Tuning and sensitivity on 8x14 snares

[BennyK]

What was your previous go-to drum and what made you decide to try this one ?

A snare is the sum total of its parts - shell , hoops , heads , and tuning . if you want to get geeky about it , venting and stick weight as well .

I used to try and get all my drums to react the same way using the same components . It doesn't always work like that .

I finally found that a thinner top head on a deeper shell is best for me - I use the Ludwig coated medium , which is almost identical to a Remo diplomat in thickness , but far more resilient and livelier . Top hoop heavier at least a 2.3 or a die cast with plenty of ring to it . Bottom head regular medium weight , hoop lighter - maybe a nice 1.6 mm or Yamaha aluminum . 16 strand wires work best for me or TAMA 18's , but the absolute best are vintage plastic butted Ludwigs .

Tuning ? I look for the tensions in which my deeper snare breathes most clearly , and that's your ears, your job .

 

[219Dave]

Try taking the reso down to 380 to 385 1 inch from the edge with the tune-bot and then just bring the batter up to desired pitch. Most of the time I'll use my drum dial to tune the snare reso head because there are differences in their application with regards to the tension rods on each side of the snare beds. I have all this written down for myself, but from my sad memory here is how at 62 years of age I get my best snare tuning every time:

As I said above, I use the drum dial on the snare reso only because it measures tympanic tension, not hertz like a tune-bot does. The reason this really matters is because of how the snare beds affect the tuning rods on each side of the beds. By measuring tympanic tension with the drum dial, you are assuring even tension across all tension rods. You can't achieve this with a tune-bot. Because of the snare beds, you will have to tune the snare bed tension rods much higher to get the same pitch with Tune-bot as the tension rods that are not beside the snare beds. So you are effectively NOT getting you're snare head to have evenly distributed tension, and are most likely choking the snare wires.

If you don't have a drum dial, I have found that tuning the reso with a tune-bot at 380-385 greatly reduces the audible choking effects of the snare wires. But for maximum sonic joy, use a drumdial on the reso. Start off with the factory recommendations. That's what I did, and then I used my tune-bot to guide the drumdial tension to where I wanted it, and that's at 380 to 385. Once you have that, just use the tune bot on top to dial in your fundamental pitch. I generally work in the 200Hz fundamental range. Depending on the project, maybe some moon gel or other means of controlling some of the resonance if needed. But this method will totally open your drum up. You can always tamp down some of the resonance but you have to get the drum screaming wide open first.

Let us know how this works out for you.

One more thing - I only use Canopus wires - pricey, but killing every time.

So on the batter side, what are the lugs at to get the fundamental pitch you want?

 

[Firemedicdrum]

Hey guys-

Recently got a lightly used Yamaha RC 8x14 birch snare (new model) on reverb. I'm not that experienced with snares of this depth. Snare sounds good when hit hard, but any ghost notes have no snare sound on them. Like I'm hitting a tom. I took off the Evans HD dry I had put on, and put an ambassador back on. That didn't work. The reso is factory remo head. I have it tuned medium with a tune bot, on the batter side. Reso side is like 395 at the lugs. I have messed around with snare wire tension, and also with moon gels. Should I crank the reso head above 400, or will that choke it out? Should I try a higher tuning on the batter head? Or any other heads to suggest? Finally, should I consider switching out to 42 strand snare wires? I have 6 or so snares, but don't want to relegate this for fat backbeat 70s sound only. I also didn't see this as a snare that I'd keep tuned high, as I have others in tha

Hey guys-

Recently got a lightly used Yamaha RC 8x14 birch snare (new model) on reverb. I'm not that experienced with snares of this depth. Snare sounds good when hit hard, but any ghost notes have no snare sound on them. Like I'm hitting a tom. I took off the Evans HD dry I had put on, and put an ambassador back on. That didn't work. The reso is factory remo head. I have it tuned medium with a tune bot, on the batter side. Reso side is like 395 at the lugs. I have messed around with snare wire tension, and also with moon gels. Should I crank the reso head above 400, or will that choke it out? Should I try a higher tuning on the batter head? Or any other heads to suggest? Finally, should I consider switching out to 42 strand snare wires? I have 6 or so snares, but don't want to relegate this for fat backbeat 70s sound only. I also didn't see this as a snare that I'd keep tuned high, as I have others in that role.

Thanks in advance for the help!

t role.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Firemedicdrum]

Hey guys-

Recently got a lightly used Yamaha RC 8x14 birch snare (new model) on reverb. I'm not that experienced with snares of this depth. Snare sounds good when hit hard, but any ghost notes have no snare sound on them. Like I'm hitting a tom. I took off the Evans HD dry I had put on, and put an ambassador back on. That didn't work. The reso is factory remo head. I have it tuned medium with a tune bot, on the batter side. Reso side is like 395 at the lugs. I have messed around with snare wire tension, and also with moon gels. Should I crank the reso head above 400, or will that choke it out? Should I try a higher tuning on the batter head? Or any other heads to suggest? Finally, should I consider switching out to 42 strand snare wires? I have 6 or so snares, but don't want to relegate this for fat backbeat 70s sound only. I also didn't see this as a snare that I'd keep tuned high, as I have others in that role.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Try using a 42 strand snare wires this will correct the problem

 

[noreastbob]

Two things: First, in my experience too much snare tension is the usual cause of snares dropping out of action at light playing.
Thing two: the deeper the drum the less sensitive it is. Simple physics. More air column to compress and activate/move before the snares even have a chance to respond.
There is a trend toward deeper snares these days. Most guys choose the 6.5" and deeper snares for more body, or a fuller ballad sound. The rest of the guys choose them because it's a trend.
Personally I think 5.5" or 5" is the sweet spot for crisp and crack and playable action. For even more "pop" start decreasing the diameter.

 

[Elvis]

Hey guys-

Recently got a lightly used Yamaha RC 8x14 birch snare (new model) on reverb. I'm not that experienced with snares of this depth. Snare sounds good when hit hard, but any ghost notes have no snare sound on them. Like I'm hitting a tom. I took off the Evans HD dry I had put on, and put an ambassador back on. That didn't work. The reso is factory remo head. I have it tuned medium with a tune bot, on the batter side. Reso side is like 395 at the lugs. I have messed around with snare wire tension, and also with moon gels. Should I crank the reso head above 400, or will that choke it out? Should I try a higher tuning on the batter head? Or any other heads to suggest? Finally, should I consider switching out to 42 strand snare wires? I have 6 or so snares, but don't want to relegate this for fat backbeat 70s sound only. I also didn't see this as a snare that I'd keep tuned high, as I have others in that role.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Have you looked at how the snare wires lay on the head, when they're turned on?
If the wires are misaligned, you can have that problem.
I've owned a 13x3 and a 14x10. Both were equally sensitive.
Yours should be too.

Elvis

 

[AgDrumma07]

My main snare is a 70s Superstar Mahogany concert tom shell that was cracked on the bottom rim, so I had it cut down to 8x14. Then I drilled it and turned it into a snare. The batter head is a Coated Emperor X and the reso is a Clear Ambassador. It also has an internal muffler, so that adds some flexibility. Looks like the snare wires are 16 strand.

The batter head is tuned to about a medium while the reso is cranked up pretty high. Not as high as a 5.5" might be, but it's pretty tight. I keep the wires fairly loose too. That internal muffler is a game changer IMO.