How to Tune Marching Bass Drums

[@noahgormanmusic1843]

My school tunes bass 5 to an F, 4 to an A, 3 to a C, 2 to an E, and 1 to a G. Just thirds apart, year after year, and they can actually be told apart very easily. Thoughts?

[@marcusmcclelland]

Lots of tuning videos don't really explain anything. I reckon this dude is spot on. This is very good advice. I don't play marching drums but i play the kit in all sorts of music. Drums should always be tuned to where they work properly and not to a desired pitch. You can do this but your set wont sound as full as it can. This was one of the biggest mistakes i made years ago when trying to get my kit sounding good. You can to some degree change pitch to try to get evenness around your setup but start where you get good tone and sustain first. Just above flappy is a good starting point, go up from there. You will also find the heads top and bottom need to sit relative to each other otherwise they just sound weird. You will find some heads seat considerably better that others. If you are having trouble with a particular drum try a new head. I use the bass drum flappy, it doesnt give good rebound but I think for most music it should sit on the bottom of the mix. Also when mics are used in a very loud environment the head wont get too boomy/ feedback as much. Drums can do strange things in a pa. Your environment should be considered also, dead drums can be a benefit in a hall with lots of relections etc

[@DanielMakesCadences]

In a marching scenario, I would think that bass drums would be tuned to a specific pitch that would match the key of maybe the opener or ballad of the show

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

My idea was to have a set of Chromatically tuned Bass Drums (and also Chromatically tuned Tenors) so that they could play in unison w/ the Winds, Brass, & Pitched percussion to get a new sound. Imagine hearing a newer version of the Star Spangled Banner (El Pendon Estrellado) played on Chromatically Tuned Drums.

[@Drumlinechops]

Great! Glad we could help out! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!

[@MartinezC.]

What size drum is that? Ty

[@Drumlinechops]

Nice! Thanks for checking out the video and leaving a comment!

[@Drumlinechops]

Hey @itzbeats, glad you got value out of the video! Thanks so much for watching and commenting!

[@RobandHere]

Good job ❤

[@Drumlinechops]

Hey Alex, many thanks for the kind words and for watching the videos! Get foam weather stripping from your local hardware store. A number of brands make it and most are of equal quality so find the thickness and length that fits your needs and desired sound. Apply the sticky side around the inside of the drum shell close to the bearing edge so when the head is put on the foam is in slight contact with it. This way the drum is muffled and the foam lasts a few head changes! -Pat McLaughlin

[@mattkishbaugh]

Any advice and video demos of muffling/tuning techniques? I'd like to explore different muffling techniques than I've been using, but don't know where to start. Thanks for the videos!

[@itzbeats]

thx for putting this up... never thought about tuning from the bottom up before lol

[@broughar1]

Great video Doug. What size foam/insulation do you recommend using for the bass drum head? Should I go inside the head or on the outside? Lastly, what are your thoughts on adhesive to keep the foam steady on the drumhead? Thanks in advance!

[@Drumlinechops]

Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! We currently don't have any videos up that cover muffling techniques, but we'll work on getting something posted for you! What techniques are you currently using? Thanks again for watching!

[@knockerz3140]

Corp style baseline*

[@Drumlinechops]

There are some very important concepts in this video that are worth taking about for four minutes. Hopefully you got some value out of it and check out our other videos! Thanks for watching! :-)

[@RobandHere]

Bro can you pls just show us

[@BoomerMusicCompany]

Maybe actually hit the drum so we can hear it?

[@tomkot]

How about just showing how to tune instead of talking