Can You Tune a Drum Set Without Hearing It?

[@rdavidr]

WeLl i tUnE bY FeEl Check out the Pearl Session Studio Select over on zZound: (Affiliate Link) www.zzounds.com/a--3970705/item--PEASTS925XSP

[@BEElaine1008]

I have a Session Studio Select in the Black Halo Glitter....It is a thing of beauty!!!

[@rdavidr]

@@BEElaine1008 wanna trade? 😂 Kinda bummed they stopped making that finish

[@BEElaine1008]

@@rdavidr nope but I think you can still order them....mine took 6 months

[@ima_drummer1267]

im thinking about getting one of these in 2 years (because im still a bad beginner). how do you learn to play drums?

[@user-wp1pj9jb1d]

Do have a link to the great backing track u played with?

[@andsuaz]

Tune by smell

[@flarfatron2190]

t a s t e

[@ArborGeist]

Ever pop the head off a vintage Ludwig tom? "sniiiiiiiiiiiiiffffff"

[@thIDthIRreenactor]

@@ArborGeist my set is a 1965 ludwig and the vintage wood smell smell nice

[@ArborGeist]

@@thIDthIRreenactor nice! I have a 67 champagne sparkle super classic. Smells MUCH better than my new starclassic bb lol.

[@thIDthIRreenactor]

@@ArborGeist nice same my brother had a pace double bass drum set it's a newer one and it smelled wierd mine wich is 55 years old now smells beautiful

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Good fun! Tensioning drums up is definitely the easy part and it sure sounded like you got them in a decent place just by feel. We might just have to experiment with this as well...

[@guestivity2063]

Sounds Like A Drum you two really are my favorite drum youtubers :O

[@eastbaymauiboy]

Yup, sounds like a good idea to steal (I MEAN expound on). Something like half my tuning is by feel, at least initially. It'd be cool to see the relationship between the hands, ears, and even the eyes while tuning.

[@camdudley428]

Please do a mash up and invite each other on each respective channel!

[@I_Am_BearSquatch]

The "tuned by feel" kit sounds so good lol

[@joeday4293]

Sounds like something I'd use on a recording, but never live. They were fat as hell, though.

[@gutturals]

His snare sounded better by feel.

[@QuynhNguyen-qv9xy]

I think the tuned by feel sounds like a death/metal kit and the tuned by hearing has more tone

[@ryanwilson5782]

Call me crazy, but I actually liked the first tuning more.

[@ClaudioPulito]

That's why sound is such a personal thing :)

[@speedyyyyyyfast5951]

same i would of tuned the floor toms up a little bit i still do like that first tuning alot better

[@pinkjay1015]

Honestly same

[@BradsGonnaPlay]

i would take the snare and rack toms from the first kit and the kick and floor toms from the second. happy medium

[@pablodiazrueda9630]

Is not about what you like the most is about how you want it to sound

[@crazy8sdrums]

..and extra note...Those Pearl drums sure look fantastic! What a pretty wrap!

[@jtkennedy182]

What I thought was hilarious is the kit tuned only by feel had perfect sounding toms for me hahaha. I like my toms nice and deeply tuned. I’ll have to try your floor tom tuning method too!

[@williammills8953]

I kinda liked the low tone.

[@cayninx7993]

Wow you didn’t even tune the cymbals smh jk lol great vid

[@DrewKane]

I can imagine a scenario where this skill would be useful. You're performing at a live event. There's another act on stage, and they don't use drums. You have a technical problem that requires you to tune your drums before you play (a slashed head needs to be replaced), but banging on the drum would interrupt the other performer. So, you need to put a new head on and tune it up without making noise. There must be a dozen variations of this scenario I could think of, and I'm sure there are other situations that this skill would be useful.

[@compucat]

Yup! I'm a live audio engineer - this is absolutely a good scenario for that. My tuning game is nowhere near as good as I'd like it to be, though, so I cheat and use a DrumDial...which, effectively, is measuring head tension exactly the same way you would when tuning by feel!

[@JeserNoob]

CompuCat I don’t consider cheating. In fact that’s a great solution! This coming from someone who just tuned my kit using said device a few days ago and am still blown away that I can for once see results in my tuning progression

[@prod.by444runnr2]

“wait you guys tune your drums?” - electronic drum users

[@cagilundar]

You must be tuning your cables =)

[@michaelday6987]

We tune mesh heads for head feel and bounce.

