I bet I've watched 50 videos about tuning snares and I've never seen anyone explain it this way. Your way just makes sense to me. Thanks!!!

After 50+ years of playing and fussing with my drums I still have a lot to learn about tuning. Thanks for a clear and practical presentation.

This is probably THE best snare tuning video on KZfaq and I've watched a bunch of them. I've been playing drums for nearly 50 years and have tuned my snare this way for the past 10-15 years. Your explanation is right on target. You can really tell that you've been playing for quite a while and I also appreciate that you are an engineer as well and you are always thinking how the drums will sound when they have microphones involved for recording or live sound. I do have a couple comments: When hitting the head with your drum key - this is not something I would recommend. You were not even close to the bearing edge and I'm guessing you may have learned from experience, but I would be concerned of new drummers hitting the head above where the bearing edge is with a drum key. This could potentially damage the bearing edge. Just my two cents. Yes my Tunebot does crap out at about 400hz as well. Good to see all the comments from others who have experienced the same thing. As others have stated in comments, hold the filter button for a couple seconds and it will read higher than 400 but I haven't quite gone to 450hz to see if it really goes that high. I've gone as high as 420ish and got a good snare sound and therefore didn't push the limit. Looking forward to watching the kick tuning and when you post a tom tuning video. I'm sure you have a great perspective on the subject. I really appreciate you doing all these videos. It's too bad that I only recently discovered your channel. You have a lot of great content and I am looking forward to whatever else you post. I will be referring others to this video and others you have done. Thanks Joel!!! 😎🎶

Outstanding video. I've watched pretty much every snare tuning video on KZfaq and this was the most thorough and informative one I've seen. Good job.

That explanation and demonstration of how the drum is gonna sound darker from the kit mics, and muffling is over used abdolutely BLEW MY MIND. I now need to go retune my entire kit to not be so dead.

Been playing for about 20 years and I think this is the first time I've seen someone acknowledge different pitches by the snare beds/kick porthole, or interactions when tensioning adjacent or opposite lugs.

I don't know if anyone has said this but...If you hold down your filter button you can tune higher than 400. Thanks for all the great videos!

This is the best snare tuning video i've ever seen in my 40 years of drumming. Thank you! Subbed for more!

Didn't think I needed this after 35 years playing, but still learned a few things! Bravo. Great video.

I've been studying drum recording and tuning for years, and this is one of the best videos I've seen on how snare tuning and snare mechanics work.

A friend and I were cleaning up a commercially equipped outdoor kitchen at a festival we attended and played in our bands. I started a simple rhythm and next thing you know, we had a full on jam session on pots and pans, lids, etc. using long spoons and hands. We were so involved/focused on each other that we didn't notice the crowd that gathered... When we finished we were taken aback by the rousing round of applause. 😊. You absolutely can make music where you find it, especially with percussion.

Hi.. 🙂.. Thank you so much for making this great tutorial on snare tuning.. This was a real gem for me, as I understand, how to get the most out of my snare now..At the age of 61... I have just purchased a Ludwig LM 402 14"x 5" 1974, and now, all of my snares sounds like heaven.. 🙂Thank you 🙂 .. With kind regards from Morten in Denmark..

Finally!! A guy who does more action and demonstrations whilst explaining it very simply. Excellent presentation and great advice👏👏 Thank you🙏

I've always tuned my snare drums like you, but I didn't know the reason. I just know that after 60 years of trial and error, this is what works best! Thank you for allowing me to understand why it works. Another great video!

53 years old, been drumming since I was 6. When I was in my early 20s, I began really caring about tuning my drums and getting my own sound. For the last 5 years, I have been into home recording so I've been hyper-focused on tuning. I bought a tunebot a month ago. What a great invention! Total time saver and hours of fun trying different tunings, all the while knowing you're getting near-perfect accuracy. I have settings saved and written down for each drum I have, for different head combinations etc. Great tool for fast, consistent tuning. Wish I would have bought one decades ago.

