I have a snare I LOVE!!! my go to snare, but, I think I could make it even better. Rimshot Backbeats are KILLIN' on it, but I get some extra snare buzz after the initial hit. I like my wires mediumish + or - in either direction that makes the drum sound best. Wires are DW & I cut off 4 from each side making it now a 12 wire snare. I've tried various bottom head tunings, i.e. bed lugs loose vs. tuned even or tighter & not fixed it. I find tighter 4 @ beds best on this drum. I wonder if the wires are the issue? If I tighten up the wires to the point where the buzz goes away, the snares don't react when I play ppp. Is it a 1 or the other situation? Do I expect too much from this drum? Thanks in advance... John I meant to say my snare sounds best with 4 lugs @ beds looser, much looser sounds best..

Hey John!

There has to be some frequency making the snares buzz after the hit- it could be coming from the drum itself or from the surrounding drums responding to the initial hit.  If you've already cut down the snares to 12 and it's still doing it- that's impressive!!!
So here's a couple of suggestions (lemme know how they work!)

-If it's happening at the kit- muffle the individual other drums- both top and bottom heads at a time- while you hit the snare.  If the afterbuzz stops- then the drum you're muffling is obviously the culprit.  change it's tuning one way or the other to stop the harmonic resonance.

-If it's happening away from the kit- there could be a frequency within the drum that's making it happen- detuning the lugs around the bed is a SUPER old school way of killing the buzz- it does work but it's going to affect the dynamic range.  What happens when both the top and bottom heads are tuned exactly the same?

In the end, it could also be that the heads need to be changed- the thin snare side heads can only stretch so far and then they won't come back and although some older snare sides deaden out and that's favourable to some- old heads can also start making some weird frequencies, which could cause some issues.  The snares might need a refresher too- if they've been beaten up for a while!!! (see below for stuff on that)

I've had drums that were kinda one trick ponies before- amazing rimshots but muffled ghosts- an old maple one comes to mind...

Hope this helps!
J!

Hello Jay, thanks for your service. My question deals with what we hear behind the kit vs. what is heard out front. Weekend hackers like myself think we have a good idea of what our kits sound like, but unless another drummer is around to sit behind the kit, we'll never know how it sounds out front - even then, that other drummer might not hit like we do. For example, that nice low-tuned floor tom that really rumbles behind the kit, completely dies at the front of the stage. So, for a drummer like me (whose only mic is on the kick), who plays at the corner bar, do you have any sort of guidelines to tuning? Thanks for your time and consideration. Bill Hamm

Hey Bill!

I think this is a common situation- there's so many venues we get to play in where the bass drum is the only thing mic'd.  Personally, in any live situation I tune the toms higher than I would in studio.  This is especially true with thin shelled drums like DW, Starclassics, Pearl Masters etc.  These drums sound great close mic'd but as soon as you need them to project- all those lush lower frequencies get lost under the bass amp, guitar/keyboard amps and singer's tambourine!!!

When we don't have the luxury of mic'd toms and an awesome sound engineer- we kind of have to think like one!  The same way that an engineer uses equalizers to carve in and out individual frequencies to ensure that instruments don't step on each other sonically, we have to do that with our drums.

We need our toms to sing above the din of the lower frequencies- hence why they mic just the kick drum- if you didn't it would be completely lost in the melee!!!  Start by tuning just the bottom tom heads up- by like 1/8 to 1/4 turn each lug and see what happens- then do the same with the top head.  Don't be afraid of going too far and then backtracking... we're looking for the perfect projecting note. It's going to sound a little weird and bongo-ey from your throne but out front underneath all the other instruments- they'll sound great.

Your question reminds me of a similar gig I did in a pub as a sub (pub sub? haha) where I didn't know the band- just that it was classic rock.  I show up and there's the little tiny corner stage- WITH A FULL MARSHALL STACK ON IT.   I knew I was in for a long night!  You should have seen how the guitar player was dressed to rock as well....

Thanks for the question!
JAY

Can u teach a drummer to make the time elastic or is that an innate quality ? -Dave

Awesome question!!!  (Check out Dave's band Blind God on itunes- great stuff!)

This is something that I've thought about quite a bit over the last bunch of years- why is it that some drummers can groove and some sound like they're doing fractal mathematics?  Also- how can I teach the concept that time IS an elastic morphing, changing constant?

The entire concept became crystal clear to me when I was studying with Duduka Da Fonseca, Kim Plainfield and Bobby Sanabria at The Collective NYC.  It became evident to me that in western contemporary music that our idea of time placement and groove is to put the backbeat "in the pocket" and keep it precisely the same from bar to bar throughout the entire song.  I felt that in Afro-Cuban styles- the masters could and would "push and pull" time placement- not only within the bar but throughout the entire song including fills, solos and heads.  It was a huge wake up call!!!

As I began to investigate this, one thing that became evident is that the way someone learns in, say- a samba school in Brazil versus Western European methods are vastly different.  I was taught to read music first- playing simple patterns on a pad while being coached by my teacher.  Soon, I was allowed to move to the drumset where more complex patterns were placed on the music stand for me to work through- while my teacher coached.

The way many Afro Cuban drummers are taught from an early age is predominately in a group setting- gathered around the master.  The master will play a pattern and then go from student to student allowing them to slowly pick it up by ear while watching repeatedly how the master is physically moving.  There's actually a scene depicting this in the new Canadian Documentary "A Drummer's Dream" where supreme conga master Giovanni Hidalgo is teaching a group of young drummers in this fashion.

As students at the Collective- we were also exposed to this type of learning- and it was a blast!!!
Eventually you had 6-7 drummers all sharing and playing at the same time- and if you happen to "trip", it was pretty easy to get back into the groove with your friends.

