Single Lug Tuning Tricks | Season Two, Episode 36

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Yes, this is a longer episode! Stick around to watch the full thing and you'll get the full picture (and all of the comparisons). Time stamps included in the description.

[@leeasbury7273]

This may seem like common sense, but since you asked, I always have (in my subconscious at least) the idea in the back of my mind that, 1 whole turn on a single lug is approximately (roughly & usually) = to ⅛ of a turn all the way around on an 8 lug drum for instance. Now, that doesn't mean I expect to get the same sounds weather I crank one lug or evenly distribute a smaller amount of tension evenly across the head, it's just something I keep in mind and maybe split the difference sometimes when I'm tuning, and start to get all ADHD with my tuning of each lug trying to get perfect tension and realize 2 hours went by...it allows me to take a step back and just hit the drum, wherever I'm at on the tuning process, and just listen. If I hear "swamp bubbles" (does anyone else call it that?) then I can quickly locate the lugs that need a turn up or down on the side that makes sense and adjust a couple until I dont.hear a WARBLE anymore...unless I want that. I once referred to my ex wife's cutting of her own bangs as sort of equivalent to my chasing the tension and sound around the lugs in circles...that was a mistake BTW...she advised me that she couldn't just regrow her hair and start over, as I was detuning and starting over...I realized the landmine I was stuck on. It might help if you think of her as Gloria from the show Modern Family...she was a force of nature.

[@johnbertasius2612]

Cranking one lug on the bass drum was unbelievable. The tone turned canon like and fast double strokes sound more defined. I'm keeping it like that. 60 years old and still learning. Thanks for that.

[@bacobill]

66 and still hungry.. my passion is healthier than I am lol :)

[@johnbertasius2612]

@@bacobill Keep it up Bill .

[@gonzorudeboy]

As always, very instructive. 30 years of drumming and I learn so much on this channel! Thanks a lot.

[@djentlover]

You just killed a sacred cow I think. Lowering the lug with the snare removed the ring nicely without sacrificing the attack or the punch at all. Amazing!

[@djentlover]

I'm probably not able to loosen up all the way since I have s-hoops, but can't wait to experiment with this

[@davidsuprenant893]

That kit tuned in the medium range sound absolutely beautiful. You have one hell of an ear.!!!

[@Eurodrummer666]

Another interesting topic! Drum tuning is an endless subject.

[@paistefever]

Great episode as always. I play rimshots 99% of the time and regardless of the hardware, the heads always go out of tune eventually after few tunes when I play live. Years ago I started using this trick, I started tuning the lug(s) of the striking area of my left hand (snare hand) and the right hand (when playing fills and rolls), higher about a half of the turn. So when I would play 3-4 songs in the set, it would eventually go down but this time it would go matching the tuning of the rest of the head :)

[@kevinonthedrums7495]

Thank you for the video. So happy I discovered your channel. So much info! That low tuned rack tom was fire!

[@DanyMeyer]

Awesome, to me this was the episode that thaught me most new stuff. Didn't think that 1 lug has soooo much influence. Of course it has some influcence, but never thought that it's that much =) THANKS Cody and Team!!! :)

[@samgreen8865]

That bass drum is gorgeous! Top playing 👍

[@marvinbenjamin234]

My guess as to why people (me included) would be concerned about damaging the drum or head with uneven tuning comes out of the natural hide head era. I “grew up” thinking that heads had to be exactly tensioned. This is very interesting to me because I have used a variation of this to get my drums to to the tone I desired, i.e. I adjust one lug just to tweak the sound a little. I had no idea that it was possible to make such radical changes. Thanks again for your informative videos!

[@secondsbeforelanding]

another well done video, with great info and sound. happy thanksgiving to you all.

[@peteyaskovic5567]

Thank you for this video! I think a lot of drummers (me included) get way to wrapped up in perfect tunings at every lug and get stuck that it's the only way to tune drums. Thanks again!

[@garysmith3173]

An incredible and informative video. Invaluable for drummers mature and young. Thankyou.😘🥁🌻

[@bacobill]

Another great video.. another timeless gift to the world of drumming.. One thought.. beware of choosing a lug where your stick strikes when tuning the pitch up.. I've split open a few heads over the years from tuning too high where my rim-shots strike.. always during a gig of course :(

[@juliussolovideo]

i used this technique on snare just to get as much different sounds as i could from it in live gigs situations. i really like it!

[@doclogic]

I like to do 2 opposing lugs. I'm always worried that I'm going to warp the rim to one side. Not sure if that's a thing I should worry about? I stay away from lugs next to the strainer too. Not sure if that should be a concern either.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

There may be scenarios where the hoop can get warped a bit, but for me I'll detune whichever lugs get the sound i need and in the end bring the drum back to even tuning just to make sure there isn't any funny business with the hoop. - Cody

[@toomdog]

When I was a much younger player, I brought my snare to play at church. The usual drummer asked if he could tune my snare when he heard it. I knew I had troubles tuning, so I said sure. He sat down and started tapping it, grabbed one lug and just cranked it. I was aghast that someone would do that to a drum, but it sounded a darn sight better than it did 5 seconds earlier. I've never done it myself though. My drum teacher told me you can bend your hoops if you leave it unevenly tensioned, so I never did.

