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How Badly Out Of Tune Is Your Drum Head?

Photo credit: striatic

Go on. Be honest.

If any of these statements apply to you then the answer is "very badly indeed."

1. You've never tuned in your life
2. You've tuned before but you did it randomly
3. You've never changed your drum heads
4. Your drum heads are covered in stick marks
5. You don't own a drum key

This is part 2 in my drum tuning series. In part 1 we answered the question what is drum tuning? Now you need to figure out just how bad things are.

Why you need to start over

For your drum head to be in tune you need to have the same note at each of the lugs on your drum. If you've got the same note at each lug then you'll have a clear, crisp note coming from your drum head when you hit it.

Photo credit: youngthousands

To get the same note you need to have the same tension over your drum head. If you've had the same heads for a while and you've never tuned them properly then you can bet that they will be stretched unevenly.

This means that they won't stay in tune for long and probably aren't ever going to give you a good sound.

If you're really serious then throw your old drum heads away, buy some new ones and start from scratch. You would get rid of faulty equipment on your PC so why not on your drum kit?

How to tell if your drum head is in tune

Try This: Take a stick, a drum key or even just your finger tip and tap your drum head 1 inch or so from each of the lugs on your drum. Listen to the note coming from each lug. If they are all the same note then you're in luck because your drum head is in tune! If not then you're going to need to tune it.

Read about how to tune in the next part of my drum tuning series:

How To Tune A Drum Head - The 5 Step “Tuning Chore”

Related posts:

1. How To Tune A Drum Head - The 5 Step “Tuning Chore” I'll start with a confession. I rarely tune my drums....
2. What Is Drum Tuning? Photo credit: Professor Rogers Imagine. You're standing in front...

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