How do you guys tune your snares?

@CrushingAxes

3 жыл бұрын

I have a very good way ! I just replace everything with drumshotz!👌👌👌

@alexisjezreel

3 жыл бұрын

On rehearsals, high. Live performance, a little low. I will try your approach with a 4.5" snare. I’m curious to hear how low and cool can go.

@sebastiencamhi

3 жыл бұрын

I have to say that i am used to tune my snares higher because it always was pain in the *** to tune it low. :)

@jenshendriks9092

3 жыл бұрын

I tune them by ear. Making sure there are no weird overtones and that the batter and reso are nicely balanced. Usually I notice a clear base frequency of 200-215 HZ when I open up an EQ plugin. I recorded this song (and album) on a Mapex 'The Blade' snare which is a 14x5.5 steel snare. Pretty punchy and fat sound right? open.spotify.com/track/0ZpacAQtUfr3mjJtMmDi2u?si=oaH4NCvqRHOmW4idK0MSNg

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

@@sebastiencamhi High is easy, but not cool for most rock and metal styles!

As a drummer of just over 40 years(shit im old) and a recording engineer of 30+ years I have learned a few things about drums and recording them. The first thing I learned is if it sounds good then it is good, regardless of the technical aspects of things, some drums just sound awful no matter what you do with them(and price) and some sound amazing. All things aside if you want bottom end from a drum at source the depth of the drum is the least important part. Depth is usually about speed, Its kind of like the release on a compressor. Taking a 14 inch snare, an eight inch depth wont be lower in pitch than a 5 inch depth simply because eight inch is more than five, it will usually be a combination of factors. Pitch of a drum is depicted by its diameter, how thick the shell is and its tuning. A 14 inch snare will be lower in pitch than a 13 because of the larger diameter. Thicker shells resonate at a higher pitch and are louder. Thin shells are lower pitched but not as loud. A kick drum is loud because of the overall diameter, usually 20 to 24 inch and is usually made really thin for the low end. So the recipe for a fat snare(in my experience) 14 inch snare(depth doesnt really matter) Stay away from super thick shells. I like metal snares like steel/brass but thinner shelled wood snares can sound huge. tuning Think of snare tuning like this. The batter head sets the pitch and the reso head sets the sustain. Tune the ring/sustain in/out with the reso head but keep it relatively tight and the snare wire response will be faster, the tighter it goes though the less it will ring. The batter head sets the pitch, if its a touch too ringy detune the bottom two lugs to control ring, drummers have their own methods and they are all a little weird and wonderful. I tend to like my drums a little live sounding and dont use moon gel/damping etc. The last thing I would say to drummers is to remember your drums sound totally different sitting behind them to what someone standing in front of them or a mic hears and tune your drums to the guitars not for yourself. Love your channel, thank you for a great video

@southsidesoderlund

3 жыл бұрын

Great! I run a little studio in Stockholm and been struggling with what I thought would be a safe buy, Supraphonic 6.5” I start to come to the same conclusion as you..and my buy was not the key to best snaresound in the world... So...you started out as an engineer when you were 10 years old? 😄

@steviejames4861

3 жыл бұрын

@@southsidesoderlund A Supraphonic 6.5 is a great snare and will do pretty much anything you need. I started as a tape op for the BBC at 21, I'm in my 50's.

@michaelkeene5950

Жыл бұрын

My first instrument is admittedly guitar and that along with producing records is how I've made my living for the last 20 years, but I've also played drums for almost 30 years now and recording different drum kits as an engineer/producer as well as session drummer for 20 years and everything you just said is completely on the money. I take samples of most the kits I record for use in "editing" wink wink and I have a sample of a craviotta 14"x4" piccolo snare that sounds lower and fatter than my Black Beauty 14" x 6.5". The depth really determines how long the drum resonates or sustains for, The batter head and thinner shells definitely are what make a snare fatter or lower in pitch. rest head definitely always higher than the batter head. You may THINK you can tune your snare by ear, but I promise you that you can't. Get a tune bot 100%. There are too many overtones and sympathetic tones to really know what you're listening for and guitarists who play a pitched instrument use tuners to get their guitar in tune, drummer's I hate to say, don't stand a chance of getting all your tension roods anywhere within more than maybe 7 or 8 cents from each other in pitch. Get a Tune Bot. The one other factor I would say can make a snare sound huge is room mics.

a snare drum from the 90s is vintage now? man, that makes me feel so old :P

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

You’re not old. You’re vintage too! 😜🍺❤️

Great video! Kristian makes your snare PHAT! Machen Sie Ihre Snare übergewichtig!! Feed it beer (German Beer!) and strudel!