Hi Joel! Given the fact that you have good snare strings you actually don't need to adjust the snare string with the screws to get it equally straight at both string ends. The nice thing with snare strings as opposite to the plastic strips is that you can adjust the straightness of the wires with the wires turned off and just adjust where the string is grabbing the wire-plate, without loosening the screws. Hope this makes sense. This is why I love strings and not the plastic strips. Cheers!

This is the snare tuning video I’ve been looking for.

This is a great video. Finally someone else who understands that microphones hear things differently than your ears do. Well done!

This was an awesome presentation. I’ve been playing the drums for a really long time and I still learned a lot.

Great video and thank you for the tips and tricks. FYI, if you hold the filter button down on the tune bot for a few seconds, you will see it switch to "Hi-Range" on the LCD screen. This will allow you to read over 400Hz. Cheers!

We all know you know the Kraft, but your voice and your articulation, pauses, etc is really important here too, thank you , great job !!!

All valuable information, thanks for sharing/ imparting knowledge!

Very helpful!! Especially the different sounds from one tuning and setting up the snares.

Well done. Your efforts are not unappreciated, Sir.

Excellent. This entire video was meat and potatoes, no fluff, very useful. I especially appreciate the tip for reducing a high overtone via de-tuning the two closest lugs. I'll be giving that some exercise. Thanks again for the tutorial on snare tuning. Well done, sir.

Great stuff! Really appreciate your time and found your time very helpful! Thank you!

I'm a proud owner of a Supraphonic since 1964 and the way you explain tuning snare drum is amazing. I used a Drum Dial and don"t need it anymore now. Thanks

That snare sounds so good! Thanks for the info.

wonderful tuning lesson; Great Master!

This is a great comprehensive tutorial! I would recommend this to any newer / younger students struggling to understand the mechanics and practice of actually tuning drums. Edit: I'd recommend it to all drummers, and techs, actually - something for all of us :) thank you!

Great tip about straitening the snare wires. Thank you.

It's a great day when DDP posts!

One of the best and detailed snare tuning videos ever. And I've seen lots and lots. Terrific work!

Wow, a plethora of useful things that i didn`t knew. I found this at the right time because i have to change the heads anyway so i will apply all of this. Thank you very much!

Beautiful video, as you said; this is useful information 💯

Dude, this video is FANTASTIC!….thorough and informative. I’ve tuned a lot of drums in my lifetime and this is by far the best video I’ve come across on snare tuning. Well done, sir!

Very intuitive and helpful. Thank you

Great video! Thanks for taking the time to explain and giving great examples!

Hey mate, this was a fantastic video! Absolutely loved it.

I have the '65 model of the exact same snare, and it's a true gem! I have some great snares, but that one is easily my favorite. Great video, man!

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to make it.- this one is a gem.

This a great, in-depth video. Thanks for the advice

A very important video. Many learnings that happened in my journey were covered and some mistakes highlighted. thank you

Really a very good explaining. Thanks for that. Cheers from Munich Germany.

Best drum lesson I ever had was about 20 years ago. I had my kit tuned how I thought sounded good “Use your ears” was a common saying at the time. I even had a DVD with that title. The guy giving me the lesson asked why I had some damping on the skins, I said to control the ring. He took me to the far end of the room (we were in a church hall, quite big). “Stand there” he said. He went back to the kit and played it. Then took the damping off and played it. Then tweaked the skins up tighter and played it. The lesson I learned, was, don’t tune the kit to sound good to you when you sit on the kit. It will sound VERY different to someone in the audience 20 rows back mid gig. I’m talking un mic-ed. going through mics and PA changes the rules again.

