Drummers...snare problem?

Question

When I play my tom toms, the snares at the bottom of the snare drum ring and vibrate. I like having a high pitch sound on my toms but everytime I do, the snares will ring. But I know your going to say to tighten my snares, but when I tighten my snares it sounds like a snare used in a marching band and it just doesnt sound good. Any ideas?

Answer 1

It is almost impossible to completely get rid of snare drum buzz. Electric Roland kits like the TD-12 and TD-20 allow you to turn snare buzz on so when you play the toms and bass there is a slight snare buzz. Roland has this option because there is usually snare buzz on real kits.



There are things you can do to minimize the snare buzz. Placement of snare in relation to the toms is one way, but it is impractical to move the snare too far away. The drums need to be close enough to move quickly from one drum to another.



Another thing to do is to tune the batter and resonant heads of the snare to different pitches (I tune my batter head higher than the resonant, but some drummers do the opposite). By keeping the 2 snare heads out of tune with each other, the snare will not resonate as easily with the toms.



Also, keep both snare drum heads at different pitches than any of your tom heads. I tune both snare heads higher than all my toms, but if you have a small tom (like an 8 inch tom), you might need to tune the snare between 2 toms.



Make sure that the snare heads are tightened evenly around the edges. If the resonant head is loose at one lug and tight at another lug, you will get some strange sounds.



Finally, make sure you have a fresh set of snares on the drum. Snares wear out just like the heads do. The snares will tend to buzz more, especially if they wear out unevenly since you will have a range of different tightness. At least one of the snares will be more likely to buzz.



It can be frustrating trying to control snare buzz since there are so many variables, but I hope this helps.



On the tuning higher or lower issue - you can tune it either higher or lower, just make sure the pitch doesn't match the pitch of the toms.

Answer 2

This is a very common problem. You can re-tune the snare heads to a different pitch. The ringing is caused by sympathetic vibrations - when your toms are sounding in the same range as the top or bottom snare heads, the snare heads vibrate (it really has very little to do with the actual snares). Try tuning the bottom head a little higher. You will have to experiment a little, but that usually will take care of the problem.

Answer 3

Yeah, this is a common problem, happens alot.



You can try getting a newer drum head for the bottom of the snare, I know I used one that sorta had a "textured"surface to it, which minimized the buzzing. Or you can try putting a light piece of cloth or paper towel between the snares and the drum head, but that would change the snappy sound of the snare a little. Also try loosening the tension on the lower drum head. Overall, you want to minimize the "tightness" to lessen the vibrations. Good luck!

Answer 4

There are only "two" ways to lessen the buzz! First, there are two snare beds on the bottom of the drum. Each snare bed (where the snare crosses over the hoop) has two lugs. You can loosen these lugs (only these lugs) to remove some of the buzz but don't do it too much otherwise the sound you are looking for will change. If this does not work you have to retune the tom that is making it buzz, start with the bottom head of that drum. If every drum makes it buzz, retune the snare. There will always be some buzz but if its too much, these are your only options.

Answer 5

My problems are that I'm 18 and I don't have a job, I left school at 13-14 and never went back, I have no GCSE's and nothing else, I can't get a job to help my mum who is struggling every week to keep a roof over our head. I find it hard to meet new people, or to even leave the house as I feel that I have Agoraphobia and possible Asperger's Syndrome - just like my brother. Yeah life is hard, but I'm trying to pull myself together the best I can, one step at a time & all that.. just feel pretty worthless sometimes, suicidal thoughts have cropped up more than once.. but I don't think I have the balls to kill myself, or I would have done it already.