[@RileyHarrisVFX]

Bro I just bought my first acoustic kit and I legit have no idea what the fuck I’m doing hahaha

[@JeserNoob]

Rip POG

[@robcolone8546]

If you get a decent electronic kit, yes you can tune your drums

[@IoneiTheBand]

tuned by feel Kit still absolutely slaps. Those toms are dope.

[@thebreakfastmenu]

As a guitarist, the most valuable thing I've learned from this video is how "zzounds" is actually supposed to be pronounced.

[@martenmanna]

I like my kick batter tighter, my snare wires cranked, and low toms, so I actually really loved the "tuned-by-feel" kit hahaha

[@zacklanger694]

Video idea: can you make a set of Gavin Harrison splash bells?? I can’t find anything like them or the stand and they are supposedly homade and custom

[@sammyloehnis3373]

David has a video up about making some custom bells out of old cymbals, but if you know anyone who's handy with a disc-cutter, they shouldn't have any trouble with it if you mark out the radius you want them to cut out

[@jayechristian9697]

Lance campeau has actually done this a few times

[@Killenmachine05]

The original set was just bell cups cut out of broken cymbals, and then for future sets he would just have zildjian make them for him

[@anujjawahirani9780]

Check out paiste 2002 cup chimes.

[@emmanuelinfante]

creating a video about it would be awesome, good idea, hope he reads this

[@Jcurtisjr1506]

That finish is just stunning and love the “tuned by ear” kit! That’s just lovely! :-D

[@rddsknk89]

Wow, it's awesome to see you have a sponser like this! I remember when you only had 8,000 subs. Your channel has come a long way!

[@halcyon3397]

This video sold me on the pearl session studio select. Thanks b0ss

[@MrSawlong]

i play drums for like 15 years now, i have no clue about tuning... i mean, i watched a lot videos about it and i can live with the sound of my kit. but to be honest: i love that sound of your tuned kit, without hearing. i think i will do it like this in the future xD

[@cohen2112]

Try using a tune bot. I'm not too good of a tuner myself but it takes about 15 minutes to get my kit tuned perfectly using it. They aren't that expensive either and are pretty easy to use.

[@MrSawlong]

@@cohen2112 i guess the rdavidr way without hearing isnt expensive either

[@farshimelt]

Go to Rob Brown's website. Quick, easy tuning method.

[@kevinschindele4829]

Same man. I feel like I'm always really close like I know when a set sounds like shit but I still don't think my shit is properly in tune but it's gotta be close because people say they like the sound.

[@gregchapman3519]

Man those new Pearl Session kits fucking smoke. Tuned or untuned correctly. Great job!

[@rsrexkwondo2326]

I freaking love the snare sound of the feel-tuned kit.

[@pollinirr]

application for "tuning drums without hearing": I was at a gig working in FOH and the drums from the backline were dusty (yes, in a theater a backline company sent us a drum that was storage for months). The schedule was tight and delayed, so I had to tune the drums while the other band was in soundcheck. A pretty useful technique for tuning drums fast and without hearing.

[@AtTheSourceStudios]

Damn. Best drum sound you've gotten. Keep these drums mang

[@BADD400]

Great video David. I kinda of liked the floor toms with out hear. But the kits with hearings tuning sounds fabulous. Thanks for doing this video

[@ronmyers2317]

When I was in school in the class for tuning, my instructor said that the only bad drum sound is one that you don't like. Maybe it is all a matter of personal preference? But as far as your drums go, I really can't hear a difference enough in the two different examples. I think they all sound great as your drums always do. I used to tune by ear until I bought a drum dial and I figured I couldn't go wrong with it as it came with a piece of paper recommending the tension 4 many different types of drum heads. So I guess I put all my faith in my drum dial these days. And I agree with tuning my resonant head lower then my batter side. And by the way that is a sweet finish on those drums. Love the ice blue

[@ronmyers2317]

Correct. Resonant head higher not lower

[@JakeStaffin]

I think both sound really cool, and though I kind of like the pitch/sound of the tuned-by-feel kit, those drums would sound so much cooler with more tone and tuning precision. Really gives some perspective!!

[@SlyHikari03]

Tune by feel sounded pretty neat. Sounds like it would fit metal.

[@danielsimpkins9662]

I actually liked the lower tuning better. I like how deep they sound.

[@AlexSlavenDrums]

I think the biggest success of all this is the two rack toms, they sounds quite nice!

[@ronmyers2317]

And a word on a snare drum. I was taught as far as snare tension that if you tap the drum head very lightly with the stick and you don't hear the snares then they are too tight. You should be able to hear the snares at any volume even the lightest.

