How To Tune Drums

Once the old, worn out drumhead has been removed, you will be able to see the shell. The one above is a steel shell. You'll notice the resonant head is already on (and in tune). Learn how to tune your resonant head in the next lesson (at bottom of page). Whenever you tune, it is important to attach and tune the resonant head first. You can watch a video on tuning your drums in my Free Drum Lessons section.



Next place your new drum head onto the shell of the drums. Note that if your head looks like the one in the picture, it's probably time to replace it.



Now place your hoop over the drums shell. Be sure to line up tension rod slots with the lugs on the drum. Learn about the hoops, lugs, rods and other parts used in Tuning Drums.



Now slip a washer over your tension rod and slide the rod through the hoop and into the lug.

Using a star pattern as shown above, tighten each rod by hand as tight as you can get it.



Once all the rods have been tightened by hand, run your finger along the outer edge checking for dips or loose spots in the head. If you find them, tighten the closest lug until the head's tension is evenly distributed.



Now that the tension is evenly distributed, it's time to start using your drum key. Want to see some cool Drum Keys?

Turn each rod one full turn using the star pattern once again. You may have to do this several times to get a good connection between the head and bearing edge of the shell. Once you have a good fit, choose one rod to tune with. By using only one rod, you will eliminate a lot of the frustration that comes from trying to tune each rod. This is covered more in this lesson on snare drum tuning.

Now that you know how to change your drums head, let's learn how to tune drums. You might also check Scott Schroedl's book on Drum Tuning.

Explore Different Parts of the Drum Set:

• Snare Drum Kits



• Ludwig Bass Drums



• Bass Drum Pedals

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