Gretsch acoustic kit sound check

[eric_B]

Here's a soundcheck I did this afternoon after a first try tuning my gig kit to notes: http://snd.sc/Hb34AO

It's a basic Gretsch Ash kit (10-12-14 toms with coated pinstripes, 22 kick with emad-2 batter), mic'ed up with EV PL 35s on the toms, an EV PL 33 on the kick, a Mapex Blaster 13x7 snare (I love that snare) with an SM57 and cheap Behringer C-2's as overheads.

So, what do you think?

[tisgnitch]

sounds nice eric - and i was listening through my mac speakers......yep, i can see why you love that snare - great sound.
what did you use to tune the toms?

[eric_B]

sounds nice eric - and i was listening through my mac speakers......yep, i can see why you love that snare - great sound.
what did you use to tune the toms?

A drumkey




(sorry had to say that )

Thanks for listening Ross. Yeah, a very nice snare, also looks great (link).
I used this guide: http://www.sticksandstaves.com/index.php?id=14
I also found these as a starting point: 16"-C#, 14"-F#, 12"-B, 10"-E, 8"-A

My problem tuning drums has always been that I loose track which note I should aim for when tapping a drum head for minutes. This gives me a better guide. It was a first try, still needs finetuning but I guess I'm getting in the ballpark so to say.

[tisgnitch]

hey, great link.....a very detailed example of tuning to pitch - wish i could find the time (and patience) to do that.
that is one sexy little snare too.....guess i thought you were using some special key to tune, like a drum dial or some such thing...i usually just tune to my ear, but i know a lot of drummers tune to specific notes, even changing for different songs...

[eric_B]

I've used drum dials, torque keys or whatever but not with very satisfying results. They only measure head or lug tensions while it is the note that counts.

Tuning to notes worked pretty fast and easy for me. I hit the drum, listen for the note and then press the key on a keyboard to hear if it should go up or down. The only trick is to find the right balance between batter and reso heads. And the bigger the tom, the harder to hear a note. That's just human hearing I think.

Oh, as I'm used to playing A kits with ear plugs, I decided to try that also while tuning. It seems to separate the dominant tone better than the overtones, at least to my ears.

If you're interested, here's another sound check of my Tama with all 5 toms (8-10-12-14-16): http://soundcloud.com/eric_b/soundtest-20120401-tama-dw
Not perfect but much better than what it was.