[@andreasbreitwieser1449]

this is a very much more important video for me than i thought first, i guessed it to be a funny and entertainment one, but it's more of a game changer! coming and influenced by the way of tuning of the 1980's i had everything as low as possible for years and always the bottom head lower than the batter. Around the 2000's I changed my tuning (like everybody) to a more higher and focused tuning . With the upcoming tune bot and the modern tuning apps i tried out the recommended tuning of having the bottom head a third to a fifth higher in an exact relation which was very nice and efficient for me. After watching this video I changed the tuning of my 14th and 16th floor tom. Now I tune to the same relation of the heads like before but upside down the batter higher than the resonant side....... and : perfect!! works so great for the floors! thanx a thousand times for this specific idea David!!!

[@mk_rexx]

The demo sounds awesome because of the switching between the lower and the higher tuned kits

[@connorcampbell144]

Rdavidr can you please put both kits together to make a big double bass kit with 4 rack Tom's 4 floor Tom's and 2 bass drums and 1 snare please. This is what we are all waiting for thanks.

[@BEElaine1008]

And why not...since you have them right there already and they are the same ..... yeah...I could like that 🥁

[@cryinbryan]

And while he’s at it, let’s hear some METAL 😍

[@blakecurtis7809]

Yesss. Bring us ripping double bass, blast beats and super tom fills.

[@loudtowncar]

Yes play us some of your old tunes from the metal band you were in!

[@the_minimalistic_adventure]

Ehhh. It wouldn't really work as a double bas kit. You have two kits with the same size toms. If you tune one tom to where it's suppose to "sit" in the tuning range and then tune the other same sized tom lower, it can start sounding a little wonky.

[@Radwalls]

IMO the 'without hearing' kinda makes it sound like you give less of a crap, which kinda adds to the badass aspect. It also has more sustain and works over the song better. With the 'with hearing' it's more mid centered as opposed to 'low centered' without hearing. Also, the without hearing definitely makes you change your playing to make sure that low tom is heard! Great video, RDAVID!!!!

[@TK-eg6vp]

Pretty drumset. Digging that color

[@Chudhole]

Ha my kit is tuned like the no ear first one. I love it. It always sounds cool on jam recordings.

[@nicomolina1458]

Thanks @rdavidr for thee videos you make. Your viewers appreciate you.

[@BeesWaxMinder]

I admit I tune by ear BUT afterwards I need to hear that they sound good THEN I need to hear they don’t buzz or rattle THEN I need to hear that they all sound good together THEN I consider if they suit the song &/or band. Basically, YES, I ‘tune by feel’ BUT in between the stages I’ve outlined above, there is the possibility of listening & adjusting as I go...

[@tryplecrown]

Really interesting to hear the results. Your result without hearing was getting close. On the subject of tuning, over the last 35+ yrs I’ve been playing and tuning my own gear, ballparking by ear then fine tuning w/ a Tunebot works best for me to get rid of the weird overtones and gain a little consistency. Keep up the good work! Great video!

[@CBRansom35]

Had to change heads in between sets a couple times over the years in very loud environment. You develop a knack for feel tuning. I had no doubt you'd nail it. You are a very seasoned professional! I still hate Pearl hardware, but their shells are top shelf and sound good most any way you tune them.

[@Gretsch0997]

Those session drums sound killer! Quite impressive regardless of tuning. Your playing is great too

[@icantseeitall]

When his “not good enough” tuned kit sounds better than yours after spending hours trying to tune it😅

[@ThatMattGoodMusic]

I preferred the rack toms on the without hearing kit as I like lower rack toms, but everything else had a much nicer tone after tuning by ear. Nice vid! Looking forward to the tuning tutorial because I'm still not hugely sure and I love the sound you get out of kits!

[@stenduginski2306]

Elvin Jones's wife tuned his drums before shows by bouncing a quarter off the heads and counting the bounces

[@robclem8407]

Minimal Sound Tuning can be beneficial when you blow a head during a live gig and need to replace and tune the drum in the dressing room without driving everyone nuts. In these situations I use a Tama Tension Watch. You can get it pretty close by feel and using the Tension Watch.

[@MatthewFant]

Have this kit in the red color. Love it. Awesome 🤘

[@bikerider4326]

You'll be giving much inspiration for all the deaf drummer's out there. No joke.

[@patricklidstone5659]

Legend has it this is how chad channing had his drums tuned on bleach

[@JeserNoob]

He used drums? I thought they were PVC pipes with heads?

[@user-cz7yz9hc8b]

Your playing here is great! With both kits!

[@milkcrate_]

Sounds Like A Drum is without a doubt the most underrated drum centered channel on KZbin right now.

