How to: 5 Totally Different Low Snare Sounds | Season Five, Episode 43

[@johnhatchdrums]

Such an important video. There are so many different low tunings out there and everyone seems to think of them of them as the same!

[@famitory]

honestly always liked the sound of a super off-center sound on a low tuned open snare, especially smashed to hell with compression. also love the "lugs off" sound where the batter is so loose it doesn't actually make a tone, just a twappy sound that is enough to excite the wires

[@jasonb2180]

That high-snare-side/gaff-tape-on-the-top sound reminded me of the classic fat snare sound I have heard so often - but interesting way to get there! This was an interesting episode. I bet the rebound issue would bother me at some point, but I loved some of these sounds!!

[@toomdog]

I spent a lot of time trying to emulate low, fat, reverb-drenched snare drums at low volume with unmic'd drums for my church. I have certainly been to each of these places before, looking for any way to cut the volume and get a bigger sound. I had another drummer tell me it sounded like an 808 snare one morning. I don't think I have any great revelations to add about low tunings - you do what you have to to get the sound you want, and sometimes the sound you want can't be gotten with the restrictions you're facing. Then you just do the best you can and grin and bear it. All I can say is that I'm happy we finally built an iso booth and got drum mics. Now I can tune them and play them like normal, and the sound guy can do anything he needs to make it work out front.

[@thijs199]

very great video, very cool trick with that snare delay sound

[@TsunamiBeefPies]

Thanks for one last listen to Number 4 at the end. Thanks for everything else, too, of course.

[@adamsteinbacher2629]

I've experimented with my Acro and my 8x14 Black Beauty a ton. My favorite low-tuned snare sound is the Black Beauty with die cast hoops, using a coated Vintage Emperor batter, tuned medium-low with a Snareweight and their 70's inserts, no other muffling. Snare side tuned tight but not table top tight, snares at a controlled tension. Not loose but not too tight either. Perfect amount of tone, snare sensitivity and that naturally gated sound. And always play dead-center with the stick's butt end.

[@joc8]

A fascinating session, the highly tuned snare side coupled with tight snare wires, and an 0-ring was really interesting, you wouldn't think it was an acoustic drum without gated mics, or special effects. Reminded me of the Nine Inch Nails song "Closer (To God) ". Thanks, Cody and Ben, your segments are so informative.

[@xanderwebb7998]

the fourth one would be super cool as a side snare

[@jeffsr8300]

I use a old Ludwig marching snare drum that I put floor tom legs as a side snare or called a snom, gives almost that exact sound.

[@nicoaponte56]

I just searched for this topic yesterday haha, great timing!

[@morrinsville23]

Awesome episode!! Really cool

[@Timzo22]

Great episode. Thank you

[@bilhamcobbly2957]

The electronic sound was really cool!!

[@ts4gv]

snares back to back 13:42 grooves back to back 14:07

[@WayneChurchill-zd3pm]

Great info

[@harperisntcool8031]

i cant believe this is a free video

[@kimseniorb]

brilliant video I’m struggling with the reso head and the wires and a low tuning tbh. I want both the sustain/ tone and control of the wires. No idea what to do with the lugs adjacent to the wires. experimenting

[@jerrygamez5723]

Thank you for the video

[@christiansmyth1466]

13:58 "I remember when...I remember I remember when I lost my mind..." 🙂

[@DrummerRIP]

10 OUT OF 10! Keep up the great work! ty

[@Claes_Isacson]

They’re all cool, but I love the 2nd and the 5th 🥁 Thx guys. 👍

[@nickdenardo6479]

i don't often feel the need to use a low tuned snare, but when i do, my current go-to is the Tama duo snare i leave set up on my kit. it's basically set up as a side snare 100% of the time, so i don't particularly like it all the time. most often, i use it for dark, vibey verses then switch to my main snare for choruses. it gives a super deep sound that i can EQ the bottom out of if i don't need something quite that deep. it's set up wtih an Evans hydraulic head with tape muffling it and the snares loose. if i want a fat sound out of my main snare, i usually just tune down the top head and muffle it some, with a wallet or a big fat snare type thing (basically an old head that i trimmed the edges off of. i did that to one of my snares and got some ridiculous ring. i had to notch out one of the frequencies during mixing. somewhere around 250Hz i think.

[@eunaosabiamaseufiz]

Excellent

[@WDShorty]

I have this snare and love low tunings and if you don't have that top head tuned almost perfect the snare wires will retaliate with a horrible sound

[@SvenElven]

When tapping that snare side head, your tone is so clear and full. Mine always make more of a plasticky "bop" or “bink” noise, on all my snares. Are you using 200 thickness snare side heads by chance?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Part of that may be because we’re not generally tuning the snare reso that high. We use the Evans Snare Side 300 (3mil) in just about every video but keep an eye out for a comparison coming soon.

[@SvenElven]

@@SoundsLikeADrum Thank you! But however, my reso heads just seem to make a deeper “bop” sound when tuned lower. Could they have been streched beyond repair if they've been tuned “table top” high previously?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Yes, if you've had the head under extreme tension (tabletop tight) for any period of time, it may struggle with returning to a lower tuning.

[@SvenElven]

@@SoundsLikeADrum That's probably it then. I like to experiment with all sorts of tunings, but it makes sense that the very thin snare side heads might get damaged by very high tunings, moreso than tom reso heads. And I rarely replace reso heads on any drum!

[@sic_refugium]

9:15❤❤❤

[@MikeJamesMedia]

Fun stuff! :)

[@rlibby404]

I believe those initial pitches were G# and C#, batter and reso respectively, a perfect fifth

[@rlibby404]

2nd tuning, sounds to me like the batter went down to an E.

[@WoodenMinds]

Extra note, the Carter MacLean Sig Sticks being used create a very different and thicker sound due to the long teardrop tips (I own several pairs). I wonder how this would sound with something more universal, like an acorn, round, or barrel tip?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

This the situations here, you probably wouldn’t have heard any noticeable difference if we had used a different stick. The exception could be the very first setup because it didn’t employ any muffling.

[@paulrevelli]

Would you then say that it's best to drop the bottom (snare side) a bit whenever dropping the top head? There have been times with my Supraphonic that I've dropped the top head super low and left the snare side relatively tight and the result was that "gated" sound you demonstrated (which is something I'd like to avoid).

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

It really depends on where you're starting from. We've found the greatest degree of flexibility in batter head tensions with a lower reso tension. We'll often do demos of different snare batter tensions and see no need to adjust the reso when it's in a lower range (compared to the "tabletop tight" approach). This depends on the drum, the heads, and the wires too though. The best thing to do is to listen, adjust, listen again, and assess where you're at and work from there. This is still a subjective medium so just make sure that YOU'RE happy with the sound.

[@viktor7m]

Excellent video. Only, the 5th example (with reso so high) I don't consider low. And it is one of the most frequent tuning mistake.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Thanks! We would tend to agree and that’s why we felt the need to highlight the limitations of cranking your snare side head as a general rule of thumb. It’s incredibly limiting and the feel was less than enjoyable.

[@bentheturntableguy182]

The drums 🤤

[@drummercarson896]

I like 2, 3, and 5

[@handyboen]

Thanks Cody 😊🙏 I hope I'm right your name is Cody isn't it ? Sorry I didn't read well your last reply 😊

[@WayneChurchill-zd3pm]

What the tunning hz

[@sticksbass]

seems to me 5" are the most versatile.

[@nez1703]

09:40 PHAT. 😂