timmo Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I found some drum loops to play along to. Is there anything that drummers do to determine what key they are playing in, or are they just keyless and you can play the bass in any key you like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 There are very rare exceptions but drummers don't ordinarily think in keys (unless it is tympani or tuned percussion) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) [quote name='timmo' timestamp='1433234689' post='2789072'] I found some drum loops to play along to. Is there anything that drummers do to determine what key they are playing in, or are they just keyless and you can play the bass in any key you like? [/quote] Shamelessly 'borrowed' from Drummerworld.com (thanks, drumtechdad...); I couldn't put it any better... [quote][color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]Though it's not necessary, I've tuned to notes for many years. There are advantages:[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]1. It lets you explore different tunings in a systematic way; [/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]2. You can easily return to a tuning you liked without having to reinvent it; [/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]3. It's an easy way to ensure that any two adjacent toms will sound good when struck together; and [/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]4. for me it's an easy way to tune: all I need are a pitch pipe and my ears.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]Here's the most important thing: [/size][/font][/color][i]First you must determine where each tom sounds best. Then you can determine a tuning scheme using notes.[/i][color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3] Never force a drum to play a note out of its best range or you will have an uneven-sounding set of drums.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]Whether you tune to notes or not, everyone ought to sit down with each tom and run it up through its tuning range gradually. Start from finger-tight on both heads and add tension equally. Keep both heads at the same pitch and keep the lug-to-lug tuning decent. Add only 1/4-turn or so of tension at a time and strike the batter in the center after each round of tension.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]With every drum there will be a range (usually 2-3 semitones) where the drum really sings, has the most sustain, and is loudest. Do this with all your toms and make a note of what range of pitches is best for each drum.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]Now you can fool around with tuning schemes that take account of where each drum needs to be. A few suggestions:[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]1. If you play out miked you can use a low overall tuning and close intervals between the drums. Try major or minor thirds between the toms.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]2. If you play out unmiked, such a tuning will make your toms sound muddy and undifferentiated. Tune higher overall and try larger intervals between the toms, say fourths or fifths.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]3. You can mix and match intervals. I find that you need a wider interval between the lower toms but you can get away with a closer interval between higher toms. On my kid's 7-piece kit (5 toms, 8-10-12-14-16) a tuning that goes (from the bottom up) C-F-Bb-Eb-G, or C-F-Bb-D-F both sound good. Using all fourths (C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab) also sounds good. Experiment. Don't expect [/size][/font][/color][i]your[/i][color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3] drums to sound their best with these same notes--you need to find the notes [/size][/font][/color][i]your[/i][color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3] drums like, remember?[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]4. Although some producers make a fetish of tuning toms to the key of a song they're recording, it's not necessary and it's obviously impractical to retune a kit for different songs in a live set. But no matter: the notes you choose will not clash with any given song. The audience tends to hear high-tom, medium-tom, low-tom. I've tried many, many different tuning schemes yet never have heard a "clash" between the notes of the drums and the notes of a song. Besides, even if you don't deliberately tune to "notes," i.e., one of the 12 pitches in the Western scale, you get a pitch anyway! Nobody worries that [/size][/font][/color][i]those[/i][color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3] pitches will clash with a song.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]5. Bass drums are a different animal. For the most part, with a given set of heads a bass drum will have a very narrow range where it sounds good. Put it there. If you play out unmiked, use lightly-muffled heads, no port in the reso, and tune for sustain--it's what gets the drum heard. For miked you can tune lower and use muffling to taste.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]6. Snare drums are different also, and you need to experiment with what tuning(s) make a given drum sound its best. Once you find that tuning you can then see what notes you arrived at so you can replicate them later. For example, one of my snares sounds best with the reso at A and the batter at C#. Knowing that lets me easily return to a usable tuning when it's time to rehead.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]7. Chromatic tuners are more trouble than help. Drums are quite rich in overtones and chromatic tuners are often fooled into reading the wrong note. I use a pitch pipe instead. If you have a keyboard handy you can use that.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]8. Even if, like me, you only play a 4-piece (2 toms), thinking in terms of pitches can still be useful. For example, if you find where both drums sound best and you end up with a nasty interval like a tritone between them, you can usually tweak one or both of the drums to push that out to a perfect fifth, which sounds a lot better.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]9. Be prepared for some to haul out their dusty science textbooks to tell you that you can't tune drums to notes, that two-headed drums can only yield "an indeterminate pitch." Just nod and smile and go on tuning to notes, as some drummers have for generations. ;-)[/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, sans-serif][size=3]Hope this helps.[/quote][/size][/font][/color] [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=4][color=#000000]One cannot 'tune' cymbals, only in their choosing in the first place. No, drummers don't use 'key' in the same way as other, pitched, instruments, and we can't (easily...) re-tune mid-concert, so it's the same for the whole set, generally. For recording, a kit could be adapted to suit a particular song, but it's really the exception in modern pop/rock. This doesn't mean we're not aware of pitch, just that our terms of reference are different.[/color][/size][/font] Edited June 2, 2015 by Dad3353 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmo Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Ok, thanks for that. I can get on with making a racket in any key i choose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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