Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tuning a Bass Drum

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 04-10-2009, 12:39 PM:

Here's one for you drummers, we just replaced both heads on the bass drum in the organ. It's 30" diameter, about 16" deep, has one vent? hole of about an inch diameter, it is an equal tension drum with adjustable spring tensioners. The new heads are Remo Fiberskyn. It is struck by a a pneumatically operated beater. This thing has never had a satisfactory sound--kind of thin and tinny, no real boom or thud. Any suggestions on how to tune, or make it better or is this about what to expect. We really don't know how tight to make it.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 04-10-2009, 02:58 PM:

Not a drummer, BUT it is the same as a subwoofer; add wings (baffle) if you want more "effect." Louis

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 04-10-2009, 03:56 PM:

Louis, not enough space, only about 4" on one side an none on the other.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 04-10-2009, 04:25 PM:

Hey Bill:

I haven't played drums since high school but I remember the base gives the best sound with very tight heads. I would suggest you drop by your nearest music store (or check on-line) and get yourself a bass drum mallet. Then use it to beat the drum as you tighten the heads. You should be able to adjust the heads for the best sound this way.

[ 04-11-2009, 04:24 PM: Message edited by: Robert E. Allen ]

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 04-10-2009, 05:02 PM:

The most common methods I have seen used for baffles are:

1. put a pillow in the drum
2. put your knee on one head and hand on the opposite head and strike on the knee side - not practical when dealing with drums in organs
3. tape foam or padding around the outside of the drum head - we used to use some black foam that was sticky on one side, about the consistency of packing foam, it may be available in music stores - just follow the circumference all around
4. play around with tension. If the head breaks, it's too tight

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 04-10-2009, 06:32 PM:

Bill,

What do you mean by "equal tension"? One set of adjustments tensions both front and back heads?

My wife and her father are percussionists. She says that the tighter the heads the higher the tone it produces.

The body of the drum is a resonant chamber and it is vented as you observed. You can adjust the tension while listening for the resonant pitch of that cavity.

Be very careful to adjust the tension in pairs across from each other much like tightening the nuts on the wheels of a car. Keep the tension even around the edge of the head.

The larger the drum the lower the tone at which it will resonate.

A special key is required to properly sense the tension as you turn it. Do not attempt to use pliers or wrench as this will easily over tension the head.

KEN

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 04-10-2009, 08:26 PM:

I haven't played for years but...

The tighter the skin, the higher the pitch. Also, you do want to have some baffle in there, such as a pillow. There is some reaction tuning wise between the front skin and back skin (front being the beater side). It's quite a science tuning bass drums really (or any drums!).

You may want to remove the non beater skin, and tune the beater skin until your happy with the sound, then add the non beater skin and tune that. It's good that you have a whole, as it needs to breathe.

The way I tuned mine was tighten everything until just tighter than slack, and make slow adjustments. As a previous poster said, turn the screws opposite each other until you have worked your way around. I used to like a punchy bass with little resonance, and that's how I go it. You don't really want much tension on the bass drum, that's probably why it sounds tinny.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 04-11-2009, 11:43 AM:

Equal tension means both heads are tensioned by the same adjusters.

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 04-11-2009, 09:13 PM:

Bill, are you saying that on your drum, one key/screw/lug adjusts the tension on both skins? Or are there two key/screws/lug (one for each side)? I've never heard of this, although it has been a while since I was playing, so I may be well out of touch with what the tech is these days.

In my day, equal tension would mean the skin is equally tensioned across all lugs, best way of determining this would be to use a drum stick tappping on the skin just off each lug - comparing the pitch and making tuning adjustments so they were all the same pitch.

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 04-11-2009, 09:33 PM:

It was common design for the bass drums in theatre organs to be tensioned by one set of spring loaded screws. The equal tension on both heads just makes the tuning process more sensitive to the tension. The drum had to be adjusted from just one side due to placement in the chamber. Also the placement of the drum in the organ chamber has a lot to do with how the sound projects into the theatre.

Dance drum kits have strange bass drum heads. Some have a large hole in the rear head away from the beater. That makes it easier to place a microphone inside the shell of the drum. Pillows or other dampening is inserted into the drum to make it very dead. The mic and creative use of processing and limiting equipment creates the desired effect through the sound system.

Since the organ is a fully acoustic instrument, the bass drum and other percussions must be matched the volume of the pipe sounds in the organ. Often this becomes a problem after the pipes of the organ have been re-voiced. Current voicers tend to like loud and shrill sounds rather than the original "orchestral" balance. The percussion instruments cannot be madde louder to match this new scheme.

KEN