[@bryanholewski8049]

I mess with the top 2 bass drum lugs all the time based on how I’m playing that day, humidity changes, etc. I mess with the rack tom a lot but I’ve got really old heads on the floor tom and I’ve just let it go. It’s got tons of rasp and sustain and I dig it. Recently the rack and floor have gotten so wildly different that they’re pitched in an octave if each other. I wasn’t trying for that but it just happened. It’s weird but I’m kind of into it. What do you think about that???

[@bacobill]

Those top two lugs are great adjustments during a gig.. and I also like a wide spread between my 10" and 16" toms..

[@rapscallion52]

In terms of damaging drums, i've definitely bent thin metal shells and dented wood shells around single post lugs by using high tension.

[@michaelbruhl4425]

Oh thank you, nice and helpful idea !!!

[@JxVarytiV0]

Last month I met a drummer who removed half of the lugs on the reso side of the bass drum, he said he can tune the head lower without getting annoying rattling sound. I would love to see a video about that!

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Yes! This is something relating to the number of nodes of pressure (as demonstrated in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGrJn6N8dqd-Z9U ). This is definitely something to cover as it relates to certain bass drums. Cheers! -Ben

[@The_Great_Whodini]

I have seen hoops come out of round, and lugs snap, I have had lugs snap in my hand while tuning. This was in very high tension, remo pinstripes, on marching tenors. But over time, consistently tuning the same lugs and neglecting others can cause damage, not to the shell, but to the hoops and lugs. If you are worried about a hoop warping, youre probably cranking or having huge differentials. Swap to die cast and youd never have to worry about it.

[@StuartJrBarrett]

Awesome work! How do tune so that the batter head ALWAYS feels good, no matter what the reso head is at????

[@xsonicassassinx]

lug down was like instant dampening. but it murdered the volume. lug up made them sing in an interesting way. folks are likely worried about that masshoff trick where every other lug is tuned to something different and cranking a couple of them changes the entire tone. sure seems like a good way to bend a hoop

[@creekcritter2112]

I was really taken by the analogy you gave of each lug having its own voice and when one is out of tune, it will stand out over the rest. It made me think of a choir singing with one person off key. The collective voice will take on a less appealing character... UNLESS that voice is in some sort of harmony with the others. Interesting stuff as always!

[@ThePrateekPradhan]

That floor tom was kinda growling when you first detuned that lug but didn't do the same in the full mix .. what happened there? 4:54 5:15

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Some of that growl gets lost in the context of the full kit. That's a perfect example of why it's important to not just focus on the sound of a single drum under a microscope but rather to hear it in the context of the performance. -Ben

[@ThePrateekPradhan]

Nice! Great to know that! This video just made (is gonna make) my tuning experience so much more long, complicated, and most importantly more FUN!!!! Cheers to you guys!

[@shalaq]

It only goes to show that maybe it's vital to have a minimal amount of muffling on each drum (like a half of moongel) just to get rid of the craziest overtones and then you can do whatever you want with the drum. Also with the snare it's important to note that when you detune more than 2 lugs on a flanged hoop you really dry the drum out. Thanks for saying that a wierd tuning scheme doesn't damage the drum and the hoop. It means that everyone can experiment with their drums. I'm gonna get that great Gretsch sound on my Tama - just ignore one lug on the toms when tuning ;)

[@famitory]

I've accidentally got a one lug up effect on my kick because the red shot on it is not made for the hoop shape and as a result it presses against the head

[@redsoxtoni]

Great vid, thanks! Quickly became a favorite channel for me, loving it! Helpful point about not damaging the drums by doing this...question: How will the head respond if kept in one of these "one lug" tunings for a while? Does it make it difficult to tune back to the medium tuning where there is equal tension all around? Thanks again for the cool vids 🤘😀👍

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

I don't think it'd affect the head much to leave one lug loose, i'm sure you'd do more to it by playing it with one lug loose or out in terms of stretching etc. :) - Cody

[@redsoxtoni]

@@SoundsLikeADrumCody, you rock! Thanks!

