Drum Dial

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Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:45 pm

Anyone have one of these or the Tama version?

I just got one yesterday after thinking about picking one up for years. It' s freakin' brilliant!

Being able to record settings, and reproduce them quickly is a huge plus as well as not having to hit the drum to tune it. Replacing heads is super quick to get it up to where you want it tuned.

This will be another one of those... "Why did I wait so long to get one of these?" ..kinda things.

http://www.drumdial.com/

http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/eu/products/a ... es/TW.html

Once the 'secret' gets out, I'm sure many will be buying one of these.
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It just fills Forum pages..." --compasspnt

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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:06 am

Never tried it. I tune by ear, always have. But if you lend it to me I'm sure I'll give you my review of it. I am skeptical though.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:11 pm

Nothing to be skeptical about. This thing doesn't change the way you tune, it just allows you to measure your tuning and repeat it without the trial and error part of it. It also allows you to tune in finer increments than by "ear".

I was just curious after hearing stories from friends, and finally picked one up. If you're interested, I should just come over and demo it for you. I guarantee you'll be a believer once you see and hear what the deal is.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Jef » Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:24 am

I foresee a next generation version of this tool... a digital model with an on-board database of preset drum sizes & models with a customizable user preset menu. Maybe even mechanical auto-lug-turning attachments...hmmmm.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:33 am

I know there are people who are uploading different tunings for you to try. It seems the next logical thing with this.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby macrae11 » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:44 am

Would this be a tool that would allow a relative drum moron to be able to at least tweak some skins into shape, or does it just make a skilled tuner able to work faster? Matt has gone over the basics of drum tuning with me, so I know most of the concepts, I just haven't (and probably won't) put the time in to become a really good drum tuner.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:33 am

macrae11 wrote:Would this be a tool that would allow a relative drum moron to be able to at least tweak some skins into shape, or does it just make a skilled tuner able to work faster? Matt has gone over the basics of drum tuning with me, so I know most of the concepts, I just haven't (and probably won't) put the time in to become a really good drum tuner.

Just keep hiring me and you need not worry. Seriously though, I fail to see how it can completely replace the ear. I can accept that it may speed up my process but in the end, I still tune to pitches normally so there still would be some basic homework to do before you knew what your settings would be. Once I set up a 12" to the dominant and the 16" to the tonic, then I could write down those settings and use them later to get back there I suppose.

I'd still need to use it to say for sure though.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby macrae11 » Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:31 pm

Right and that would be a perfect example. Even if just for the house kit here, if you were to set it up, and then I could just go back to your notes and bring the tuning back into spec after sitting in the basement for a couple of months, that would be huge. Not that I use that kit very much, but it would be nice to be able to have it sound at least decent all the time.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:10 pm

macrae11 wrote:Would this be a tool that would allow a relative drum moron to be able to at least tweak some skins into shape, or does it just make a skilled tuner able to work faster? Matt has gone over the basics of drum tuning with me, so I know most of the concepts, I just haven't (and probably won't) put the time in to become a really good drum tuner.
One strength of this type of tool is exactly what you ask. One thing I saw happening was backline providers sending kits out with this tool so the non drummers can get kits up to spec. Once you know how to seat and break heads in properly, "tuning" is a breeze with this little trick.

Interesting things you find out when using these is how the natural "pitch" of the drum is size dependent, not tension dependent. When setting the tension the same for all sizes of toms for instance, you get wonderfully even intervals without even working for it.

Matt's just afraid you'll make him obsolete Andrew... :-P
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:37 pm

Malcolm Boyce wrote:Once you know how to seat and break heads in properly, "tuning" is a breeze with this little trick.

Most people think they knwo how to do this, most people are very much mistaken. Ask Alain how his DW kit sounded when he put new heads on it.

Malcolm Boyce wrote:Interesting things you find out when using these is how the natural "pitch" of the drum is size dependent, not tension dependent. When setting the tension the same for all sizes of toms for instance, you get wonderfully even intervals without even working for it.

The resonant frequency of the shell is static, however there is no way to know whether or not the natural "pitch" of the drum will work with the natural "pitch" of the other drums. Head Selection also factors in, there are just too many variables to even get into... Again I'd need to try it for a while to see how I would incorporate it into my usual routine.

Malcolm Boyce wrote:Matt's just afraid you'll make him obsolete Andrew... :-P

That would be one heck of a tool that could replace me. It would easily be worth at least 40 bucks.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby macrae11 » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:38 pm

Just to be clear, I don't think this will, nor do I want to, make Matt obsolete. All I want to be able to do is take a kit, that already has heads seated, and has been previously tuned, from sounding like crap, to passable.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Mon Jun 13, 2011 2:44 pm

macrae11 wrote:Just to be clear, I don't think this will, nor do I want to, make Matt obsolete. All I want to be able to do is take a kit, that already has heads seated, and has been previously tuned, from sounding like crap, to passable.

In that case, this dial-a-thingy will probably do that.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Nick H. » Sat Jul 02, 2011 5:24 pm

As the head stretches, wouldn't more and more tension be needed to maintain a consistent sound; making it impossible to always tune to a specific reading?
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Sat Jul 02, 2011 7:19 pm

Nick H. wrote:As the head stretches, wouldn't more and more tension be needed to maintain a consistent sound; making it impossible to always tune to a specific reading?

