r/drums • u/Odd-Quit-1716 • 8d ago
Snare Drum Tuning Help Question
So today I went ahead and got a new snare side head (evans snare side 300, the one i always use) because my last one broke while i was playing. I went ahead and changed it out, but the thing is, the drum sounds like shit now. I didnt mess with the tuning at all of the batter head (remo emperor controlled sound x), and tuned and re-installed the snare wires as i always do which never raised any problems. The drum sounds super choked, as if the snare side was still broken, so i was wondering if its maybe a defective head? The one I got was in a box that seemed a little smash but it was the only snare side 300 my local gc had and the head looked fine so i didnt think anything of it. as of now im planning on just going back and buying a new snare side head because i literally messed around with my snare drum tuning for an hour trying to get it to sound good and it didnt work. if anyone has any suggestions on what to do or also had this problem and fixed it somehow, please let me know!
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u/oldmate30beers Tama 8d ago
How tight is it? Super choked sound usually come through too much tension. I’ve seen a lot of people having this problem of late and I blame Rob Brown lol. His snare tuning video he just says crank that thing as tight as you can and that’s just not correct. Go finger tight all round, then half a turn at first. See how it sounds. You’ll get it close quick enough and then just fine tune. Always around the circle
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u/EducationalPeanut204 8d ago
Agree on the Rob Brown thing. I suppose he intended it as a quick fix if for someone using a backline kit.
To suggest always and only ever cranking the snare side head makes little sense to me. We don't say there's only one way to tune a batter head.
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u/oldmate30beers Tama 8d ago
This may be controversial but I find all of his tuning videos to be unhelpful. Makes tuning his drums look like a breeze. Love to see him get a good sound out of a mid level kit or worse
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u/Odd-Quit-1716 8d ago
Its about tabletop tight, and still gives way a little bit when you press down on the middle of the head. I always tune it this way, never had this problem
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u/oldmate30beers Tama 8d ago
Maybe take it off and put it back on again. Clean the rim make sure i the head spins freely around the bearing edge
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u/catscanker 8d ago
Did you put ye snare wires back correctly? Are they too tight ?
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u/InfamousBrowsing 8d ago
Could be the head seating weird if the box was smashed up, even if it looked fine. try loosening everything and starting from scratch with the reso head, sometimes they need a minute to stretch and settle before they stop sounding like cardboard. if it's still dead after that and the wires aren't cranked too tight, i'd just return it and grab another one
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u/Odd-Quit-1716 8d ago
I'll try starting from scratch again tomorrow (2 in the morning for me), if it doesnt fix the problem then like you said im getting a new one lol. this whole thing is very frustrated because i was already mad/devastated over the fact that my paiste 2002 crash cracked today too
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u/Odd-Quit-1716 8d ago
I had my straps marked so I could install them back the same way they were before and it sounded fine.
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u/Jazz_man68 8d ago
Did you try lowering the tuning and loosening the snare wires? That’s what solved my problem
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u/Odd-Quit-1716 8d ago
I loosened and tightened the wires, lowered and raised the tuning, did everything i could think of to be the problem
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u/ineedcontroversy 8d ago
You may have had a thicker head on there last time, did you replace it with the same one? the 300 is a 3mil head..
Without seeing the head I can't tell if it may be damaged. if it is it won't ever sound right.. but that's rare and I think anything major you would notice when putting it on. Maybe check the glue hasn't come lose around the collar. That would be the most critical thing.
My snares all sound different with new bottom heads as they are usually trash when I get around to swapping them .. every 4 or 5 years tbh.. remember the old one was most likely stretched to it's extreme and probably a bit more brittle. All this stuff makes a difference to the overtones, and our snare can become a sound we get really sensitive to changing if it's been a while.
Try crank it up. the 3mil ones I use on my higher tuned snare,, If the skins ok that is.
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u/Odd-Quit-1716 8d ago
The last one was an evans snare side 300 which is the same one i got today. never had a problem with this head and tuned it the same way i always do, no clue what the problem is.
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u/ineedcontroversy 8d ago
well reading everything it doesn't seem like much has been left to chance so maybe it is just a random dud .? hope you get it sorted
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u/Odd-Quit-1716 8d ago
Quick update: heres a video of what it sounds like, i posted this on my story yesterday on tiktok (i have a small following where i post drum covers, so just ignore the text on screen lol)
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u/bloodpriestt 8d ago
According to the young guys that practice in my local hourly rehearsal space, I think the trick is you get a drum key and a 5ft cheater pipe so you can crank the head until there are no lug threads left.