Tuning - Courtesy of Dick Markus

A while ago I wrote to my good friend Richard Markus to ask about tuning. He used to work at Remo and knows so much about tuning drums. Here's his reply.

Essentially:

1) Place drum on a padded surface to dampen one of the heads-Otherwise as you hit one side the other head is also 'activated.'

2) Press into the head to assure it is seated to the bearing edge of the drum

3) Lightly place your finger in the center of the head to stop full motion of the head

4) Tap the head at the lug area (in about an inch) to assure all lugs are the same pitch.

5) Pres head as above and repeat until the drum'sings.'

6) Reverse drum and repeat procedure. ==

On toms I prefer having the bottom head 1/2 step higher than the batter---more projection

On SDS-You can actually tune the drum to a 'G'. Snare side lower than batter. Very important that the lugs at the snare bed are pitched the same as the rest of the snare side. Do not over tighten the snares themselves.

On BD's-The front being lower acts as a natural mute. Also be sure the front hoop is off the ground to allow the shell to vibrate. Ideally put dense foam, etc. under the BD pedal to free up the back of the BD-more fundemental pitch and projection. Please take toms off the BD.

Bob Gadsen has an excellent video on DCI about all of this.