No the actual tension relates to the pitch. As the head stretches, the pitch will decrease because the tension decreases. So you have to turn the tension rods more because there is now a lack of tension.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Nick H. » Sat Jul 02, 2011 7:23 pm

Mathieu Benoit wrote:
Nick H. wrote:As the head stretches, wouldn't more and more tension be needed to maintain a consistent sound; making it impossible to always tune to a specific reading?

No the actual tension relates to the pitch. As the head stretches, the pitch will decrease because the tension decreases. So you have to turn the tension rods more because there is now a lack of tension.


Right, that makes sense. As an unrelated aside, I just got unblocked internet at work, so I plan to abuse it by posting here more often.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:31 pm

Mathieu Benoit wrote:
Nick H. wrote:As the head stretches, wouldn't more and more tension be needed to maintain a consistent sound; making it impossible to always tune to a specific reading?

No the actual tension relates to the pitch. As the head stretches, the pitch will decrease because the tension decreases. So you have to turn the tension rods more because there is now a lack of tension.

What Matt said.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby dylanger » Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:59 pm

So did you ever get a chance to try this out Matt.

I just put away a kit at L&M in edmonton and I definitely am planning on buying one. Thats not to say I don't want to learn how to tune by ear. I'm going to find that drum tuning bible that you've always told me about and give that a read.

I'm obviously no expert but I agree with malcolm when he says that the shell has a natural pitch. The same as a guitar really, if you hum an A note into my D28 the guitar resonates, I hum a D note and nothing. Pick up a D35 and the opposite happens, D note resonates and the A does nothing. My 000-15 resonates with an E note. A friend of mine learned from a his teacher that he could tune drums this way. Find the note the shell resonates at and the tune the head to that pitch.

My biggest problem when tuning drums is all the extra notes that I hear. I hit next to a lug and I hear the bottom heads note and the next lug beside the one I'm hitting. Then I'm not sure what lug I should be turning. I'm sure I'll have a better understanding when I read the drum tuning bible.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Tue Jan 15, 2013 2:16 pm

dylanger wrote:I'm sure I'll have a better understanding when I read the drum tuning bible.


Oh yeah. Just like that time I read that book about giving birth. I could totally give birth now.

Seriously, practice is the only solution I offer to anyone. There is no gadget or book in the world that can take the place of experience. Read the drum tuning bible but most of all, practice.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Tue Jan 15, 2013 2:29 pm

As much as I agree that you need practice to develop an ability to tune drums well, and to have flexibility with your tuning depending on the setup, room, and intention, these newer devices get us to a point where a newb can tune a given drumset, in a repeatable fashion, following a given set of directions. None of these devices will teach you how to get a drum sound, and most of the "preset" tunings they suggest are for the birds, but if you want to be able to get a consistent drum tuning, without relying solely on your ear to get you there, something like the Drum Dial is going to save you a lot of time and trouble.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Tue Jan 15, 2013 2:35 pm

Malcolm Boyce wrote:As much as I agree that you need practice to develop an ability to tune drums well, and to have flexibility with your tuning depending on the setup, room, and intention, these newer devices get us to a point where a newb can tune a given drumset, in a repeatable fashion, following a given set of directions. None of these devices will teach you how to get a drum sound, and most of the "preset" tunings they suggest are for the birds, but if you want to be able to get a consistent drum tuning, without relying solely on your ear to get you there, something like the Drum Dial is going to save you a lot of time and trouble.


I'm still willing to try it, but I'm fairly fast with tuning drums already and if I get any faster then it just cuts in to billable hours... :mrgreen:
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Tue Jan 15, 2013 2:47 pm

Mathieu Benoit wrote:I'm still willing to try it, but I'm fairly fast with tuning drums already and if I get any faster then it just cuts in to billable hours... :mrgreen:
It's not just about speed. It's wonderfully consistent. Completely removes guesswork from the equation. All of us tune in less than ideal environments, and this helps remove that question mark from what you are doing. So many advantages to using something like the Drum Dial.

Like I said before, there is a lot to getting a decent drum sound. This thing just makes it much easier.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby dylanger » Tue Jan 15, 2013 3:02 pm

Mathieu Benoit wrote:
dylanger wrote:I'm sure I'll have a better understanding when I read the drum tuning bible.


Oh yeah. Just like that time I read that book about giving birth. I could totally give birth now.

Seriously, practice is the only solution I offer to anyone. There is no gadget or book in the world that can take the place of experience. Read the drum tuning bible but most of all, practice.


If you told me today to put a new head on a 12 inch tom and get the best possible sound I would set it on the shell, put the rim on, turn each lug and try and make it not wrinkled. then probably through on some kind of dampening device. I'm really at square one when it comes to this whole thing.
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby macrae11 » Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:21 pm

Mathieu Benoit wrote:
dylanger wrote:I'm sure I'll have a better understanding when I read the drum tuning bible.


Oh yeah. Just like that time I read that book about giving birth. I could totally give birth now.

Seriously, practice is the only solution I offer to anyone. There is no gadget or book in the world that can take the place of experience. Read the drum tuning bible but most of all, practice.

Are you saying with some practice you could give birth?
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby dylanger » Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:29 pm

I believe that's what your saying.....
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Re: Drum Dial

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:23 pm

macrae11 wrote:
Mathieu Benoit wrote:
dylanger wrote:I'm sure I'll have a better understanding when I read the drum tuning bible.


Oh yeah. Just like that time I read that book about giving birth. I could totally give birth now.

Seriously, practice is the only solution I offer to anyone. There is no gadget or book in the world that can take the place of experience. Read the drum tuning bible but most of all, practice.

Are you saying with some practice you could give birth?

dielaugh
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