DRUMMER CAFE - Community Forum

I tend to believe that there is an optimal tuning for each drum in which the top and bottom heads are tensioned in such a way the drum is in maximum tune with itself. In other words, the drum is not choked from the heads being too tight or deadened because the heads are too loose.  It’s singing at its optimal resonance, regardless of the room or outdoor setting in which the drum is being played.

But recently I brought my “optimally tuned” drums to an outdoor gig, and during soundcheck I frantically had to retune the drums because they sounded awful in that outdoor setting, which leads me to believe that tuning is relative to the environment and not as much to the drum being “in tune with itself” regardless of the venue.

Any thoughts on this?

For example, in general, for a major touring production (say, the Eagles or Rush), is the drum tech tuning more for the drummer’s specific personal tuning requirements, or is he or she tuning more for the room or venue?

playing outside just gobbles up the sound... drums can sound lively confined in a room but can seem dead outside... for outside gigs I try to have the drums tuned for max resonance.

My experience in the case I mentioned above was the opposite:  I really needed to loosen my heads for the outdoor gig, as they sounded too high-pitched and ringy -- yet they sounded nice and warm inside at the same tuning.

I guess it's just been my experience that drums just don't sound great outdoors.

That's because as Diddle suggested, the lower frequencies and natural resonance of the drums were being gobbled up. In reality, there was no box (room) for the drums to resonate in and bounce back to your ears.
Having played outdoor gigs, I generally tune for the music and assume the PA will capture the resonance of the drums. My drum tech would tune the kit to my liking, not the different spaces we played in.
Having said that, I would use experience to moderate my drum set-up ideas.
I would rarely set-up highly resonant toms and undamped bass drum for a series of cavernous venues where the drum sound would ring on forever. Likewise, I wouldn't apply tape and blankets to a kit I was going to take to football stadia across America, as even with monitors you'd feel like you were playing cardboard boxes on stage.

These enviornmental issues can drive you crazy!. As a general rule the drums usually stay tuned one way but im not afraid to tweek when things are buggin me. Outdoor enviornment doesnt usually bother me but the FEEL of the drums can be odd sometimes. Its the cement hall type places that make me want to throw myself on the ground and throw a fit, kick and scream.

he he he, Paicey.  You crack me up man.

Uh nothing much to add to this thread although some of the best sounding concerts I've been to have been outdoors.

And yeah, if your mon's are bad then the drums just sound super thin and one wants to play harder and harder to get the sound out.  That can be a weird trap that causes me to play stiff.

But I've had a few outdoor gigs that sounded awesome too.  I'd say I'm 50/50  ;D