Tuning your drum set is crucial to the sound that's needed for your style of music to be played. Whether your drum kit is brand new, heavily used, replacing drum heads, or exposed to various harsh temperatures, tuning the drum is a major step in producing great tone quality. Though drummers have their own preference of tonal settings, basic steps must be taken.
The first step before tuning
Make sure the drumhead (one that fits that particular shell size) is stretched to the exact shape of the bearing edge of the drum. Using a drum key, turn each tension screw one half turn. Make sure that you tighten each screw that is directly opposite, in a criss-cross pattern. Repeat this process until there are no ripples.
Next, in the middle of the drumhead, press down firmly with the palm of your hand. There may be some slack when you remove your hand. Repeat the tightening pattern until the slack is gone.
Tuning the drum
Using your drumstick, tap on the drum head close to the tension screw. With your drum key, tighten or loosen the tension screw until you hear the desired pitch. Do the same for the rest of the tension screws. Make sure that each point that you tap produces the same pitch. Remember to follow the tightening pattern whenever you turn the tension screws. You'll need to tune the opposite drumhead on a double-headed drum also. Snare drum heads are a bit more fragile, so care must be taken when tightening.
Tuning the set
Keep in mind that the bass drum has the lowest pitch and the snare drum usually has the highest. As far as the toms, tune them in relation to their size to one another. Start with the floor toms or tom and tune them low but higher than the bass drum. Then tune each rack tom in sequence to a higher pitch.
Again, drummers will have their preferred settings for tuning a drum. Certain top name sets such as DW, Tama, Yamaha, Gretsch, Pearl, and Ludwig will also have a variety of different shell thickness and wood selections like maple and birch that can also affect a desired pitch. Experiment by tuning the set at different pitches to obtain the sound that you like. There are no hard and fast rules to tuning the drum but following the basic drum tuning techniques will get you well on the way to a great sounding drumkit.
