How to tune a drum: a step by step guide to even lugs and both heads

What do you need?

• A drum key.
• A drumstick for tapping.
• A quiet room, so you can hear small differences in pitch.
• Patience. Small turns make a big difference.

How to tune a drum, step by step

These steps work for snares and toms. Bass drums have an extra step, covered further down.

1. Seat the head and finger tighten. Fit the head and hoop so the head sits centred on the shell. Evans advises finger tightening all the tension rods to create an equal starting tension.

2. Use the cross lug sequence. Do not go round the drum in a circle. Evans recommends the opposite lug sequence: turn one rod, then the one directly across from it, then move round. Leeds Conservatoire’s guide with Evans explains that this keeps the tension balanced all the way round.

3. Half turns until it resonates. Using the drum key, turn each rod half a turn in that sequence until the head starts to resonate.

4. Quarter turns to smooth it out. Tap the head slightly off centre and keep adjusting in quarter turns until the head resonates and any wrinkles disappear.

5. Match the pitch at every lug. This is the fine tuning stage. Evans says to tap directly in front of each tension rod as you go round, aiming for equal pitch at every rod, and to use this technique to bring the head up to the pitch you want. If one lug sounds lower than the rest, tighten it a little; if higher, loosen it.

6. Tune the bottom head. Turn the drum over and repeat the process on the resonant (bottom) head.

How tight should the bottom head be?

There is no single right answer, and the makers’ guides say slightly different things:

• Evans suggests closely matching the bottom head’s pitch to the batter (top) head.
• Remo says tuning the resonant head slightly higher, about a half step above the batter, gives clearer overtones, longer sustain and a more focused sound.

Remo also points out that drum tuning is subjective. Try both and keep the one you like.

How do you tune a snare and a bass drum?

Snare: Remo says the snare drum benefits from higher, tighter tension. Evans recommends A440 as the pitch for the bottom snare head, and suggests setting the snare tension knob halfway before fitting new wires, then adjusting it to the response you want.

Bass drum: Remo says the bass drum usually uses lower tension for a deeper, punchier tone. Evans gives a trick for the lowest pitch that still resonates: tighten the batter head until it resonates, then press your palm into the centre of the head and loosen each rod until wrinkles appear, then turn each one a full turn back.

Tips for drum tuning that holds

• Change heads in the same cross pattern. Leeds Conservatoire’s guide suggests detuning in half turns, rod to opposite rod, so you do not stress one side of the shell.
• Clean the bearing edge when the head is off. The guide notes this is the contact point between head and shell, so nothing should get in the way.
• Go slowly. A quarter turn can be enough to move the pitch noticeably.

Questions people ask

Where Drum Tuner helps, and where it does not

Drum Tuner is our Android app that listens through your phone’s microphone. It is built around step 5: tap in front of a lug and it shows how far that lug is from the others and whether to tighten or loosen it, then lights up the next lug across the drum. It handles both heads, and in the centre it shows the head’s pitch in Hz and the nearest note, with an optional target note. Lug matching and centre pitch are free. A one-time Pro purchase adds kits that keep every drum’s readings, retuning to a saved sound, and linking the bottom head to the top (the same pitch, or a half step above, as Remo suggests). It works offline, and nothing leaves your phone.

What it is good for: step 5 above. Seeing a number for each lug makes it easier to spot the one that is out, especially if you are still training your ear.

The app’s own tip: use a quiet room, hold the phone about 30 cm from the drum and tap lightly with a stick, about 3 cm in from each lug.

What it will not do: it cannot tell you what pitch your drums should be. That is a matter of taste and style. A phone microphone gives a practical guide rather than a lab calibrated measurement, and it hears very low bass drum notes faintly. If a reading looks odd, trust your ears and tap again.

Questions or bugs: Email us.

Sources

1. Drum Set Survival GuideEvans (D’Addario) · daddario.com
2. Drum Maintenance and Tuning with EvansLeeds Conservatoire · leedsconservatoire.ac.uk
3. Drum Set Tuning BasicsRemo · remo.com