Snare Drum Fun
The sound of a snare drum is key, it’s what I listen out for on a recording and notice most live; a ‘flappy’ or ‘choked’ snare drum can be game over with no credit left… Here’s some tips to show you how I go about re-heading and tuning a snare drum.
Ingredients: Batter head, underside head, snare wires.
Tools: Drum key, cloth, 3in1 oil, drumstick.
Optional: Coffee, flapjack, podcast.
Today I’ll be taking apart our DW Collectors snare drum and re-heading (top and bottom), then tuning it to get the best neutral starting point for a rehearsal room or a hirer. A blank canvas, so to speak. In this instance, I will only be putting the snare back together, so if you need instructions on taking a drum apart, please read this backwards! It looks like it has been a tough month for this snare so I’ll be giving it a good clean along the way and treating it to a new set of snare wires. Spicy.
We are starting the revamp with a stripped shell, so remove both heads and the snare wires from the underside. I’ve taken this opportunity to give the shell a good clean inside and out with a microfibre cloth, the lack of tension rods gives you good cleaning access to the lugs. The rims have a tendency to pick up grime and dust, so be sure to give these a good wipe. Keep all the tension rods together and make sure you recycle the old heads, or keep hold of them for future use (watch this space for old head tricks).
The new heads I will be using are from Evans. I have paired the HD dry top head with the 300 hazy bottom. I’m not saying this is the right way, but it’s definitely my preferred combo which, through time and experience have found is the best pairing for a neutral sounding, long wearing snare drum fit for the rehearsal room. It sounds great on metal or wooden drums and gives a great thud or crack- whichever tickles your pickle.
Method:
Bottom head - First head on is the underside. I have found it works best to fit and tune the bottom head before the top, as with my technique, the top is variable. Apply the new hazy head followed by the bottom rim then feed the tension rods through into the lugs. I always dab a small amount of 3in1 oil on each tension rod to increase longevity of the drum and avoid rusting. Tighten all of the rods as much as you can with your fingers, this creates the best starting point for tuning as we need to try our best to keep an equal tension across all the lugs. Using a drum key, pick a tension rod and give
it a full turn followed by a full turn of the opposite rod. From there, move clockwise one rod and repeat the pattern until you end up back where you started. This method is universal and works with any drum. Repeat this process until the skin is super tight and there isn’t much play when you (gently) push your finger in the centre. Tap the skin at each lug and try to match the tones as evenly as you can. We are aiming for the highest possible tension-this makes the snare more responsive and the snare wires more sensitive, the perfect foundation to build a great tone!
Snare Wires - In my opinion, getting the snare wires correctly positioned is the most important part of the drums sound. In order to set it up most effectively you need to have the wires in the middle of the drum the same
distance from the rim once they are in operation, as you can see in the picture. Starting with the strainer butt end (the static clamp), feed the strips through the hole in the rim and tighten. Then you want to tighten the snare strainer as much as you can, then turn it back by 8 turns, this will give you the optimum versatility when it comes to sounds! Feed the other strip through to the strainer and hold the lever arm back (as if it was in the snares off position), tighten then flip the drum over. It’s now best to check that when the snare lever if off, the snare wires are not in contact with the bottom skin, snare drums sound even better with the wires disconnected!
Top Head - Repeat the process done with the bottom head for the top head. Use the 3in1 oil, and get the rods to finger tight before tuning however only tighten to about half the tension. You can now use a drum key, drum stick or
even just your fingers to tune each lug to each other, and once done will give you a nice tone when used without the snares activated. Tune this head to taste, if you’re after a thud keep it low, if you want a nice crack, tune it nice and high. It’s then over to the snare wires. Put the drum on a snare stand and loosen the snare strainer thread, activate the snare wires. Using a drum stick lightly tap the centre of the drum, mimicking a ghost note. Slowly tighten the thread on the strainer and you will hear the snares making contact with the bottom head, they will start by sounding a bit loose but then will tighten, you want to stop when there is no sound left after you tap the drum. This is the best foundation position and it will add a real thick sound to the drum. The reason I do this with ghost notes is that you want the snare to be the most sensitive it can be so calibrating it at the lowest velocity ensures a positive result.
There you have it! A freshly serviced, clean and fantastic sounding snare drum. We sell all sorts of heads, snare wires and accessories in our rehearsals shop and also next door in the service centre.
Until next time……
