DavesTrumpet | Gretsch USA Custom My Current Tuning @DavesTrumpet | Uploaded February 2024 | Updated October 2024, 40 minutes ago.
Just a quick video of the current tuning of my Gretsch drum set. I recently added a sixty year old 13” tom drum! (The 10” tom you see is actually a DW. (Still looking for a 10” Gretsch)). Anyway……
Spent the better part of this weekend retuning my kit. There’s a great channel here on YouTube called Sounds Like a Drum. They have an excellent video tutorial on jazz tuning!!! I highly recommend it for any drummer looking to get a vintage jazz sound. Without getting too bogged down in details, the tuning technique is basically:
Tuning the bottom (resonant) head a step lower than the top head. For example, my 12” has a high pitch of E-flat on the top head, it’s bottom head is tuned to D-flat.
I thought the end result, taking the ideas in that tuning video and applying to all my toms, really sounded nice.
I have learned one huge thing, and that is there really is no Right or Wrong way to tune tom drums. You just find something that works best for you! In the case of jazz tuning, the idea here is to introduce just enough dissonance (lowering the bottom head a whole step) to shorten the amount of decay. This allows for better stick definition.
Important note: the tom drums here are played WIDE OPEN with no dampening, etc. Again , this method of tuning actually shortens the decay! You can try it yourself! You’ll find that tunings that consist of intervals within the immediate overtone series (Unison, Fourth, Fifth), actually SUSTAIN ring and decay! So, this idea of adding dissonance to shorten the sound really works! #drummer #drumming #drums #gretschdrums #jazz #drumtuning