Jay,

Yes Sir You bring up a common topic we've discussed here quite a few times, that is, how differently we hear our drums from behind the set vs. how the audience hears them from twenty feet in front of the set. As drummers, we hear predominantly the sound coming off the batter heads while the audience can be hearing a stronger influence coming from the reso heads. You could be hearing a strange overtone coming off that floor tom batter head, but it's probably inaudible to everyone else ten feet away. We spend so much time sitting behind our drums and tuning them to perfection, but we're the only person sitting behind our drums and hearing them from that perspective. We should be tuning our drums for the audience's ears, from their perspective. It's for this reason I like to have another band member (or my wife) play my drums as I stand in front of the stage, and then make tuning adjustments accordingly. I think a lot of drummers would be surprised just to hear how differently their bass drum sounds from in front of the set vs. from behind.

Just my :2Cents:

Mike

So very true, Jay! A couple of weeks ago, we played a big gig. I thought everything on my kit was tuned perfectly. Nope. The sound man, from his position, asked me to muffle my rack toms. He said they rang out too much. Too low. He asked that I use tape on my heads."Ain't gonna happen!" I replied. I just flicked the dampers on. He was happy with the sound and although I could live with it, they still sounded a bit too high for me. Oh well. The gentleman has a great ear and I was willing to listen. Have to admit, it worked out fine.

Brian

Brian

Agreed 100%..

An older mentor of mine showed me this about 5/7yrs back,..

Tune yr snare a lil higher (tighter) then you think,...

Cause yr sitting right there..

Have someone hit the snare over & over again while yr standing about where everyone hanging out...i'l bet it's not crisp enough for ya..!

Also my toms sound nice & warm while playing..

But have a fellow drummer play a tune with yr band while yr out in the audience ..

I'l bet they sound alil like cardboard boxes..lol

Tune yr toms a note higher then you would normally..! (No dampers)..!

The flr Tom issue,...I agreed, keep it loose until you hear & feel the kickback..

The Bassdrum is usually Mic'd , so there's really no concern there..

A buddy of mine, who was starting out, was playing in town, so I caught the 1st set..

He had his top of the line Tama star classics all set up...(all 8pieces)..!

When he was finished the 1st set, he came up & asked how the band was, etc..

We talked alil, & wanted to tell him, but not hurt his feelings,

So I asked him if I could hit the drums now, while he was standing where we were..& listen to the sound...? He said, sure..

So I sat behide the kit, started with his main 10" & 12" toms..

His face, said it all....so I tuned them up a full note + a semi on both the toms..

HE Immed loved the sound..

I did a note higher on both flr toms ...his loved it..

And lastly I hit the snare...he said, " it doesn't Snap"

So I tuned up the reso a lot & the batter a note..then put a small Moongel on & started to play...his smiled & put 2 thumbs up..

Then, I noticed...he hasn't even Mic'd his Bassdrum (cause the band didn't think it was needed)..!

I fixed that right away, & ran his bass drum into his bassist's moniter...!

I stayed for the 1st 20mins of the 2nd set...he was smiling like a baby..!

*i just P/u a 1202 Mackie mixer...man o man,

I can now mic my bass,snare, 2toms & my cyms....then give a line out to the main mixing board...

It's a whole new world...lol

A guitarist I used to play with complained about my ringing toms because he was standing right in front of them. When he heard them from 20 feet away as I was setting up at a subsequent gig, he understood what was going on.

I've attended far too many jams where the host drummer tunes his drums to sound like a 1970s Eagles record. As a result, they don't project and drummers overplay in order to hear themselves, which leads to everyone else cranking up the amps.

Al

I hear people yelling at me to turn it down, but I don`t mic any of my drums. I have no mics. The weird part is,.....there isn`t anyone around or home.

Laughing HLaughing HLaughing H

... and your 2 cents is absolutely correct Mike! Every venue I play, right after I get done with the sound check, I have the singer .. ( a frustrated drummer!, but he can play a bit ) .. sit at my drums and I go out front. I will add, only YOU will play like you with your impact, touch, and technique ... but doing this gets us pretty close!

Tommyp