Joel, this is an absolutely superb video and the first one I’ve watched from you. Thank you for all the detail and nuance and examples. I’ve played for 45 years now but just getting into recording. I’m listening with AirPods Pro, so it’s really translating. 👌🏼👌🏼

You actually CAN play MOST instruments without tuning them, they WILL sound bad BUT you WILL get a sound; this is exactly the same with drums. The Heart of the issue is what is an acceptable 'sound' on drums. Your approach IS Spot On I just felt I should say what I did. Terms like 'finger tensioned' SHOULD be explained as many won't know what that means. THANK YOU FOR USING THE CORRECT TERMS WHEN IDENTIFYING THE COMPONENTS SUCH AS 'KEY ROD' vs LUG NUT/CASINGS!!

really good video man, helps my snare tuning game :D

This is the best tuning video I have watched! Thanks for the brilliant video and explanation.

Thank you very much .learned alot .

Great video!!! Keep ‘em coming… really love your sound.

Been too long! Another great video from my fave drum channel. 😊

Awesome video, much more in-depth information, I've been playing 20yrs + and yet I still learnt something new, thankyou very much, I think I just become a better dynamic player implementing these tips Thankyou

this is by far, the best snare tuning video on KZfaq

Wow, what a perfect tuning video and with perfect timing. I bought a Supraphonic a few days ago! I have watched so many videos and worked on tuning as a producer player for years. You have some great tips and would have saved me a ton of time if I had just found your channel first. Ha. PLEASE, would love to hear your approach on kick and toms as well as choosing cymbals, especially rides. Your thoughts as someone who obviously records a lot really makes a difference. Thx again!

Good stuff….thank you for the great video!!!

Oh so very helpful and useful. This content is only gained by experience and expertise. Thank you thank you !!!

Excellent Joel! Thank you! This is really helpful!

What a brilliant video. Thanks.

Thanks so much for this practical presentation!

What a gold mine of useful information! Thank you so much. I wish I ran into this 8 or 9 months ago lol. I'm probably going to play this another six or seven times. I'm a beginner drummer, less than a year playing and learning about them. I think you touched on some of the things I learned early on but then kind of forgot about. I think I fell into my own dad habits with tuning not only snares but drums in general. I'm going to look for your channel more when I have some time. Hoping you have some great video like this about toms or kicks. Thanks again.

Kind of a Bob Ross of tuning, love it!

the last example was very interesting, thank you

Absolutely great SD tuning / set up and striking video presentation from a very knowledgeable drummer. Thank you. Drum on.

Thanks for the great video!!

Awesome, very interesting! Thanks dude!!

When it comes to the camera audio and close microphones one is not better than the other. They just both perceive the source differently. The same with our ears. We are only capable of hear certain frequencies. We also process what is a 'good" and "bad" sound through personal perspective. Microphones don't have personal perspective. They just show reality. Its either a useable sound or its not and you need to fix it. Thank you for the perspective you gave us. Really good stuff.

Nice drum collection! It's super useful to just listen and watch a really experienced drum tech do his thing.

I Like this Video, because this guy knows what he's talkin about!👍

Top, good explanation. Thanks a lot

This has been so much help & very interesting. Cant thank you enough

Nicely done sir! 👍

Thanks for this. Very helpful.

Very nice. I also appreciate the end of the video about the different sounds depending on how you hit it. I see a lot of drummers who hit the same way every strike, completely ignoring what the song is calling for. Not only the type of sound, but dynamically as well. Softer in the verses and louder in the choruses. They’ll just play the whole song the same way, no dynamics, no variation. Maybe there’s ghost notes, but every 2 & 4 is the same no matter the section of the song. Of course, in heavy rock it’s typically all rimshots all the way through. But this isn’t the case for all genres. Anyway, great informative video without the fluff!

Thank you so much for that display of snare side head at 440 (A) hertz versus just a tad lower. I’ve only seen the phrase “table top tight” before which to different people mean different things. This video and that demonstration dared me take my own drum into for me unknown territory, putting the snare side to A, and batter side close, to F#. The snare sounds wicked. High in pitch, but wicked.

