What is the Quantitative Measure for Frequency Beats in Recorded Drum Sounds?

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    Drum Physics Tuning
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the tuning of drums, specifically focusing on the relationship between drum shell resonance, head tension, and the resulting sound characteristics. Participants explore various tuning methods, the effects of drum dimensions, and the concept of frequency beats in recorded drum sounds.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that tuning the bottom head higher than the top head can help achieve a clearer tone and prevent excessive ringing.
  • Others argue that there is no single "best way" to tune drums, as preferences vary widely among drummers regarding head tension and tuning strategies.
  • A participant raises questions about how the resonant frequency of the shell, the depth of the drum, and the tension of the heads interact to create sound, proposing that a drum may produce multiple tones simultaneously.
  • Another participant notes that avoiding overly resonant drums may be beneficial for blending with a band, which could influence tuning choices.
  • One participant shares their personal tuning experience with a snare drum, detailing their approach to prevent unwanted ringing by detuning specific lugs.
  • A question is posed regarding the formula for achieving a pentatonic scale by varying drum depths while keeping the diameter constant.
  • A later post introduces the concept of "frequency beats" in recorded drum sounds and references a study that attributes this phenomenon to non-uniform head tuning.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions on drum tuning methods, with no consensus on a single best approach. The discussion includes both agreement on the complexity of drum sound production and disagreement on specific tuning strategies and their effects.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various factors affecting drum sound, such as head tension, drum depth, and material, but do not resolve the complexities involved in quantifying frequency beats or the specific interactions of these factors.

Who May Find This Useful

Musicians, particularly drummers, sound engineers, and acoustics enthusiasts may find this discussion relevant for understanding drum tuning and sound production.

sketchtrack
I once read that the best way to tune a drum is to first remove all the hardware, until it is just the shell, then hit it with a mallet, and match the frequency it resonates at with a tuning fork, then tune the top head the same frequency, and the bottom head slightly higher. This sounds good right? What would be the reason to tune the bottom head higher than the shell and top head?
 
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I'm assuming you are referring to drums typically found on a trap kit (as opposed to tympani, etc).

I'm not sure there is a 'best way'. The choice of head is important. Some people like to tune the bottom head lower than the top, others like to tune the bottom head tighter, some tune to the same tone, others deliberately detune a couple of lugs to prevent ringing...

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/
http://www.peelerdrumcenter.com/tech_talk_drum_tuning.htm
http://www.drumsdatabase.com/tuning-drums.htm

It's a balance of the attack and the decay tones.
 
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I'm just trying to make sense of the whole picture, what is happening that makes the drum sound. First you have the resonant frequency of the drum shell, then you have the depth of the shell, and then you have the tightness of the top head and bottom head.

I did a project in high school where we made little drums out of pvc pipe, and we made a set to a scale by cutting them different lengths.

Would you say you could match the resonant frequency of the shell to the note achieved by the depth? Does that make sense?

How does the tightness of the head affect the actual note that the drum plays, and how does that interact with the depth and width?

It seams that a drum could be a few notes and tones at once because you have the depth, the resonating frequency, and the two heads. Wouldn't it be ideal to have everything on the drum ringing the same note?
 
The first site you linked warned that sometimes you want to avoid very resonant drums because it can muddy the sound of the band. Maybe that is the reason to tune the bottom head slightly higher or lower than the resonant frequency of the shell? That way you don't have a drum which rings too much, but you have a drum with a clear and clean tone which rings evenly.
 
Right- exactly. There are a lot of variables that can be adjusted (depth, tension on each head, thickness of drum, material, internal damping, etc), and the total timbre of the drum is a complicated function of all those variables. Then there's all the mounting, which may affect the tone by loading the shell, preventing free resonant response.

For example, on my snare (5 1/2" deep, chrome, 14" diameter) I detune two bottom lugs, one on each end of the snare, to prevent "ringing" of the bottom head which would lead to uncontrolled buzzing sounds. For my toms, I tune the bottom higher than the top, to bring out a brighter sound on the decay. Some people prefer the opposite.
 
If I were to take 5 drums the same diameter and make them different depths in order to go for a pentatonic scale, what formula would you use to figure the diameter to depth ratios?
 
Dear all,

this topic is a bit old, however I joined the forum only now.

Since I'm not a physician (sorry, :smile:) I was wondering if there is a way to determine quantitatively the presence of "frequency beats" in a recorded drum sound. I can hear clearly in my samples those which are affected by "frequency beats" but I would like to quantify this phenomenon. According to Worland (2010, Normal modes of a musical drumhead under non uniform tension, J. Acoust. Soc. Am.) "frequency beats" are caused by vibration mode splitting due to non-uniform head tunig.

best,

M.
 

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