[@mikel.laughridge9480]

I love the set. Nice finish .................I am in love with it.

[@jacobsingson12_]

I actually did use to tune my floor toms "by feel as well", mainly the batter heads. I would tune the reso normally but then tune the batter just a smidge above finger tight, and some cases didn't even use a key. You could even see the wrinkles still and sometimes the tension rods would loosen themselves as I played. However, I did get better eventually and learned to listen to the tone and feel of the batter head as well. Great vid and experiment!

[@obedtorresdrums1380]

Love zzounds. Good for when work is slow, like now

[@user-ux2fg8dl2w]

I think a good idea for a video is a full tutorial on mixing a drum set, including where to place the mics, wiring, mixing and getting the recordings to a laptop.

[@Gretsch0997]

There’s many videos on that already out there. Rad’ does outside of the norm videos.

[@Ohm51]

Love that "Ice Blue Pearl" ... beautiful kits.

[@Imabassplayer2]

I tune using Rob Brown's method. Finger tighten all the luge then put pressure in the middle of the head. The head should wrinkle then just turn each lug until the wrinkle by the lug has gone. I do this the the batter and reso heads and they sound great. Each lug will be as close to the same tension as possible without any tuning gadgets. It's a great method for back stage tuning or in a loud environment or in a car park before loading in. Also great for quick tuning when you have no time. You get a great interval between the toms and kick because both heads are in tune with them selfs. Its a great starting point to tune the drum any which way you want. Plus it levels the playing field for better tuning. This method works great on my cheap kit they have never sounded this good. I would do this then tune to taste with pitch, especially in a serious recording session.

[@chardrum]

Working as a drum tech before on multiple kits a day I would tune by feel then once the kit was up tune the drums in relation to one another. Also I'm a fan of tuning the bottom heads higher to get the pitch bend effect it just makes the drums explode in sound and controls overtones imo.

[@vasilias2230]

I with you. Ever tried tuning the top heads just above wrinkling when you press you hand down, and then have the reso a lot higher?

[@chardrum]

@@vasilias2230 yes tuning like that with some clear or pinstripe heads is the sound of 80's toms! Lol Love it!

[@drumj725]

I really enjoy all your videos keepem coming.

[@UPdan]

Very nice looking set.

[@yolanc3876]

Kit sounds amazing !of course the kit tunned by ear has way more body but the one tunned by feel still sounds great

[@kensamek6049]

I use Pearl Masters Studio BRX kit in Vintage Sunburst. I have been playing drums for 40 years. I have had great success tuning my drums using a pair of hearing protection headphones 🎧. It really works great. They eliminate the overtones while and give you kind of a gated eq sound while tuning. You should try it and post a video trying it out and see how it works out for you.

[@joeday4293]

Yeah, ya need yer ears, fellers.

[@koolBOY8323]

the tuned by feel floor toms did make for a cool effect. quick, low, and punchy. maybe not how i'd keep it on a single floor tom kit, but the 16 i might leave like that for double stops and just a 'boom' without having to lug around a gong drum.

[@FranksPercussion]

The kit tuned by feel sounds like every guitar center kit ive ever played on lol

[@ZeBubba]

Closed mic'd those way low "without hearing" ft's sounded quite cool actually, I'd bring them up just a bit tho. Because that kind of tuning will not project at all into the room. Cool test!

[@swccbakersfieldca2076]

Wait those are for you to keep? If so , wow that is amazing. You deserve them. Yet another great video.

[@___Bruh__]

That demo at the end is amazing

[@kikeh2732]

Yes you can, Rob Beatdown Brown has a series of videos(and i actually tune this way), simple and easy and a reaaaaaaaally great sound Love your channel too

[@metalinyourhead3604]

I use a tension watch for my tuning (I am technically a beginner). But following Rick Beato’s method I can get very consistent tuning, but it’s too low. So then I use a drum dial chart for ideal range. I rely on it partly because when tuning, some lugs that have already been tuned can go way off and you have to go over them again to make sure every lug is consistent.

[@jeffreymarcum9053]

Zzounds are awesome have been useing them for the 3 years

[@jadenaquino6246]

Kinda love the sound of the snare drum when you were tuning it without hearing it lol-

[@zobazoba69]

i want one of those!!!! I would put coated ambasadors though... since birch/mhaogany is already a bit dry. and it would add warmth to them.

[@IoannesBaptista]

Great video! For my ear the snare that you tuned "with hearing" has a weird resonant harmonic, but otherwise I like the tune a lot. Surprisingly, BOTH of them sounded quite good.