Beautiful 🔥🔥🔥 Thanks so much for making this vid

very good advices , thank you very much

Great video!! Thanks for sharing

Great explanation...thanks for that. Some Words to the tune-bot: at least the newer ones have a secondary function on the "filt"-button. When you push the button longer, 2 sec or so, you get in the "high-range"-mode, wich is capable to measure up to 450 hz

Fantastic video. Couldn't agree more!

Love your channel man. Wish I had known some of this stuff when I was younger!

The real secret was the loosening of the 2 top rod’s closest to you! That brought the harmonics into complete “homeostasis” at least on my phone. Great presentation, good useful info and you didn’t skip a thing. New sub here-keep cranking them out no matter the subject matter. You know as well as I do that the “comments” and algorithms will let you know what’s working and interesting. I really liked your “faith” comment at the end. Bold believes hide except on Sunday mornings. Much Love brother and Godspeed to you and the channel!

Great job 👍

"end every adjustment on the drum with a positive turn" as a long-time guitar player, you're speaking my language! I already know I've finally found the right video and not the same old pandering to noobs for views. As long as this video doesn't end with "and then after recording, just replace all your snare hits with samples" then I'll be sure to subscribe. Thanks!

Excellent video sir.

This was really helpful! I’d love to see a video focused on tuning toms. For what ever reason I struggle a lot with toms.

He's baccchhh

Out of all the videos I’ve watched for past decade or longer, I find you explain things so correctly and simply. Hope you do more videos , I just subscribed last night after watching tuning snare drum. I have 1 question, I just purchased a 3.5x14 snare drum, how would the tuning be on this reso head? The top I’ll be able to figure out but this one idk. And as well as a 6x13 snare drum. Thanks so much

Great tutorial🤘🏻🥁

I appreciate how thorough this is. I love the finger trick for muting the fundamental pitch. I first saw Gavin Harrison do it during a sound check, it's a great technique! I also appreciate the explanation about ending an adjustment by adding tension. I found that if I detuned a timpani to the pitch I wanted it would eventually detune a little more when playing. Going below the target pitch and coming back up seemed to fix that. I just figured it was inertia, making the pedal tend toward continuing to decrease tension. Friction makes sense, I never thought of that! Great video!

They sound better than I thought too! I love that you put an Evans sticker😂 on the head. Wonder what Remo will think of that. Guess you won't get another care pack.

Insanely bitchen video. Tuned my snare right along with you, and it worked like a charm. Worth the watch. Thank you. Gotta go play it.

Wow such a major difference on changing that bottom pad definitely sounds better with it tighter

Interesting. You're the first one I've seen tune the reso side to make sure it's even as well, which makes sense. Watched two "pro" tutorials and they just said "crank it up till it's tight" and didn't bother tapping out each lug. They spent a ton of time on tuning the batter side but it seems to me that if your tension isn't even on the reso side, then its going to mess up the rest of the tuning. thought maybe I was missing something but your vid confirmed that I'm correct! thx

Great video. Thanks for this. It needs to be said. Buddy Rich has been quoted as saying he " tensioned" his drums.

Great video. I used to tune reso snare to the 400htz which is I believe a G# really seems to work great and allow you to go from high to low with the top head. I really like anywhere from a C#-D# for the top head. For awhile now I’ve brought down the reso head to an F# on some snares and really like that tone for the reso. Snares being level and even very important. I played a show recently and the other drummer showed me his snare the wires had broke in some areas and he didn’t know why I held up the snare and turned off the snares and they were twisting and so not level even the straps were crooked so I explained to him when he tightens them they are tight on one side and not so much on the other causing uneven pressure on the snares so hold your drum up level turn your snares off and see if they are hanging straight and even 🔥🥁

Thanks from Sweden 🙂👍

This is by far an excellent way to tune a snare I don't know why so many you tubers make it seem so difficult.

Nice tuning and playing

Great video, thank you. Subscribed