[@buzztheimpaler]

Sort of along these lines, stacking drums biggest to smallest, would this damage or detune? Should I store them loose or tight? Can it damage the drums? How long?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

It's not likely to damage the drums but the constant pressure is likely to stretch out the heads. If you've got the space to make two towers and consider adding rigid cardboard between the drums in order to distribute the pressure a bit more, that's likely your best bet. The amount of stretching depends on how heavy the drums are and how many total. -Ben

[@RENX5]

Very interesting concept, I love to explore all this possibilities with you. I've been thinking of buying a vented snare; I've seen some demos but they don't really focus on different tunnings, should I expect limitations when tunning a vented drum?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Yes, there’s a lot of air loss with a heavily vented shell which makes attack very pronounced but sacrifices resonance and tone big time. They can be great but they’re a pretty different experience from a standard snare :) -Cody

[@RENX5]

@@SoundsLikeADrum thanks a lot!

[@AboutThings_byTarif]

Watch Benny Greb do it with two lugs n a snare. It’s amazing the range of sounds he gets.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Like this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmrRdJinbNh_bMk

[@Mike-oz5pp]

Not bein pessimistic Cody but If I (u, we) do that isn't the drum no longer in tune at all or with itself? Pls reply cause this tuning stuff drives me so crazy I fell into a trap of not bein able to trust my tuning at all anymore. It is true there is no standard tuning with drums right or no? Honest, all the different tunings that ppl show nowadays has me wondering if I even know how to tune right or not & I've been playin 20+ yrs?! I always either went with, high med & low, again. So what is "in tune" even mean? pls reply thank you

[@hellhounds447]

Don’t overthink it, if it sounds good it’s good

[@alexg4284]

What cymbals please? Very nice

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Custom made ride and a custom modified top hi-hat cymbal by Jesse Simpson. Bottom hi-hat was a top from a pair of Zildjian New Beats. -Ben

[@josha.5368]

What type of wood is that set?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Maple! -Cody

[@RorRiiZzLE]

Video about different snare side heads at different tensions etc. but keeping the batter head the same to just compare the snare side differences?? Possibly Also, I was wondering about if an Evans Hybrid Grey snare head too strong of a material to use on a wooden snare drum. I don’t currently yet have anything metal, just my maple decade for the moment.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

We'll be doing direct comparison vids over on our Patreon in the future, keep an eye out for that! Re: the hybrid heads, they can affect a wooden bearing edge at high tensions because the fibers don't stretch the same way. I'd be careful :) -Cody

[@Mike-oz5pp]

So pls help me out here Cody, what does " in tune" mean with a drum?! Pls reply, thank you 👍See, I was misguided yrs ago by a teacher about tuning, & I was told I "Had" to play rimshots or I was playing wrong, basically that I didn't even kno "how" to tune a drum so why am I playing? Telling ya I believe I was told wrong, esp since watchin ur channel, things I was taught has hindered my playing, it's almost made me give up on drums & I been playin for yrs & it's always been my best friend I just need some conformation on this so pls reply Cody thanks If I could speak directly to you it would help me SO much, I "do not" wanna give up drums but this has gotten the better o me. Its had me second-guessing myself & everything I ever knew (or thought I knew) about drums. I dk what I'd do without drums so pls help me clarify this, here's a good example: Benny Greb has said "If U Don't Tune Ur Snare "Right"(correctly?) & I Lug is not Tensioned "right" ur Drum Will Sound Like Crap". So if detuning (or I detune) a lug the way u just did isn't my snare gonna sound crappy & be "Out of Tune"? See, again the same question, o man do I need some help here. Man I have to stop watching drum vids about "tuning"? Again (lol), is "Tensioning" a better term to use instead of "Tuning" when it comes to drums? Pls help I'm lost in "tunesville"

[@supacrispy]

Not Cody, and only here because reading your comment made me want ro respond. First, remember that your kit is YOUR kit. You tune it to what YOU like to hear in any given situation. If you like it cranked up on the snare and finger tight on the bass, do that. If you want everything singing soprano and like that high pitched sound, go for it. It's your kit. There is no right or wrong. There is only what you like for the context of what you're playing.

[@JeffoftheShout]

Fun fact: I learned this trick back in 1984 by my High School drum instructor.

[@JeffoftheShout]

There’s only one difference in what you taught in this video as compared to what I was taught. Try experimenting with each lug until you find the one that sounds the best when de-tuned.

[@royschwaben9646]

There's a parallel akin to setting good guitar and bass tone. Sometimes what sounds great solo is garbage in the mix, and vice versa. The overall mix is more important than what it sounds like alone. "Bad" can sound great in a mix. Some of those tunings are wonky and (dare I say it) plain old bad solo at the end of the vid....but in a full kit groove it worked better than I'd like to admit.

[@andrazi4050]

In regard to your PSA, this does not pertain to aluminum snare drums. They WILL bend out of round and pretty easily so be careful with those.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

You would have to apply quite a bit of tension before it would be a factor and I mean A LOT of tension. I've done this with both my Acrolite and Supraphonic without any issues. -Ben

[@texxred3657]

Yes but different lugs have different effects

[@laiftaim]

No just one lug tune. That's illegal... don't like it.