@harmonystudios1182

3 жыл бұрын

Uber phat!

@Producelikeapro

3 жыл бұрын

@@harmonystudios1182 Ja! Haha

@maxtezura4507

2 жыл бұрын

Machen sie ihre Snare übergewichtig! (Translated to english: Make your snare obese!)😄😄 Gonna say that to my drummer…

Great video and wise words! Jens Bogren taught me the same when I was at his studio. You have to go Looooow!

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

The eternal struggle between metal producers and extreme metal drummers, haha! Schönen Gruß! 🍺❤️

@KRIMHDrummer

3 жыл бұрын

@@KohleAudioKult genau so ist es! 😁🤌🏼

@JuveriSetila

3 жыл бұрын

O hai its KRIIIIMMMMMMHHHHHH

Another excellent video with great information presented in an easily digestible and light hearted way. Thank you Kristian. Keep up your great work. Cheers and beers

You explain things so well. This is gold

Very helpful Kohle, thanks! It would be great to see videos like this also for toms!

This could be the greatest video about snare recording. Amazing

This is the first time ever I see a video on drums tuning in terms of frequency rather than "tension" and using drumdial and stuff. Great content as usual and please, PLEASE: send stuff! :D

Awesome! I’ll trust your tuning and selections, dude!

Super gutes, hilfreiches Video!!! ❤️

OMG, that's an awesome sound! Tha's what i was looking for in the snare sound

Man, those Pearl brass free floating snares were / are rad (and loud as hell). Really enjoyed this and thanks for sharing.

I'm feeling that I've learned a lot just watching this video! Thanks man!

Cool video!! I will put this to the test! Thanks

Saving this video, so usefull!! thank you Kristian!

Great video once again!

Mooooom!! Kohle's made another great video for us, and now I really need a tune-bot! Thanks master Kohle 🤘🏻🤘🏻🍻

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Believe me. You really want one! I’m not sponsored or anything, it’s just so helpful.

My favourite part was there you glued three tunings to hear em one after another. The only thing that changed was snare!😁 Really cool!

The 235 / 325 Hz sounds to me very much like my absolutely preferred Metal Drummer, Cozy Powell! HE was the guy with the most beef and power in his drums. His snare hits were bigger than life! Good video tut here, Kohle! DANKESCHÖN aus Österreich!

Dude that video is gold

Great vid, really interesting tips!

Exceptional Video, Thank You!

That kick though!

Sounds great to me!

I'd definitely be interested in the post-processing you do on snares. Great video!

I found the video interesting. It was interesting how the ring changed with the adjustment of the resonance head. I would love to see the proposed video on snare drum processing.

I'm excited! I must try this trick ;)

I absolutely love my tune bot. Tuning by ear is possible if you're good, but getting perfectly tuned intervals among your toms, plus nailing a consistent snare is impossible without it. Every guitarist uses a tuner, drums are no different. Love that you rock the pearl floating 14x6.5, I've got the Maple and it sounds great. I'm a drummer though and fell into the "tuned too high" camp. Oops. Thanks for the tips as always!!

I would be super interested in a tom tuning video, especially in connection with the Tune Bot!

At last someone with taste. I am sick and tired of everyone telling me that the pif pif sound of their snare is good. Nice video man keep it up. Always quality content only

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

🍺❤️

17:45 when the drums only start, its such a great sound, wow :)

My band's drummer, and studio session drummer for other projects, got a Ludwig Black Beauty snare for his kit last year. It's the best snare I've ever heard and had the pleasure to record. He uses the Drum Dial to tune his kits.

Kristian Kohle Muchas Gracias !!

That’s one of my biggest issues with drummers that don’t take tuning their drums seriously especially the snare drum !! Thank You for the tips on low tuning the snare !!

My brother is a drummer...we always fight for the tuning. I need to show him this video!

@sqlb3rn

3 жыл бұрын

detune his snare while he's passed out and see if he notices

I use a digital drum dial. I love my Pearl aluminum snare. Even after trying other high end (brass and wood) snares I still go back to my aluminum snare.

Ever since I bought a big, fat brass snare I haven't looked back. It is 95% perfect for me. Now i just need to try your tuning recommendations.

Nice Vid, Bro! Thx.

Super interesting video. I'm a drummer loves a high tuned ringy snare. I don't make metal, more heavy melodic proggy stuff, but I think I'll try the low tuning for the heavier stuff. Great information.

Fantastic video! I have a very similar approach, and even go a bit lower on all of the Horrendous records. This should be required viewing for all drummers!

That final sound of the snare sounds Gorgeous Kohle... can't wait for a video of explaining that post-processing (as you stated in 17:27) :-)

Great, thanks!