In my own teaching practise,  I try to incorporate this type of learning experience when I can but, although it sometimes works, it does go against the grain of how people tend to learn now.  In order to effectively communicate with the majority I came up with this concept process to open the students' minds to the idea:

The 3 stages to becoming a master drummer:

First stage: Basic technique and co-ordination.  Simple beats and poly rhythms- 8th notes, 16th notes and 8th note triplets.

Second Stage: Intermediate/Advanced technique.  This is where the math really comes in!!!  Subdivisions, Divisions, Metric Modulation, all that stuff. Most Importantly- I can write anything in this stage down on a piece of paper and give it to you to study on your own.  It's concrete.  You can hold it.  Give it to your friends for Christmas!!!

Now because this stage is so real to so many people- there's a comfort zone there.  You can sit in your basement for years lost in the mathematical beauty- just you and your click and a case of Ensure drink boxes and feel safe.  Consequently, many many people just get stuck here and never progress- they might even feel as if they're moving forward while moving away from the groove!!!  So, I try to open their minds with the concept of the-

Third Stage: The realization that time is elastic.  In nature, time stretches and pulls constantly.  The best clock in the world- the optical clock- is accurate to 1 second every 3.5 billion years.  Although impressive- not perfect!!! Time is a constant- but not scientifically perfect.

I tell students that in our society- we don't all haul out the lawn chairs on Oct 15 to watch the leaves change colour and fall off the trees every year!  It stretches and pulls.  Think of anything in nature and it easily teaches us this lesson.

The next step after the concept realization is to train the ear to hear the "pocket".  Learning Afro Cuban grooves and the importance of clave is important.  Also, I have a bunch of songs that I play for the student and then discuss.  These can include "One Headlight" by the Wallflowers and "Leave Your Hat On" by Joe Cocker (Matt Chamberlain and Mike Baird on drums) among others.

Luckily for younger students, they're getting pretty savvy to things like "griding" on protools and are in to checking out the Earl Palmers and James Gadsons and Jeff Porcaros for the real groove!!!

Thanks to YouTube, it's all there now for the taking!

Thanks for the question!!!
JAY!

Jay, do you believe that wire snares "wear out"... and need to be replaced... ie. bi-annually. Or as long as they aren't damanged...they are as good as new? Eric

Snares can be a real cause of headaches in terms of weird frequencies and other snare drum problems.  I don't think they "wear out" so much as get damaged.  I've had some sessions where the snares were actually decades old but sounded great.  So if you're having problems and suspect the snares:

-Turn the drum over and look at 'em!  If any snares are broken off and hanging there- that's a problem!!!  Take a pair of wire cutters and remove the offending snare wire as close to the plate as you can, I actually leave about 2mm and bend the "nub" away from the head so that it won't puncture it.  And then here's the important part:  Remove the snare wire on the opposite side to maintain even tension over the snares.  Example- If the broken wire was the 2nd one in from one side- remove the wire 2nd in from the opposite side- Even If It's Not Damaged!!!!  if the snares aren't distributing weight evenly- they'll buzz and frap.

-If there are no broken snares- release the strainer tension and look at the way the snares are laying on the head (sometimes I'll hold the drum up to see how they fall away)  If there's an obviously slack snare in the bunch- hanging lower or not as uniform as the others- I'll cut that one out (as well as his opposite!) using the same technique above.

-Snares look okay?  right then, let's turn our attention to the attaching string/tape/wires and ALIGNMENT.  Alignment is crucial!!!  turn the snares back on and look at the distance between the butt plate of the snares and the outside edge of the shell.  The distance on both sides of the butt plate should be the same and the distance between the opposite butt plate should be exactly the same with the snares engaged.  In short- that thing should be centered like a grade 6 geometry class!!!
Check out the general wear on the string or tape- if it appears like it's seen better days- it's always prudent to change them before they possibly break on you.  In front of thousands of fans.  Or your family at Christmas....

QUICK NOTE: Never use the wire or sheathed metal wire attachments on the market with wood drums- they can carve divots in the bearing edge- which is a wayyyyyyyy worse problem!!!

This is also a great time to check out the general working condition of the snare strainer itself- is it bent or damaged?  Rusted? A Ludwig P85???(chronically bad)  Do yourself a favour and replace it before it gets worse.  All companies offer their strainers as a replacement product- some way more expensive then they should be. I'm a pretty big fan of the Dunnett strainers available through Kaman- they have adjustable screw distances so you don't have to drill your drum and work just great.  Also not expensive at all!

I've just been using the new Puresound Custom Pro series snares and am a huge fan- If you're looking for options, check out the Puresound line available everywhere D'Addario products are sold.

Thanks for the question Eric!!!
JAY!

So what exactly is going on here???

Hello everybody!!!  What you've stumbled on to is a little spot I created on a whim.  Weekly, I get emails from musicians, producers and of course, drummers with questions regarding drum sounds, drum maintenance, drum equipment and other drum stuff for both live and in the studio.  I've decided to create a forum where people can email me a question and I'll put it up here along with the answer- Everybody wins!!!

Why do these people ask me questions?  Well in addition to playing drums for about 33 years now- 25 professionally,  I have worked as a drum tech on the side both live and in the studio since 1992.  So all those years of dealing with all the drum companies' gear has left me with an opinion on almost everything.

FULL DISCLOSURE- I am currently endorsed by Yamaha Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Vater Drumsticks and Puresound snare wires.  I also love these products and feel they represent the best of the best in giving me "my sound".  SO, ya I like them best.  But I am familiar with practically everything else out there and have a lot of respect for some of the other companies' products.  My opinion is an honest one!!!