Great Bass Drum Sound - Tuning Quick Tip

If you're trying to get a full, deep sound from your bass drum try the following:

1. Tension the back (batter) head and your front (resonant) head so that they are equally tensioned all-around
2. Tuning each head in turn: Press in the middle of the head with the palm/heel of your hand and slowly de-tune each tension bolt by about a quarter of a turn (ensure you use the opposites method as described here) until the head shows wrinkles around the edge. It is important to ensure that the tuning remains even at each tension rod so complete the de-tuning sequence even if wrinkles begin to appear before you've de-tuned every rod).
3. Once all tension rods have been de-tuned by the same amount, re-tension each bolt by one complete turn.

This should give you the deepest sound possible from your bass (kick) drum.

We all have our personal preferences and so you may need to tweak the tuning of the batter and resonant heads to your own personal taste, but this method gives you a great starting point.

Some people advise that the drum should be parallel to the floor so as to reduce pressure on the rear tension hoop and give the deepest tuning. Other exponents (e.g., Russ Miller) advocate raising the front of your bass drum slightly (by about the thickness of your hand) so that when you play the bass pedal, the beater strikes the batter head when it is in the vertical position, thereby gaining maximum pedal control.

I guess it's a case of see what suits you best. As with all things avoid extremes and be prepared to experiment with what suits YOU (not your favourite drummer!) best.

There's further information on the Waywood Music web site for general drum tuning and bass/kick drum tuning.

Until next time ...