Great video and a great channel. It would be interesting to see some post-processing.

Listen to this man, he knows his shit!

Great video! I’m a huge advocate for tuning lower for bigger sounding results. I also use the tune-bot and my favourite batter head tones are around the same mark as yours. I have found that those numbers can change with thicker heads that have a lower timbre though. I’m intrigued by the 300~325 range for the reso. I’ve always loved 400hz for a snare reso as I find it really opens up like a presence knob on an amp around this frequency. But I’ll do some A/B’s under the mics and see what sounds better!

@von_freiesleben64

2 жыл бұрын

how did it go?

Sehr geil genau das Video das ich gerade gebraucht habe XD ... Bitte Bitte genau so ein Video noch ein mal für die Toms :-P !!!

So you're basically tuning the resonant head around a perfect fifth higher than the batter head. It makes a lot of sense to explain the thickness in the sound from a musical theory perspective.

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Not really! First of all, it's not a perfect 5th if I'm not mistaken. I spent years at university studying musical theory, but I never understood why this should be applied to drums in a rock / metal context. But I'm open for a discussion!

@riangarianga

3 жыл бұрын

You're right, for 235 Hz the perfect fifth would be at 352.10 Hz. 325 Hz would be 139 cents short. In this case, you're closer to a diminished fifth (devilish metal!), which should theoretically be at 332.34 Hz. You're 39 cents short. On guitars, perfect fourths and fifths sound good and still fat to our ears even when slightly out of tune. It's the first thing I thought when I saw the frequencies you used. Many years ago I read in some magazine an interview with Terry Bozzio where he mentioned he tuned all his drums to actual notes in relation to the band's tuning, so he could sort of play scales and chords, that triggered this thought on my mind.

I liked the 275Hz / 300Hz combo the best, personally. I think the other side of drum tuning that would be cool to explore in another video is the interaction between the drums and the bass and guitar. For example the higher tuned snare might work better with some guitar or bass sounds than others.

Snare is a king

Tuning low is very much in vogue for heavy styles right now, but Tim Redmond of Snapcase still takes the prize for coolest snare sound ever, on "Progression Through Unlearning".

@ZeBubba

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that Snapcase snare is ridiculously tight & "snappy".

Fantastic video, I love the fat snare 🥁 ! 🇺🇸

Nice lesson. Put more drums on your videos. Thanks

I tune my snare in different ways, a lot of it based around the sound of the band itself and what will fit in to help complete it. After that part is figured out, I decide on the shell type, depth, and the heads. It's sometimes possible to make cheap drums sound good with the right head combinations, but not always. For heads, I usually use the coated ambassador for most applications. The coating adds a nice little bit of muffling without removing the ring/resonance of the head and has enough warmth and attack. If you need to cut off some ring, moon gels are the ticket away from muffling rings. The 275/300 tuning works well on a maple or mahogany shell for jazz if that's your thing, but can work for some rock when tuned a little lower, like 250/300. I like maple/mahogany for wood, brass for metal. A Tama Bell Brass snare from the 90s is my Holy Grail of metal snare drums. 6.5x14 or 7x14 has always been my preferred depth because you can tune them super high like a marching snare if needed but also can tune them low and fat for metal and funk. Now, I don't have a tunebot, just ears. I'll use a tension meter and tune by ear to tension. This won't give as much accuracy but if your ears are good, the drum is good, the heads are good, and the room sounds good, the rest is easy to dial in. Taking a little extra time in the setup saves time in the post processing.

Please do a more detailed video about the processing that you put on that snare. It sounds awesome.

No hate! That sounds really nice and I seem to like the wires sounds in there too. I need to work on this. 😊

I would love this same video but with kick drums! The kick of the drummers i have recorded always sound weird and weak, not metal at all. I always learn a lot with your videos thank you a lot!

@Davlinitos

3 жыл бұрын

Aquarian super kick 2 heads, one piece of 24 audio foam trimmed to your drums depth, plastic or rubber beater, and plastic beater pad. I don't care I'd all you have is a 57 to Mic with it will be metal as fuck and you can't screw up the formula above. You'll be wishing you could just adequately capture how amazingly prefect it is right there in the room....which is kinda the point he made, that good sounds start at the source

As a drummer by trade, I think its safe to say this: When the resonant head is too low compared to the batter head...ready for it?... they are out of phase....ha ha! I hope I made you laugh. You are correct and your tones prove it! Great video as always!

Great lesson with the humour too🤣

Out of topic, tom tom sound pretty good too. Haha! Thank you for the tuner information.

