In this free drum lesson, Jared Falk goes over some tips and tricks for getting an awesome sounding bass drum. In the video you’ll find the different steps he follows to tune his bass drum successfully, and some cool tips on muffling techniques and gear, drumheads, and tuning for the resonant head.
Following Jared’s tips on bass drum tuning will get you on the right track for getting an awesome sounding bass drum. It’s important that you experiment with all the different drumheads, muffling possibilities, and different levels of tension when tuning both bass drum heads. Equally important to tuning is listening to a lot of music. This is important since you’ll know what sound to search for while you tune. Doing all of the above will help you find the type of bass drum sound you like the most. You may want to check the free drum lesson “How To Tune Your Drums” for more tips on bass drum tuning.
Once you’re done tuning the bass drum to your liking, you might find that it resonates for too long. Check the free drum lesson “How To Muffle Your Drums” to learn about the muffling techniques Jared enjoys using for getting rid of unwanted bass drum resonance. As soon as your bass drum sounds exactly like you want it to, you can learn how to set it up properly by watching the lesson “How To Setup A Drum Set“.
If you’d like to learn how to tune the remaining drums on your drum set, we encourage you to check the free drum lessons “How To Tune Your Snare Drum” and “How To Tune Your Toms” to learn some tips and tricks on how to make your snare drum and tom-toms sound amazing.
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I bought a pair of pearl P 932 long board double bass pedals And the left pedal is extremely heavy and I have done practically almost everything to try to make everything even But nothing is working so please if you have some advice please let me know thank you and have a good day
Is that a Sennheiser e602 you’re using to mic it? Love that mic!
Hi Jared,The ten free video lessons are they
really fee. Thanks Thomas
just wondering with the kick mic [placement. Is the mic actually placed into the porthole or slightly to the outside. I have a funnel tube in my porthole and am wondering where the mic should be to get that punch
Just use a ring inside … its call O’s ring.
Thanks for the videos guys loved them. I just wonder what stock do you use?
i dont like the patches i use duct tape it works better and lasts longer:)
thanks dude my new yamaha bass drum sounds so good cant wait to do all the rest….
hey, does the toilet paper and gaff tape trick work with the bass drum a well, i watched your other videos while tuning my kit and the tips and tricks really hellped my sound quality so far and cant really afford at the moment to go out and buy more kit gear, would really appreciate an answer 🙂
Hey Jared, I have found when i loosen the Lugs on my drum i heard a cracking sound, should i be worried ?
Could you please explain what type of Evans resonant heads you are using on your toms and snare drums?
Video on this
13 years old and cleloetmpy full of BULLSHIT let’s see your VIDEO of you playing this YOU AINT GOT ONE!!
Hey Jared,
When you were talking about the bass drum hoop, and you pointed out that little pad, mine doesnt have one. is anywhere I could buy one of those, or something to substitute it? because my pedal has scratched the finish off in some areas, and I dont want it to damage the hoop. any suggestions?
Thanks for the great video! you mentioned being old school (I’m 51 and love the old school ways) I play a 1981 Ludwig set with a 24 kick I notice no one seems to use wood beaters anymore…would you recommend changing to the newer style beaters.
BTW I do like the sound I have so maybe that answers it right there but I haven’t played live & micked in a long time and am concerned that I might get too much “beater impact” noise into the mic
Thanks for your time!!
Can you explain the differences in the bearing degrees menitoned in many of the drum ads. 45 degrees verses say 35 degrees. Does it reallly make a difference in the sound. What about drum materials. Normallly, I have birch for my jazz kit and maple for the larger rock/r&b kit. What are your thoughts on materials. By the way your DWs are awesome. I’m really jealous. Thanks for the tuning tips. Spot on! Rock on,
Jake
HAVE YOU EVER USED THE TECHNIQUE WITH TWO DRUM KEYS LETS SAY TIGHENING 1 AND 5 THEN 2 AND 6 ECT TO GET CLOSE? MY LAST SET I PUT G2 ON AND THEY SOLD FAST WHEN I WAS IN A BIND, MY NEW SET I PUT REMO BLACK SUEDE EMPEROR ON BECAUSE THE MAGAZINES RATED THEM BETTER… I KNOW MY NEXT SET OF HEADS WILL BE BACK TO THE G2 AS SOON AS I CAN AFFORD THEM. WHAT IS A GOOD ENTRY LEVEL PRICED CYMBAL?
A great entry level cymbal would definitely be zildjian ZBT’s.
Awesome. I love these non-technique oriented videos! Thanks so much for your tireless work guys.
Jared – When you first used the tuning key you said you were going to make a 1/2 turn all the way around. Then, in fast motion, you went around to each t-rod 3 times. Did you actually tighten each rod a half turn each time?
I just tuned my bass drums using the rough tightness given and tightening the resonant head a little bit more then the batter (never though of this) and my bass drums sound amazing. The best I’ve had them the entire 8 years I’ve been drumming. I love your videos and they help me so much with learning new techniques and ideas for stuff of my own.
hi jared..
nice video..
the way i do it when is, screwing the opposite sided t-rods..
lets say there are 8 t-rods.. I start with 1 and 5, then 3 and 7, 2 and 6, 4 and 8.. I think the heads are more evenly tightened this way. And its easier to prevent the wrinkles on the head.
thanks jared
take care
Love seeing these tuning videos. Jared, if i could make one suggestion. Could you please let us know exactly how many turns you make when tuning.
This isn’t mentioned at all, and the video has been sped up slightly during this process.
BTW, really looking forward to the tom tuning video. I struggle with getting a decent tone out of my toms.
Thanks for the videos. 😀
His cavtriee output included over 75 plays and libretti, numerous stories, poems, lyrics and various other comic and serious pieces
Jared you are my Idol 😀 and BTW it’s great you included bloopers
One more thing about the sound of your drums: If your bassdrum sounds rubbish when you play it, it might sound great where the mic is;) Try to find out where sound engineers (like me) put their mics, and take a listen at that spot, especially on the bassdrum, you’ll be surprised;) Just let someone else play your bassdrum and try it, and you’ll discover why they put their mics over there. It’s also a very good idea to do this while tuning your bassdrum, because you’ll make sure that your audience hears the best you can get out of your bassdrum. It’s also a good idea to record your (bass)drum with a decent mic and listen to it through some cans or monitorspeakers, so you can hear if the tuning is really 100%.
Dean, would you mind tilelng me what type of ride you are using in this video?! I know its an APX but is it some sort of crash/ride?!?! Thanks for all the great videos!
Can please make a video on the exact way u tnue your drums