Introduction
There is no right or wrong way to tune an acoustic drum. This guide is designed for beginners and/or those who are frustrated with the current sound they are getting from their acoustic drums. We've used this tried and true method for tuning acoustic drums for many years. This tuning method allows for precise tuning of drums by simply maintaining equal tension between the lugs. We hope you will find this information helpful and will consider joining our membership to learn more about the care and feeding of your acoustic drums. Feel free to experiment with what your learn here... There is no right or wrong way to tune an acoustic drum. This guide is designed for beginners and/or those who are frustrated with the current sound they are getting from their acoustic drums. We've used this tried and true method for tuning acoustic drums for many years. This tuning method allows for precise tuning of drums by simply maintaining equal tension between the lugs. We hope you will find this information helpful and will consider joining our membership to learn more about the care and feeding of your acoustic drums. Feel free to experiment with what your learn here... We recommend using new heads for best results with these tuning instructions. Be sure to verify the sizes included against your own kit.

You will need a drum key, and #2 pencil with good eraser. It is best to start with a new set of heads, but for purposes of learning you can simply take the existing ones off of your drum kit. Use your drum key to remove all of the heads with the exception of the bottom, or 'snare side' head of the snare drum. Once your heads are removed, place your shells on a smooth surface (a glass tabletop is best) to inspect your 'bearing edges'. All 'batter side' (top) edges should rest flat against the surface of the table. (If you DID remove the bottom head from your snare drum, you should notice that there are dips in the bearing edge where the snares meet the shell. This is normal.) Any warping or nicks out of the bearing edge can make proper tuning difficult. Assuming they are all good on both sides, we can proceed with tuning your new heads.

With the 'print' of your thumb (you may wish to use gloves), turn the rounded part of the head inside out in order to 'break in' the head. This loosens up the head, breaks loose any over-applied adhesive and makes the head more pliable to tuning. (THIS STEP IS NOT ADVISED FOR 'SNARE SIDE' HEADS AS THEY ARE VERY THIN AND DAMAGE EASILY.)

Put your new (or original) heads and rims back on each drum and tighten the tension rods 'finger-tight' only.

Tighten each rod 1/2 turn with your drum key, moving always moving to the opposite lug until the majority of wrinkles have disappeared from the head. Continue this process until you can start to hear tone when you tap the drum. (DO NOT USE A DRUMSTICK ON A 'SNARE SIDE' HEAD. THE RECOMMENDED STRIKING IMPLEMENT IS A PENCIL ERASER. 'SNARE SIDE' HEADS ARE VERY THIN AND DAMAGE EASILY.)

In order to 'seat' the head, you will need to apply pressure to the center of the head with your open hand. This will ensure that the drum head's hoop seats properly in the groove of the drum's rim. (You may hear a crackling sound, similar to the one heard when you did Step 2. This is perfectly normal.) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until the drum maintains tone after the seating process. (THIS 'SEATING' PROCESS SHOULD NOT BE USED ON 'SNARE SIDE' HEADS.)

Set the drum on a carpeted surface, with the head you wish to tune facing up. (This will help muffle the 'resonant side' head so you can focus on the head you are tuning.) Tap the head about 1" in from each tension rod with your #2 pencil's ERASER and listen to the pitch produced. (A pencil eraser is better to tune with. It eliminates a lot of the overtones that a good whack with a drumstick produces, allowing you to better focus on pitch.)

Keep track of which lugs sounded higher or lower than others. You will notice that the 'opposing' lug will usually have the same pitch. (This is not the case on some drums smaller than 10 inches, as they don't always have an even number of lugs.) Loosen each rod where the pitch was high (1/4 turn) and tighten each rod where the pitch was low (1/4 turn).

Re-seat the head again. (See step 5.) Repeat steps 7, 8 and 9 until you are comfortable that the drum is in tune with itself. Once you have done this, tighten the drum head using opposing tension until it produces the pitch you want. Perform steps 4 through 10 on the bottom, or 'resonant' head of each drum.

Only the basics of drum tuning were covered here, but as you can see, the right tuning method and a fresh set of good quality heads can make all the difference to the sound of your drums. We believe that before you can build confidence in your playing, you must first have confidence in your instrument. A poor sounding instrument can't help but produce a poor sounding performance. The concepts for tuning snare and bass drums are quite similar to the above instructions, but each presents some unique challenges. Even more so, bringing all of the drums together requires some planning in order to achieve sonic harmony.

A good drum is pretty much indestructible, provided that you don't drop it off the roof of your house, BUT you can take several steps to keep it in good working order. If you bought your drum new (it's still in the plastic bag), then there's a good chance that it's still clean. However, if you bought the drum USED, you don't know WHERE its been! Here's some spring cleaning tips that my percussionists do at least once a year on my high school's equipment:

Start by taking off the top head. With the drum key (noooo, don't use a pair of pliers!), loosen each tension rod & put it aside. Pull the rim off of the shell & wipe it down with some Windex or "Goo-Gone" (especially if you bought the drum from some giging country drummer - there's probably a ton of cigarette ashes between the head and the rim)! Next, pull the head off the drum shell and wipe down the top edge of the shell (this is called the "bearing edge"). If you really want do it right, rub a little PARAFFIN WAX on the bearing edge - just enough for a light coat, not so much that there are big globs of it. The wax will help make the head slide smoothly over the bearing edge as you tighten the head in the tuning process.

Before you put the head back on the drum, give it a good inspection. Make sure that there are not cuts or small holes in the head. Usually a drum head that has a few dents in it or is "spotty" from the coating flaking off is still in good shape. If the head has a major gash in it, you can buy a new one for $10 - 15. Place the head on the drum. If you're into the visual thing, you might want to line the drumhead "logo" (if there is one) up with the snare strainer - sometime that helps when you want to quickly identify where the snares are lined up on the drum. Make sure that the bearing edge makes contact with the head completely around the drum. If you have major problems puttin the head on the shell, check to see if the head is warped (or "out of round") by rolling it on the floor. If the head isn't bad, then you might have problems with a warped shell - oops - that's a big deal (most of the pre-"free-floater" drumcorps snare drummers know what I'm talking about!). Try to get your money back!

Now set the counter hoop on the head & line up the holes with the tension rod casings. Get close to make sure that they are EXACTLY lined up - you can really screw up the rods or the casings if they aren't. Make sure that the rim makes contact with the head ALL THE WAY around the bearing edge. Is there even spacing between rim of the head and the "lip" of the counter hoop? If not, you might have a warped hoop - you'll be able to tell immediately when you start the tuning process!

It's time to give those tension rods a good cleaning. Chances are, they are black & coated with old grease and grime! A little bit you can live with, but if you've got nothing better to do - give them a quick bath with some "grease cutting" dishwashing liquid. Remember to not use Mom's good towels - you WON'T be able to get the stains out (I'd go with an old pair of underwear or socks). If you want a quick cleaning job, just wrap your cloth around the bottom of the lug and hold tightly while you "unscrew" it out of your grip. Now inspect it closely: if all of the big chunks of gunk are gone, then you're in good shape. Before you put the tension rods back on the drum, give the rod casings a quick inspection. Wipe the gunk from the OUTSIDE of the casing, but be careful to not push any stuff INTO the receiving doohickey (what's that called?). If you REALLY need to, you can take a Q-tip with alcohol on it to swab some of it out. Now that the drum is CLEAN, put the head back on!