Tuning Your Drums - Part III: Snare Drum

Finally, we tune the most important drum in your arsenal. The Snare Drum is easily the drum you will use the most. It is also the most expressive drum, and it can be tuned many different ways for a plethora of snare sounds. The snare drum's voice is often the "signature sound" of its drummer. I made this the final entry of my drum tuning series because I'd like to cover the many different aspects of this drum.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of snare tuning, a quick word about the snare wires themselves. They must first be removed before you can remove the snare-side head. These wires are held in place by cords that clamp to the side of the drum (usually tightened down by two small Phillips-head screws). Mark the position these cords are clamped with a Sharpie, or red nail polish before removing them, to facilitate reinstallation.

Snare drums are made in many different sizes, styles, and materials, it would be impractical to cover them all accurately for a discussion about tuning, but it is still important to apply tuning techniques differently towards different snare drums. I like to break different snare sounds up into 3 basic categories: Pop (tight snare sound full of overtones), Crack (flat, explosive sound with no overtones), and Boxy (loose snare sound with a "wet" texture).

Wood snares between 5-6 inches deep are best tuned for a Pop. Metal and acrylic snares (especially piccolo snares) make better Cracking sounds, and wood snares from 6 to 10 inches deep make better Boxy tones. Truthfully, any kind of snare can be tuned for any of the above sounds, but these combinations usually yield the best results.

THE POP SOUND

To make your snare "Pop", tune the top head very tightly, so tight that you can barely push down the center of the batter head. With the throw-off engaged, it should sound like a timbale. Use no muffling of any kind, because for this sound, you actually WANT overtones. Like any drum, you must tap the head lightly at each lug about an inch away from the hoop, and adjust each tension rod until the head sounds the same at every tuning point.