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210 Lug Drum

12 Lug Drum

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School Band and Orchestra, May 2005 29

SBOReport: Percussion Tuning

CONCERT SNARES:A great-sounding concert snare is a combina-

tion of three sub-components:

• Properly tuned top (batter) head• Properly tuned bottom (snare side) head• Properly tuned individual snares and strainer

To properly tune the batter head, start by seatingthe head evenly on the bearing edge of the shell.Insert the lugs through the top rim into the lug cas-ing making sure each lug is finger-tight (dip the tipof the lugs into white lithium grease to ensuresmooth turning and longevity of equipment).Once the lugs have been finger-tightened, use adrum key and crank each lug a half -turn, uti-lizing the tuning pattern shown to the right.

The process is an arduous one, but willensure an evenly tightened membrane. Take thebatter up in pitch to a C or D and stop. Place your

first two fingers in the center of the head andpress down firmly for a couple seconds, thenrelease. This will slightly stretch the headallowing the seating process to begin. After10-15 seconds of intermittent pressure,continue the tuning process, raising thebatter head pitch to a G (or desired pitch.) I

have found that batter heads pitched to Gallow characteristic resonance of the shell

while allowing for ppp articulation and an overallgreat snare sound. Continue to double-check thehead near each lug to ensure the head is properly

“seated” (when each lug zone is in tune withitself, the head is said to be in tune or seat-ed). For the top head, I, I prefer the EvansStrata 700 (7.5mm) for its warmth andarticulation. The Evans Genera ConcertSnare (Snare (7.5mm) is also a competent

choice known for its sensitive snareresponse. In both, the 2mm overtone ring

can be utilized to increase articulation.

In the last 20 years, there has been a renaissance in the role

played by the symphonic and marching percussion section.

As today’s modern composers ask for more and more

unique sounds, it is more important than ever to have great-

sounding equipment at all times. The following are tips and

suggested pitches to cover all your needs in the concert hall,

the marching band field, and indoor venue.

Tuning Schemes for the ModernPercussion EnsembleBY MICHAEL MCINTOSH

To properly tune the bottom (snareside) head, set the head on the bot-tom bearing edge. Insert the lugsthrough the top rim into the lug cas-ing, making sure each lug is finger-tight (dip the tip of the lugs intowhite lithium grease to ensure smoothturning and longevity.) Once the lugshave been finger-tightened, use adrum key and continue the tuningprocess stated above. The bottomhead can be tuned one of two ways:high or low. A high-pitched bottomhead will give you more articulationand a shorter overall snare sound(great for concert snares.) A lower-pitched bottom will give you a longeror “wetter” sound. This tuning isideal for Field Snares (most marchescall for this type of snare).

If the literature you are perform-ing calls for two snare drums, thehigh-low tuning scheme might be theway to go as it will create great con-trast in the snare sonorities. Withregards to the snare-side head, I pre-fer the Evans Hazy 200, which is a2mm thick snare-side head. The

thinner bottom head allows for anoverall characteristic snare soundwhile giving the performer greatersensitivity at the ppp dynamic range.

The third sub-component of agreat-sounding snare drum is thesnare-side strainer. The strainer is com-posed of wire strands or any numberof individual plastic strands or “guts.”

If the drum you’re tuning is com-posed of wire strands, no individualtuning is necessary. Make sure the wirestrands are engaging the snare sidehead all the way across the drum. Ifyou have individual strands, the strandsneed to be individually tuned to have agreat-sounding drum. Disengage thesnare strainer and slide a pencilbetween the strands and the bottomhead creating a resonating chamber. Asyou pluck each gut to hear the pitch,take a small screwdriver and turn thecorresponding screw (located at theend of the strainer opposite the throw-off mechanism) thereby tightening thestrand. Continue this until all strandshave been tuned. I prefer the strands tobe one homogenous pitch. Another

variation would be to tune every otherstrand high, leaving the alternatingstrands low. Another is to tune theperipheral strands on both sides veryhigh and leave the center strands low.Individual preference dictates manytuning schemes but the strands willlove you for devoting attention tothem! Once you have tuned thestrands, remove the pencil and engagethe strainer. Use the strainer knob toensure the strands are properly tight-ened (no strands should be hanging -all should touch the bottom head). Usethe vertical adjustment knob on thestrainer to raise or lower the strandsmaking sure the strands touch the snareside head. As the heads stretch, tuningtouch-ups throughout the next severaldays will be needed to maintain a prop-erly tuned drum.