The most important item here is "how does the snare sound itself" and "how does the snare sound in the whole band mix" thing. At least I know, that is certainly where I am struggling with... doing everything individually, and then in the end nothing fits together... Thanks for giving input in a direction I had not considered currently...

4:57 that moment of realization. Made me laugh out loud haha.

@KohleAudioKult

Жыл бұрын

Haha! I didn't remember this one!

You have to make a video of how to tune a snare drum! Congratulations Khole.

It's very educational. I would like to see the tuning and recording kik and toms:) Thank you!

I’ll trust your tuning and selections, KOHLE! Maybe i should get these Pearl Brass Snare for my Metal Stuff, it sounds great :-D.

Thoughts on regular use of rimshots - good, bad, context dependent, add them later??

Great video Kristian. I used to make the mistake of letting drummers tune their drums too many times. It took a while until I realized that they mostly don't know what they are doing.

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Ich dated studio time! I’ve been there. But 95% of them are happy if you tune for them.

If you want to be able to tune higher without losing the punch, try and get a bell bronze snare (also known as bell brass, e.g. Tama Bell Brass). They have much more low frequencies than snares of other materials. I own one and recording has gotten so much more joyful now :)

Cool Kohle - Would love to see how you tune (and mic) toms.

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Noted!

@rolfrolf9176

3 жыл бұрын

+1

Very cool stuff 🤘🔥 could you maybe also include the fundamental note you see on the tune-bot in addition to the lug pitch? That would make a great video even greater.....

@alexlykos18

13 күн бұрын

Exactly!!!

There are a few ways to keep the snare drum tune high but sound low. You can also get a big fat snare drum or use a cutout drumhead and place it on top of your snare drum. If you do that it will still have the sustained but it will lower the fundamental pitch. Another option is to detune the two or three lugs closest to you if you are sitting at the drum. It will lower the pitch if you do that but if you needed to be a higher in Pitch again add tension to the lugs across from those. There is another drum tuning tool bald drumdial. It measures the tympanic pressure of each lug. I as a drummer have developed the year that I have for tuning over 10 years. But I still have trouble sometimes it can be helpful I'm sure to use a tune bot the place you are in maybe very loud and it can become a crutch.

Hey Kristian, great video! One thing that I have problems with when recording and editing drums is the sustain and/or "ring" itself. Every time when I have a super ringy Snare and I edit the hits, the ring gets chopped up and sounds super weird later on. Do you have any tips on how to go about that? I always lean towards dampening the Snare to get rid of some of the sustain to make the editing a little smoother...

I played as drummer father`s 14x8 and it sounded very fat. Old Tama Superstar set from 80s, with concert toms. Very massive tone, but needed bright skins, and higher pitch.

Great video! Drummers should know more about how to work in the studio. I've recorded many drummers who use small drums, and play softly, but still expect heavy and fat results. Also many drummers put cymbals very low next to toms, because it's easier to play, but it also causes horrible cymbal bleed to tom mics. Same with the snare tuning, it's easier to play when it's tuned high, but you can't get a fat tone out of it that way. I personally really like CLEAR Emperor or Controlled Sound heads for the batter head. Clear head has ever so slightly more upper punch, and Emperor or CS is not as ringy as Ambassador, and lasts longer.

I agree, it's better a deeper snare. With 5.5" snares if you want a fat sound you usually tune them lower but they sound flabby. I could never get my 5.5" snares sound great as I want when they're tuned low. At least with 6.5" you can tune a bit higher, as you say Kristian, but still retain the deepness needed

You cant go wrong with a 14x6.5 brass snare, they just sound great.

When will you make the video on snare slams and how to mix them properly? great video anyway, you have great sounds and you did a great job with all your productions!

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

I'm working on a nice slam video

@elivaris5861

3 жыл бұрын

@@KohleAudioKult I think I fell in love with you!

just another great, informative, insightful video. please, please keep them coming. just one question though...what beer are you drinking during the filming???

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! In which video?

@markvizza2956

3 жыл бұрын

@@KohleAudioKult this one.

Thanks for this video Kohle, snare drum is my nemesis, always struggle with the tuning. Definitely gonna try using bigger snare drum next time recording metal! :) Also can you maybe sometime mention what do you do with the strings of the snare drum? Do you just crank them as tight as possible or do ya have a different approach? Thanks & cheers from Czechia

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

As much rattle as possible without sounding out of control, I'd say. Thanks man!

I will totaly buy that course, even if I think that I'm not a beginner anymore. But there is always new stuff to learn, isn't it?

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

It will be a part of my academy, the Kohle Audio Kult. The beginner course is the first one and there will be more and more small videos / courses added.

