Levon Helm wrote in his autobiography (which is a great read, by the way) that he got his famous "weeping" tom sound by tuning all the lugs relatively evenly and then completely de-tuning one lug on the batter side. I tried it on my RBs, and it works beautifully. It also makes tuning easier--once you de-tune that one lug, the drum becomes more forgiving of inconsistencies between the other lugs. It's a great sound.

I've noticed that since I found a sound I really liked on my Super Classics, I've tended to tune very close to that sound when I'm just starting from zero tension. That is, if I put new heads on my drums and start tuning, when I'm done and say to myself "that sounds pretty good," it's usually pretty close to where they were prior. I think if you have a good idea of the sound you want in your head, it maybe makes it easier to hit the mark. Of course, if you're using a certain tuning based on a particular venue, then that's another factor to take into consideration.

looks like i have a ton of work ahead of me to tune these new drums of mine. Boy oh boy!!!

Here's a method I came up with on my own that works very well for me. I'm a bass player and not really a drummer but I've been a studio tech. Most of the drummers I play with trust and sometimes prefer my tuning results.

Replacing and tuning:

1. Remove hoops, heads, tension screws and clean the drum and hoops with a slightly damp rag removing any debris. I keep a bottle of diluted Windex around... 50/50.

2. Make sure the bearing edge is free from 'burrs' or bumps. Lightly sand along shape of bearing edge with a fine grit paper (300 - 400) if any burrs need removing or smoothing. Keep one of those sanding"sponge" things in your toolbox for this. Don't go nuts!

3. If drum is old or dried use BUTCHERS WAX to polish the bearing edge. Do not over wax!

4. Replace head with new one. Place the drum on the floor or flat level surface in front of you. Place head on drum. Make sure it is resting evenly on the drum's bearing edge.

5. Place hoop over the head and place screws in the hoop holes but do not tighten/thread the screws yet... it sometimes helps to clean and apply tension rods with a dab of bicycle grease. Nylon washers are nice too... Zogs shoulder washers are better if you can find them.

6. Start with one screw and thread it just until it catches in the threaded lug. This is very important. Do this for all of the screws making sure they are just ever so slightly turned/threaded into the lug nut (just until it catches).

7. Go around the drum with a drum key and tighten each screw the exact amount of turns until the hoop is BARELY holding the head down. This should maybe be between 20 and 30 turns.

8. So now you should have all of the tension screws with the same EXACT amount of turns on them. Start with the 12-O'clock screw and turn it one full turn. The head should tighten. Now do the same for the rest. Now pick up the drum as hit it with a stick. If it is too high you can back off a 1/4 turn on each lug. If it is to low you can go up a 1/4 turn.

9. Repeat for the other head / side.

10. Fine tune

I recommend this method so that you may keep track of the amount of "turns" on each lug. I like to get the drum close to spec evenly then fine-tune each lug individually. That way you don't have like 40 turns on one lug and 20 on the one across from it. This method insures that the head even on the shell. You will need to make sure all of you tension rods are the same length!

You can use your own tuning method after you get it up to pitch with my method.

Also, I'm big fan of the Ludwig heads... they fit the bearing edges of vintage drums better than the Remos. Also their mylar seems to be slightly "softer". the only downside of Ludwig heads is that they seem to dent more easily than the Remos.

I'm not sure how important it is to have the hoops parallel to the rim of the drum shell, but it has always seemed to me that it would be desirable. So, I basically do the same as you except that I do it by measurement. I run the tension rods down until they just apply the slightest pressure on the hoop. Then I turn the drum on its side and use a small plastic ruler to measure the distance between the bottom edge of the hoop and the top edge of the swivel nut at each lug. I tweak them a turn or two in either direction until they are all more or less equal (I don't get crazy about it). Then I start the regular fine turning procedure. I've never seen the experts directly mention starting with the hoops parallel to the rim, but some of their techniques may indirectly have that result.

GG V,

I think you and I have methods that are concerned about similar issues.

That "yes you can get it int tune with just feel/sound" but unless you start with the head/hoops parallel and the same or close number of "turns" on the lugs that these could be factors working against you.

I too sometime measure the same way in order to check if I'm still "square" after I've tuned the drum up to or close to pitch.

I've got an old President series Pearl set and put Earthtone goatskin batter heads on my 13'' and 16'' toms... I put Remo Fyberskins on the bottoms... This saved money re: Copying the real skin tones of the batters without the added cost...I also play piano and so I do tune the toms to a key... The 13'' is tuned to a D and the 16'' to an A... I tighten the resos up a half to a full note and they sound very good tuned that way... I also place a 14'' floor tom to my left ala Papa Jo Jones and on that I have a Remo Weather King batter head and an open bottom... It's tuned somewhere between the "D and A" toms and has a distinctive, almost dead thud sound that really plays well off of the precise tuning of the other two toms... I use brushes alot and so on my snare I have an Evans Etched batterhead... I crank the snares pretty tight and that seems to give me a great sound... I'm not a heavy hitter and have found that Vic Firth AJ5 sticks work well for a "vintage' sound with this set-up... I use an Evans Black Hydrolic batterhead on the bass drum... It's a nice "dry" sound and gives me the punch I'm seeking when I'm playing loud and works well when I dead head the pedal on ballads and slower, quiter tunes...

Those are some good tuning links. I've always just tuned them by ear to my liking. I always like a deep tone on all the toms and go for the lowest possible that sounded good to me. Also like the deep snare sound too. Just something I prefer. Sometimes I'd gig with 2 snares 1 tuned lower and deep and the other crisp and raspy. Long ago in the garage bands we had I'd sometimes tune to the bass which seemed to jive well sometimes. Dunno never looked much at it as science. I was taught to tune the drums evenly and opposites but it sometimes depended on how even the drum surface was and if the head hoop was warped at all. Does Remo still make the CS dot heads? I used to play those long ago. I really need to catch up on the times. :)

Yessir.

CS = "Controlled Sound"

They come a few varieties.