CONCERT TOMS:Most modern literature calls for 3-4

concert toms. I prefer to use 10”, 12”,14”, and 16” concert toms. These sizesallow for a good high-to-low contrast

while keeping the pitchranges characteristic to theshell size. The Evans Strata1000 series is a greatchoice allowing for awarm round tone with adark fundamental. Fortuning purposes, seeabove. The pitches are notset in stone as today’s liter-ature can ask for a varietyof sounds. I start with the10” drum and tune it to apitch, which allows thedrum to speak well. It’seasy to “over crank” thesmall drums. Be careful;when this happens, youlose most of the tone andprojection of the drum. Ithen tune the 12”, 14”,and 16” keeping an inter-vallic relationship betweenthe drums. Each drumshould resonate freely andunrestricted.

CONCERT BASS:I consider the concert bass drum an

integral part of the symphonic percus-sion ensemble. The highest paid playerin John Phillip Sousa’s band was thebass drummer! A great-sounding bassdrum has a deep, rich tone that sup-ports the bottom end of the musicensemble. I use a 40” bass drum utiliz-ing the Evans Strata 14mm top headwith the Power Center Dot and theStrata 10mm head on the bottom side.The thinner bottom head allows thedrum to resonate properly. To tune thebass drum, seat the head on the bear-ing edge and slowly and evenly takeeach lug up in tone, then repeat forthe bottom side head. Once the headshave been taken up in pitch, take yourfingers and lightly press the center ornodal point of the drumhead to get ridof the overtones; this allows you tohear the fundamental more clearly.While pressing the center, take a smallbass drum implement and lightly tapthe head near each lug listening forpitch differentiation lug to lug. The

goal is to get each lug zone to the samepitch. Once you have tuned the head,you can take the whole head up ordown (lug by lug) as you decide on anoverall pitch. I like both heads (topand bottom) to be at the same pitch. Ina symphonic setting, I’ve found tuningto a B works very well. In an outdoorvenue such as a stadium, I like tuningto a C-Sharp. Again, these are personalpreferences which I’ve found workbest…use them as a suggestion only.

TIMPANI:For Timpani playing, I prefer the

Evans Strata series. The heads producea dark fundamental and blendextremely well with the low brass in asymphonic or outdoor setting. Tochange/tune the head, first place thehead on the bowl, making sure that itis sitting evenly on the bowl. Place thecounterhoop on the head, again check-ing for evenness all the way around.Hold the timpani pedal in the positionthat creates the lowest pitch. Replacethe tension rods and finger-tighten therods until they make contact with the

hoop. DO NOT APPLY PRESSURETO THE HEAD YET! Use the cross-lug sequence starting with full turnsand eventually going to half turns.While maintaining the pedal in thelowest position, tension the head untilit reaches the lowest note in the play-

ing range (as suggested by the drum’smanufacturer.) Check the depthbetween bearing edge and the counter-hoop, measuring the collar at each ten-sion point. Use the pedal and tune thedrum to a mid-range pitch. Strike thedrum about 3” from the collar to pro-duce the best tone. Go “lug by lug,”pitch-matching each lug. Depress thepedal all the way down and now tunethe head to the highest pitch on eachdrum (as suggested by the drum’s man-ufacturer). The drum head is said to be“cleared” when all spots at each ten-sion lug are in tune. The followingtimpani tuning ranges are generallyaccepted:

32” D-A30” E-B29” F-C28” F-C26” Bb - F25” Bb -F23” Eb -Bb 20” F-C

ETHNIC DRUM TUNING:Ethnic drums (bongos, congas, and

timbales) are a major staple in modernsymphonic literature. The drumsshould be tuned such that the drumsspeak well and have a good character-istic sound. To achieve this, I use EvansTri-Center Bongo and Conga heads.

The dot in the centerremoves unwanted over-tones and adds weight tothe center, thus droppingthe fundamental frequency,producing more low-end.

