Snare Drum Tuning

Whether you are doing snare drum tuning, bass, or toms, the method is pretty much the same. While your final tuning will be somewhat different, the beginning process is pretty much the same.

You will always want to start with the resonant head first. Make sure that the batter head and snare wires are removed before you begin. I show you how to remove and change your snare wire here. After you have removed both wires and batter head, you can focus on just the resonant head first. For more on the difference between resonant and batter heads, see my lesson on tuning drums which covers the basic parts involved with snare drum tuning.

I like to completely remove the resonant head and start from scratch when I tune. This not only gives you a fresh start, it allows you to clean the inside of the shell, rims, rods and lugs. You may want to lubricate the lugs and tighten them from inside the shell if necessary. To learn how to change your heads, simply follow the steps covered in the How To Tune Drums lesson.

You will want to get the lowest pitched sound you can that still comes across clear and doesn’t sound muddy. This general rule applies to most any drum you are tuning. Always get the lowest possible sound from the resonant head.

To get this low sound, I hand tighten each tension rod working my way around the drum shell using the star pattern shown above. Start at 1, cross over to 2 and so on. Depending on the number of lugs on your snare drum you may have more or less steps, but the patterns remains the same.

Once all the tension rods are hand tight, you can begin fine tuning. To do this, use your drum key and tighten each rod 1 to 1 1/2 turns. Again, use the star pattern. You’re not concerned about tuning yet. You just want to get any dimples out of the head and make sure it is stretched out evenly over the shell. After tightening each rod 1-1 1/2 turns, you might need to tighten more to get any dimples out.

Now that the dimples are out and your resonant head is tight, you can begin snare drum tuning. To do this, bring your finger in about an inch from each rod and lightly tap the drum. DO NOT USE A DRUMSTICK!!! The resonant head is super thin and using a drumstick to tune may break it. It’s easier to tune up than it is to tune down and since your drum head is finally tight, you don’t really want to loosen any lugs at this point. Identify the lug with the highest pitch and tune the other lugs up to this rod.

This video covers all the information above and adds a couple optional steps you might want to consider such as cleaning your rods and tightening your lugs.

Once the resonant head is tuned, you can start on the batter head. Check out how to tune your batter head in this lesson HERE. This is just one method among many that drummers like to use for tuning. For more ideas, I would recommend Professor Sound’s Drum Tuning Bible.

Drum Dial Precision Drum Tuner
For precise and consistent tuning each time, you may want to consider these tuners from Drum Dial. They work by measuring drum head tension instead of tension rod torque. Tuners that measure rod torque are great for telling you when your are over tightening the head, but not good for tuning. By measuring drum head tension, you’ll get a more consistent result.

For more information on tuning and heads, check out these pages:

Leave Snare Drum Tuning and Check Out The Free Online Drum Lessons

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