Thanks for all this infos, do you find this trick also working for snare samples that already have great attack? (GGD, Superior, Slate ecc)

Lovin the snare drum philosophy... Track it beefier. Gonna put that into play this week on a session...

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Track with beef, cut the fat and add the spice later.

Looks like my comment was nixed...use a frequency chart to find the key of the songs corresponding frequency. For example..if the key of the song is B..247 or 248 would be your target top head tuning frequency. Hope this adds value to what your doing here...great video as always! Prost!

Your drum videos are great! Is tuning drums in the key of the song important for you? A snare mixing video would also be nice!

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Not at all important!

Cool. The hoops make a difference too. The more deeper\fat of that aluminium is because of the power hoops instead of die cast on brass. I like S-Hoop on top with Power Hoop on bottom. Good work!! Rock on!!

@KohleAudioKult

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks man! In the audio files it was a Die Cast hoop both times! At least on the batter side.

Nice video, great info. Don´t forget to add the snares tension factor to the academy, I have found that when you have the tension too high the snare shoke and sound really crapy. But I don´t know when is tight enough for fast metal.

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Good idea! Noted

Nice update to the URM segment you did a couple of years ago. The Pearl Free-floater has got to be one of the best metal drums around. Curious that you used an Ambasador batter. It’s not what I would’ve gone with, but I wanna try it now 😅 A head comparison video could be interesting. Thanks! Have a good weekend :)

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

Head comparison, Yes! And I think there's only a year between most of my URM videos and now.

@georgepelekoudis

3 жыл бұрын

@@KohleAudioKult true. You haven’t aged that much 😅 Looking forward to a head comparison vid :)

I have a weird way of tuning my snare. I tune it up high then the bottom 3 lugs i back off a few turns then make the middle of the 3 lugs i detuned only finger tight. I can still have a decent amount of rebound for fast passages and still have that fat detuned sound

What reso head are you using? Because i use a tunebot gig and it's quite difficult to get it over 280hz

god i fuckin love brass snares

hi, great video! is suitable for big fat snare bronze? it seems better to me than brass, but I have no experience .. thanks for the feedback

No hate here, that was very helpful, thanks.

Hi Kristian. Nice vid. Would you mind showing how did you mic that whole drum set? I assume it's all natural reverb. Is it?

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

I’ll show you that in my drumcourse. I think there’s some digital reverb during the riff with the guitars. Not even you hear the drums alone.

A Drum tuning Video would be great ?

shell, head & snare choice tuning & snare tightness the right mics cohesion between close and room mics and of course, the drummer themself

@alrecks619

3 жыл бұрын

the right sample, too. If the mix calls for it. speaking of snare ring, treat it with expander plugin, and maybe a midrange cut & frequency notch, but don't go overboard.

Once again great content man!!! Now I just need to convince my drummer to tune it lower haha.. His is so freaking high-pitched and thin... Good job, this is way!!!

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

That’s how they all tune, haha! It’s comfortable for them and sounds good where they sit because the snare is so loud.

@j-fquevillon8134

3 жыл бұрын

@@KohleAudioKult Oh god...it's a pain! He such a great drummer, but stubborn AF. In the room indeed it's not bad but when mixing it sounds so... compromised already... Anyway, I would too start probably sell one of my kidneys to have access to your drum recording room, I really like the setup you have there, with the stereo mic at the top and everything. I will probably get your drum recording course when it's out for sure. Cheers dude

Phat Snare FTW! \m/,

After hearing the snare sound of Clive Burr on Killers, Igor Cavalera on Beneath the remains and Mick Harris on Harmony Corruption... I wouldn't call that a fat snare at all man...

@attilaaekerfeldt9524

3 жыл бұрын

All of them used Pinstripe heads

@lovecraftmusic8717

3 жыл бұрын

@@attilaaekerfeldt9524 exactly!

@KohleAudioKult

3 жыл бұрын

I think "Beneath the Remains" has a pretty similar tuning. Just more muffled (can easily be done later) and without any roomsound (mixing decision). This is one of the records I grew up with and know really well.

@lovecraftmusic8717

3 жыл бұрын

@@KohleAudioKult yes, the room makes a big difference too and I prefer when it's pretty dry... I hate roomy drums like John Bonham... I like just a bit of Lexicon reverb on snare.

@mikemnij3038

3 жыл бұрын

@@KohleAudioKult Beneath the Remains, Eaten Back to Life, Harmony Corruption :) Scott Burns signature sound in 1989-1990 :) if the Martians come on earth, the first thing they will need to get is the album Eaten Back to Life, as one of the best things on earth at all.

I think I am about to sample that snare :)