BONGOS & CONGAS:To properly mount a

bongo or conga head, set iton the drum, placing thecounterhoop over the head,and finger-tighten eachrod/claw until the nut at thebottom of the rod is snug,making sure the collarheight is even all the wayaround (the collar height isthe distance between the topof the counterhoop and theflat playing surface of thehead). Using the cross-lug

32 School Band and Orchestra, May 2005

tuning sequence above, slowly bring the head up to taste.Play the head using a variety of palm, hand, and fingerstrokes until you are satisfied. The bongos should have anice characteristic “pop.”

TIMBALES:For timbales, I use the Evans J1 Etched, which is a single

ply 10mm head. These heads provide a satisfying tone whiledelivering a brilliant rim shot. To tune, set the head on thedrum and finger-tighten each lug. Using a drum key, tune theheads up using the cross-lug tuning sequence. Tune thedrums to personal taste. The tone should be full with a niceseparation between the high and low drum.

MARCHING EQUIPMENT:SNARE DRUM:

For the marching side of things, I love the MX WhiteSeries from Evans.

The MX series is extremely extremely durable and pro-duces a great sound. The MX series works equally well out-doors or in a winter percussion venue. I use the MX Whitebatter head and the MX5 5mm (an Aramid Fiber/Polyestercomposite) on the snare side. I like the composite head onthe bottom because I feel a nice tight bottom head is the keyto a great-sounding marching drum. It is also cost-effective

and relatively maintenance free. For tuning, see the abovetuning sequence for the concert snare. Pitch-wise, I tune thebatter head (top) to an A and tune the bottom head to a D(an Eb the weather is a little less humid). I also tune the indi-vidual snare strands to the same pitch. Make sure your pre-ferred pitch is not too high. An overly cranked marchingsnare does not have a lot of projection and does not blendwell with the flutes and trumpets.

TENORS:I use tenors sized at 6”, 6”, 10”, 12”, 13” and 14”. The

MX White tenor head is a great choice here, indoors and

34 School Band and Orchestra, May 2005

outdoors, as the heads are made usingtwo 7.5mm of the same tonally richfilm used to produce the MX Basshead. My tuning scheme is the follow-ing:

6” F and C (low/high)10” A12” F13” Eb14” Bb

When tuning multiple sets oftenors, tune one set to your personaltaste, then use that set of drums as atemplate for the rest of the sets. You’llfind your tuning time significantlydecreases.

BASS DRUMS:I used both the MX1 White series

bass drumhead and the Evans MS1Bass head. The MX1 is a 10mm single-ply head, which includes a unique tonedamping system that enhances articula-

tion and focuses the low-end. TheMS1 is a single-ply 10mm head, whichallows the performer to use more “old-school” damping methods. Both headshave had great success in outdoor sta-diums as well as indoor venues. I haveused many different-sized bass drums(since the high school I work at per-forms mostly in an enclosed dome, Igo with 16” 18” 20” 24” and 26”. Thedrum corps I teach uses 18” 20” 24”28” 32”) and I will list a basic tuningscheme:

16” B20” G flat24” D flat28” A flat32” D-flat

The bass drums should have anintervallic relationship, with eachdrum able to resonate within the char-acteristic qualities of its shell.

All of the above tuning tips andschemes are based on trial and error.Remember, there is no right or wrongway to tune a drum. Make them soundgood, take care of the equipment, andhappy drumming!

*Some tips were used with permis-sion from Evans Drumheads.

Michael McIntosh is currently thepercussion designer/arranger andmusic coordinator for the BluecoatsDrum and Bugle Corps. His dailyactivities include acting as the per-cussion coordinator for the Carmel-Clay school district in Carmel,Indiana. Michael is an active clini-cian and has performed clinics forTMEA, OMEA, DCI, WGI, BOA andPASIC.

Michael has percussive works pub-lished by Row-Loff Publications,Yamaha Sounds of Summer, TapSpace Publications, Drop 6 Mediaand the Hal Leonard Corporation.He is a Yamaha artist/clinician aswell as a signature artist withInnovative Percussion. Michael alsoendorses LP Percussion, Evans drum-heads, and Zildjian cymbals.

36 School Band and Orchestra, May 2005