tuning

[ranger42]

what pitch do you tune your drums to?

[bongosnotbombs]

High, medium and low.

[thomas newton]

please use the search function for lots of posts on this much discussed topic

[ranger42]

thanks, but i was more curious as to people's personal preference and input.

[umannyt]

thanks, but i was more curious as to people's personal preference and input.

ranger42,

I agree with Thomas. I suggest doing a search using the keyword "tuning". You should be able to come up with several threads on the subject.

I recall your writing earlier that you consider yourself a beginner and own a pair of LP Aspire congas. Therefore, there should be more than enough past information on this forum about other people's personal preferences on tuning, especially when you consider that other people use more than "just" 2 drums and that some people even tune by ear and not with the aid of an external instrument.

Best of luck,

[msb501clave]

To really get a feel for how the drums should sound pick a tune you like the sound of the drums on and try to match it... play around and find the sweet spot on each drum...

[taikonoatama]

some people even tune by ear and not with the aid of an external instrument.

"some people even tune by ear" ???

It might be just the people I play with, but I don't know a single player who tunes by anything but their ear, and even then only to relative pitch, really, the approximate intervals being more important than absolute pitch. Have yet to see a pitch fork broken out at rumba .

Mind you, I'm on the more folkloric side of things, where there aren't typically other melodic instruments to worry about. I can see where that could be more of an issue in that context, or perhaps in a recording situation.

Curious just how many of you regularly tune to specific pitch (with the help of a tuner or other instrument)? And in what context? I can see how when you're just learning, and especially if you've never played a melodic instrument before, it'd be useful to learn what the typically-used intervals should sound like (though everyone already knows them from songs ... "Here comes the bride..." (ugh), but you just know those intervals after awhile, right?

And I suppose a big factor here might be skins - if you have synthetic skins you just do it once and they stay that way regardless of heat/cold/humidity (right? unless the wood expands/contracts?), but with natural heads the tension can really change depending on conditions, and then if you detune after playing, of course, you do always have to do some kind of tuning.

I'm with Geordie: "High, Medium, Low"!!! (I hope you all caught the humor in this remark of his - hilarious.)

[burke]

I've tried to use an electronic tuner with some limited results. But I guess a skin just isn't a string. I assume there are lots more overtones/understones so the note wavers around a lot. If you tap the center with the tip of a finger you can get (lets say) a G, G sharp, G flat that is close enough to call it G ish.

Thats been my experience anyhoo.

[taikonoatama]

Oh, and then let's say you hear/read somewhere that congas are supposed to be tuned to particular notes in scale, such as G, C, E. Well, your particular segundo may sound like crap tuned to C, letting out a nasty ring or losing its naturual resonance. It's sweet-spot might be a whole step lower (or whatever). So you'd have to adjust the intervals to the other drums accordingly.

There are a lot of factors that come into play (wood type, shape, skin type, skin thickness, etc.) in sort of pre-determining the notes and intervals you might tune to and still have your drums sound good. Don't get overly caught up in some set of specific notes that someone else says to use (and that may sound great on their drums).

I'll add something to Geordie's first comment: Tune them so they sound good.

[Tonio]

I am in the BNB , Taiko's park on this too. I tune to the drum-sweet spot !

Even in modern music, tuning to a pitch is not required or needed, just tune them to what sounds good.

Its not like we are going to perform a Dm7 chord or something.

hmm pitch fork, it might pinch in as a bell beater


T

[umannyt]

"some people even tune by ear" ???

It might be just the people I play with, but I don't know a single player who tunes by anything but their ear, and even then only to relative pitch, really, the approximate intervals being more important than absolute pitch. Have yet to see a pitch fork broken out at rumba .

Mind you, I'm on the more folkloric side of things, where there aren't typically other melodic instruments to worry about. I can see where that could be more of an issue in that context, or perhaps in a recording situation.

Curious just how many of you regularly tune to specific pitch (with the help of a tuner or other instrument)? And in what context? I can see how when you're just learning, and especially if you've never played a melodic instrument before, it'd be useful to learn what the typically-used intervals should sound like (though everyone already knows them from songs ... "Here comes the bride..." (ugh), but you just know those intervals after awhile, right?

taikonoatama,

I wonder how the great Ludwig van Beethoven was able to continue to compose, conduct and perform his classic symphonies even after becoming completely deaf?

I acknowledge that you're just being facetious--I think. When I said that "some people even tune by ear" I think you know that I really meant using one's "inner ear or hearing". I did qualify my phrase by adding "not with the aid of an external instrument". Actually, it's tuning from memory--from the brain itself.