[@Max-dd4ow]

Those are the most beautiful sounds flooring tons ever

[@FernandoLemusDrums]

I tune by feel to get it started but then check each lug until it sound good. that being said I actually prefer the first tuning, I think its sits better in the mix. But it's all personal preference :)

[@albanyavenueband8109]

That snare sounds amazing!

[@michaelandric908]

Played a gig on a friends Yamaha recording custom, with pinstripes on, it was soundchecked, tuned low as hell. Very interesting feel. Sounded ok. 😁

[@tdrum21]

The Tom groove you hit at one point reminded me of juicy fruit 👌🏽🎶👏🏽

[@vicdl7528]

Great job Mr David, are you going to do an updated tour of your drum room ?

[@joshvandruff1790]

I like both of em. Feel like the tune by feel has more of a soulful sound and the tune by hearing has that and a bit more.

[@vimitea5945]

i personally like the 10" and 12" toms and the snare more when u tuned it without hearing. :)

[@Elboy522]

If someone actually mentions that they tune by "feel," fully expect their toms to sound flappy and dead, their snare to be cranked as high as possible, and their kick to have 3 pillows inside of it, negating whatever tension they put on the bass drum batter head.

[@DavidLopes4]

You should try out heartbeat/istanbul cymbals

[@M4RCM0NT31R0]

Nice job! Sending good greetings from Singapore! 🇸🇬🇸🇬🇸🇬

[@BEElaine1008]

Hello Singapore from Tucson Arizona USA.... I got to spend a day in your lovely city in 2011 before boarding a cruise....Enjoyable, but the humidity made me cranky LOL 🥁❤️

[@M4RCM0NT31R0]

BEElaine yes, I know how that feels

[@michaelchasse8699]

I tune a lot without hearing. I can’t play drums in my apartment and I like to switch out heads often so I do the switching and tuning at home by feel and usually I’m pretty spot on when I get to the gig.

[@Skeleton_Dork]

The one tuned without hearing actaully reminds me of MTPowerdrumkit, especially the floor toms, super slappy and flat

[@joanbighorn9778]

Both sound good but I think the kit tuned by feel has a bit more character to it. The second floor tom sounds like a monster and I love it.

[@Tomsolomon111]

For real dude. It's a nightmare living un the UK. constant changes in temperature and humidity make it a constant battle to get a decent sound from my drums. I like the lower tunings though, but I can get away with it in my practice room due to the small size, and there's always microphones to get more volume if needed. At the end of the day it's personal taste as to how you tune your drums.

[@yrussq]

The first kit sounded nice! I'm impressed) Not that i big fan of such low tension for the playing purposes :))

[@tomtankengine0]

My dream kit...

[@ELsplitterz]

Great drumming dude

[@Gokand17]

I like the sound of the rack toms ''without hearing'' and the sound of the ''hearing'' floor toms.

[@TheImperfectDrummer]

Same here. I tune my 10 and 12 lower, and in his mix, the 10" is hard to hear any tone on the regular tuned one. It gets lost in the snare buzz. But then I love thunder and long sustained tone, and my Saturn kit has thin shells, so they tend to not choke at lower tunings. I did notice toward the end, the regular tuned DID have more sustain, but again, on my Saturns, low tunings don't choke as much so they sing a plenty.

[@mike5805]

On the cow bell video, braising with the technique you used does work. The idea is to get the steel you are braising hot enough to kind of

[@mike5805]

The idea is to get the steel you are brassing hot enough to kind of melt the brass onto the steel. The down side is that if you get the steel that hot , it me destroy the temper. Then when you play it , it would bend all to hell. Keep the videos coming. Love your channel.

[@NUBCAKE101]

would you consider doing a drum mixing tutorial? your mixes always sound really fresh.

[@davidsuprenant893]

A great drum kit at a very affordable price,I must say.!!!

[@bjorn_joseph]

The deaf ones reminded me of Ringo on Abbey road, but without being completely choked lol

[@thebrownpopegaming5762]

Damn I wish I was this good. Sounded good man definitely close on the sounds, in a pinch I think it would work.

[@JulianFernandez]

both sounded cool. debunking myths.

[@w00x360]

I push down on the head, tighten until all of the creases are just gone, usually that sounds pretty good as is but then I tune to my preferred sound as normal, saves a lot of time. Credit to Rob Brown for this method.

[@johnlopez3620]

Love the first tuning

[@jove1155]

I use drum dial, tunebot, and my ears to get all my drums to specific notes. I've gotten a lot better with time, so it goes a lot faster now. And my drums sound exactly as I want them to.