium high, and A and above high.
Click to expand...

I agree. I don't like low tunings. My standard tuning for jazz is around G#, but I might tune down slightly for big band and a bit more to around G for backbeat stuff.

Seems like the useful tuning range is quite a bit narrower for snare than for other drums (at least for me). I assume this is because the snare response is better with tighter heads, while body and tone are fuller at lower tunings, and so the range where both criteria are fulfilled is narrower.

Actually, once I tuned down the reso head on a snare to get the fullest tone from the drum. Then I tuned another snare to the same pitch, but with the reso higher and the batter lower, and put it close to the drum I was playing. It was a quite interesting sound, with the attach and tone from one drum and the snare sound, via sympathetic resonance, from the other.
 
I just replaced the batter head on my 5 x 14 maple Cat, and out of frustration with my Tune Bot, decided to use my ear and then check what Tune Bot said.

First I brought the snare up to what my ear told me is acceptable low tuning, which I guessed was about 180 hertz (F - F#). I checked it with Tune Bot and it read 179 hertz. Hey, my ear isn't bad.

Since I don't really like low tuning (though can see it for some situations) I cranked the head tighter until I got what I thought was an agreeable medium tuning. Tune Bot read that at 200 hertz, or a hair higher than a G.

Although if you ask me I'll tell you that I like high tuning on my snare, I'm not sure that I really do. Since I liked the sound I was getting at 200 hertz, I decided not even to experiment by cranking it higher, but I'm pretty sure that 220 hertz (A) would work if you want a high tuning.
 
FWIW, I have a Tama Starphonic Bubinga snare (14X6). I'm using a 10 mil single ply coated head for the batter and a typical 3 mil snare side head. I tune it to a fundamental pitch of 3G# (actually it's a sharp G#... almost A). My lug pitches are 300hz for the batter and 390hz for the snare side. I play a variety of jazz, blues, classic soul, latin, funk, etc. That tuning to my ear works really well for all of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top