Bass Drum Tuning

Before you begin bass drum tuning, it’s important to remove anything that can interfere with the sound of your bass. This only applies to tuning an existing drum head. If you are replacing an old worn out head, be sure you don’t put any of this stuff on it until you have it tuned. This includes things like kick pads, moon gel, and duct tape, as well as any mufflers (towels, pillows) that are inside the shell.

If you are changing your bass drum head, be sure that the pedal holder is in the correct spot before tightening your rods and setting the head. This may not appear on all bass drum hoops, but if it does, make sure it is in the correct position so that when you attach your pedal, it will slide right over it.

Now that everything is removed and in place, you’re ready to tighten the head. I already cover this on the main drum tuning page (link at bottom), so I won’t get into it again here. Be sure that you use the Star Pattern to tune your drumhead.

Tone vs. Feel

When bass drum tuning, you need to make a distinction between tuning to a specific TONE and tuning to a preferred FEEL. To be honest, tuning to tone is almost a waste of time. If you play live, the sound guy can adjust your overall sound to get a nice bass tone anyway. The main reason to tune to tone is to ensure that the head tension is spread out evenly. Even this isn’t a problem if you only use a single pedal. But, so many drummers are now using double pedals, and this is where the problem exists.

If your drum head tension is not evenly dispersed, you can get two different sounds out of your bass drum. Your left beater may sound slightly different than your right beater. Again, it’s not a big problem in a live performance situation. But, if you are recording the old fashioned way (sans Pro Tools) your bass drum track will sound off.

The more important aspect of bass drum tuning is tuning the FEEL of the bass drum. You want the head’s tension to be looser or tighter depending on how you like the pedal/beater action to feel. Some drummers prefer a tighter drum head that allows the beaters to rebound much faster than a loose head. This kind of tuning is great for faster drumming techniques like the heel toe.

Most of the drummers I know, prefer a looser head that lets them feel the beater dig into the bass. The perks of this are two fold. First, you get a lower pitched, deep bass sound. Secondly, drummers say that they feel they have more control over the pedal this way. I’ve tried both and really have no preference. I like the tighter head for faster bass drum rolls, but I don’t like the higher pitch. The loose head offers me a nice pitch, but the action isn’t as fast. Just experiment with them and see which one works best for you.

Find More Bass Drum Lessons on the Bass Drums Page.

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