I, for one, regularly tune with the help of a tuner, actually a pitch pipe and sometimes my digital guitar tuner which emits the sound of each key. Why? Both because of compulsion and habit. First of all, I'm not into the folkloric side of things. Before I took up playing congas, bongos and timbales only in early 2007, I've played mostly melodic instruments: trumpet and piano (including kit drums) in grade school and guitar ever since grade school. I've also been singing since grade school, if you consider one's voice technically as a musical instrument. I sang in choir during grade school and continue to sing in choir at church to this day. I had a 4-part harmony singing group during high school and continue to have such a group (hobby only) to this day. Sometimes, we'd sing accapella and I was the one who always carried the pitch pipe. I've also been a lead vocalist for all my (rock & roll, pop, R&B, etc.) bands--past and present. Obviously, I've had to accompany myself with either guitar or percussion while I sang--most of the time but not all the time (depending upon the song).

Some of my earliest learning conga videos, such as those by Rolando Soto, Glen Caruba, Richie "Gajate" Garcia, Raul Rekow, etc., all taught tuning 1, 2 or 3 drums to specific pitches. With 1 drum, you tune the Quinto or Conga to a "C"; with 2 drums, you add a Conga or Tumba that's tuned to an "A" (4th below) or "G" (5th below); with 3 drums, the Tumba can be tuned to an "G" with the Conga tuned in between, say an "A".

There are even photos that illustrate how to tune 5 congas. I believe I first saw and read them here in our very own CongaForum when I first joined in mid-2007. I've copied and saved them for reference in my computer and I may just re-post those photos later.

[umannyt]

Here are those photos of suggested tunings for 5 congas. The last photo even features 6 congas.

[taikonoatama]

I acknowledge that you're just being facetious--I think. When I said that "some people even tune by ear" I think you know that I really meant using one's "inner ear or hearing". I did qualify my phrase by adding "not with the aid of an external instrument".

Well, when you say "some people even tune by ear," the nuance of the wording is that it makes it seem like it's very unusual, when in fact (at least in my circle) it's the norm. That's what I was referring to.

Actually, it's tuning from memory--from the brain itself.

Exactly.

Some of my earliest learning conga videos, such as those by Rolando Soto, Glen Caruba, Richie "Gajate" Garcia, Raul Rekow, etc., all taught tuning 1, 2 or 3 drums to specific pitches. With 1 drum, you tune the Quinto or Conga to a "C"; with 2 drums, you add a Conga or Tumba that's tuned to an "A" (4th below) or "G" (5th below); with 3 drums, the Tumba can be tuned to an "G" with the Conga tuned in between, say an "A".

And I say they're all WRONG!

Seriously, doesn't make any sense to me. (Unless, of course, these suggested tunings were just that - suggestions.) The fact is that some drums sound awful tuned to these notes. Their sweet spots are at different frequencies than these. Seems crazy to force a drum to play at a given pitch that it can't handle, the result being it sounds like an oil can or a piece of cardboard (but hey, it's tuned to the tuning recommended by Raul Rekow, etc.).

Maybe this advice/approach applies more universally to out-of-the-box standard issue big-brand factory drums, which all have the same (awful ) buffalo skins heads, same rubberwood, same etc., but this advice is a little too dogmatic to me; it doesn't apply to every set of congas.

[taikonoatama]

I screwed up on this post - deleting it.

[umannyt]

Well, when you say "some people even tune by ear," the nuance of the wording is that it makes it seem like it's very unusual, when in fact (at least in my circle) it's the norm. That's what I was referring to.

I can see where you're coming from--from your folkloric circle. By circumstance and life experience (and absolutely not to imply any superiority), I'm coming from a perspective that happens to include a wider variety of instruments. My circle includes anything from small bands to big bands, even to orchestra. The instruments are mostly melodic and subject to fixed tuning rules. Btw, in an orchestra, percussion instruments such as timpanis and kit drums have to be tuned to specific pitches.

And I say they're all WRONG!

Seriously, doesn't make any sense to me. (Unless, of course, these suggested tunings were just that - suggestions.)

Indeed, these are just suggested tunings. I don't believe that there was anything in what I wrote that categorically stated that these are "must" tunings. Btw, the videos I mentioned aren't geared towards learning folkloric percussion. I bought them for my own specific needs and musical direction.

The fact is that some drums sound awful tuned to these notes. Their sweet spots are at different frequencies than these. Seems crazy to force a drum to play at a given pitch that it can't handle, the result being it sounds like an oil can or a piece of cardboard (but hey, it's tuned to the tuning recommended by Raul Rekow, etc.).

On the videos Rolando Soto played with Gon Bops, Glen Caruba played with Pearls, Richie "Gajate" Garcia played with LP Classics (wood) and Raul Rekow played with LP Galaxies (fiberglass). Despite the wide variation among these congas--in terms of shell material, shell shape, skin, etc.--these guys still gave pretty much the same general tuning suggestions.