How to get rid of Snare Buzz

Posted on: April 7 2021 at 11:55 am

We have all experienced snare buzz and it can be quite annoying. Snare wires will always buzz a bit but there are some tricks to lessen it. The buzz can be caused by loose snares, sympathetic vibration, or misaligned snare wires.

Snare wires:
I feel the snare wires are often over looked. Inspect your snare wires to see if there are any loose strands, if there are it is time for a new set of snare wires. Engage the snares, do they look crooked? Are the snares closer to one bearing edge than the other? If so, try and realign them, it can be a bit annoying but try as best you can. Also, the more strands you have, the greater chance of buzz if you (if you really hate buzz try 8-12 strands). If there is still too much buzz, try tightening the snares. Don’t tighten so much that you don’t like the sound, if you need to do that, the problem is probably sympathetic vibration.

Sympathetic vibration:
If one of the pitches of the toms is the same as the snare it will cause sympathetic vibration and excite the snare wires (note that the same pitch in a different octave will also cause sympathetic vibration). If that is the case, I would recommend changing the tuning of the toms, not the snare. You don’t want to sacrifice snare sound for tom sound, your snare gets used a lot more. Check to see if only one tom is causing the snare buzz. If it is just one tom you need to decide if you want to change the tuning of just that tom or all of your toms. Remember you are always going to have a bit of snare buzz and likely the drummer is the only one who is really hearing it, don’t let it drive you crazy!

Four Cool Snare Sounds

Posted on: October 17 2019 at 4:22 pm

No matter what type of snare drum you have, you can get many different sounds from it. There are many variables at your disposal, tuning, head choice, snare wire tension, muffling etc. How you hit the drum is also going to have an impact on the sound as well. Here are some different sounds to try out.

Fat wet sound- To get a fat sound I recommend tuning your snare pretty low, maybe an F#(252Hz batter, 378Hz resonant) or a G (266 Hz batter, 398Hz resonant). Then, I like to loosen the snare wires a bit so it sounds a bit sloppy. Experiment with snare wire tension until it sounds good to you. I also like to muffle the batter head for a fat sound. You can use tape, moon gel, drum dots etc. whatever works for you. Try some rim shots, how does that sound? Great for back beats and ballads.

Tight funk sound- To get a tight funk sound you want tune your head fairly high, maybe G#(299Hz batter, 398Hz resonant) or A(319Hz batter, 398Hz resonant). I think it is best with a single ply head unless you are a heavy hitter. I like to tighten the snare wires until you are getting a fairly articulate sound. You want good stick definition for playing funk. You can leave the drum open for a brighter sound or muffle it slightly for even more stick definition. If you want a hip hop sound, muffle the drum even more until it almost sounds like a drum machine.

Versatile all around sound- It’s no surprise that medium tuning works good for a versatile sound. I go for between a G(266, 398) and G#(299, 398). You can use a variety of heads, I prefer a single ply for a brighter sound, but if you want more controlled sound or are a heavy hitter you should use 2 ply or muffled head. I think a medium snare wire tension is best here as well. Don’t have the wires too tight to choke the drum and not too loose to sound sloppy and washy. For jazz this tuning with a coated single ply head works well too.

Reggae sound- This one really works best with a metal shelled drum. Tune it up quite high, A#(356, 400) or higher . Make sure not to use any dampening and play rim shots close to the rim for that timbale like sound. I think a single ply drum head works best because you really want to hear the ring. Some people like to leave the snares disengaged as well.

These are just a few of the drum sounds you can get, the possibilities are endless. Try some out for yourself.

How to Tune Your Drums for Feel

Posted on: December 31 2018 at 4:40 pm

After tuning for a sound you like, you may find that you don’t like the feel of the drums when you start playing. Some drums might feel so loose that your sticks sink in and don’t bounce enough or they may feel too tight, like you were tapping on a kitchen table. Most people like a drum to be soft enough to feel good when hit and be hard enough to still have a nice rebound. It really comes down to a matter of personal taste. So what do you do if you like the sound of your drums but don’t like the feel, how can you get both at the same time?

The answer is quite simple: tune the batter heads for feel and tune the resonant heads for pitch. Start by adjusting the tension of your batter heads for the feel you like. Do this by making uniform adjustments to the tension rods in the usual crosswise pattern. Once you have the feel you want, then go ahead and fine tune the batter head by matching pitches by each of the lugs. The best way to do this is to put the drum on a drum stool to mute the resonant head and use a tune-bot to measure the lug pitches. After you have finished tuning all your batter heads for feel, you can start to tune the drums to a set of pitches you want by adjusting the resonant heads.

So how do you decide what pitches to use for your particular kit? This is, again, a matter of personal preference and depends on a lot of factors such as how many drums and what sizes are in your kit, what kind of music you’re playing, type of drumheads and so on. To help you with this we developed a tuning calculator tool that’s available for free at www.tune-bot.com and as an Iphone and Android App named “Drum Tuning Calculator.” You simply enter the sizes of your drums and the app provides a set of pitches that should sound good for you kit. It takes into account the pitch range for each drum and determines appropriate musical intervals for the entire set. A note will be provided for each drum along with corresponding batter and resonant drumhead lug pitches. When you are tuning for feel you will be using different lug pitches than the ones from the tuning calculator, so ignore those, all you want are the musical notes that are given.

Now that you have the desired notes you’re ready to finish tuning your drums. Start with a rack tom, for example, and put it upside down on a stand so the resonant head is on top. It’s important that both the batter and resonant heads are free to vibrate now so the drum must either be on a stand or be handheld. Clip a tune-bot to the hoop and tap in the center of the resonant drumhead and measure the fundamental pitch of the drum. Start making small uniform adjustments to the tension rods, as before, while tapping in the center of the drum and measuring the drum pitch. Once you have the drum at the desired note, then fine tune the drum for similar pitches around the lugs by making very small adjustments. You may want to put the drum back on a stool now to mute the batter head as before. After fine tuning, check the fundamental pitch again – with the drum on a stand or holding it – in case it changed and make minor adjustments if necessary.

After doing all this turn the drum over, place on a stand and tap in the center (of the batter head). Measure the pitch with a tune-bot and you will find that it’s the same as when you tapped the resonant head: this is a property of any two-headed drum when hit in the center. The drum will have the have the same feel as before and will now also be at the correct pitch. Repeat this process for the rest of your drums and you’ll have a great sounding kit with the feel that works for you!