Turtlerock Forum

http://drumdial.com/

Just wanted to see how many people use these and what the thoughts are on wether they are useful. How many drummers here even have one?

I just got one a few months ago Lee.
The reason I did was so that when a drummer starts a session, and we get the kit all tuned nice, I want to know where the tuning was, especially when new skins are put on the kit and they change during the session.
Also - I get to know more about tuning particular drums in the process.
Its amazing how many drummers are not great at tuning too.

I actually want to get one for live sound. I think it would be a great way to fix tuning issues quickly. As said above, many drummers are rubbish drum tuners...

I can't see a reason to not own a relatively cheap aid.
I never use one, and prefer the ear myself.
Some of the best drum sounds are made from uneven tensionings. Although I admit, for years I would turn up to a session at least an hour and a half early and spend most of that time tuning and retuning my drums.

I got one, I use it.. it really helped me learn(ing) to tune drums.

I realised I was being way too ham fisted.

I would recommend one, put it this way, it aint gonna make anything worse, and can be extremely handy...

I bought my brother (drummer) one about 6 months and I don't think he ever even opened the box!
Might steal it off him and see if he notices.

I have one and have done for a couple of years, I love it... I use it regularly, once you get the hang of it it's a great aid... I use it as "get everything under control" kinda thing and then work out the pitch from there..

I will say this though, it's not quick.. And it's only really effective on fresh skins..

Just ordered one, at less than $75 delivered you can't go wrong!

M A Taylor wrote:And it's only really effective on fresh skins..

Heads!

Calf skin head...

Now thats a good name for a punk band

I am not convinced, I have a Tama Tension Watch and its an incredibly slow process, compared to when I was using a Torque Drum Key, which got me there in a fraction of the time, until the drummer I stole the key from, stole it back.

link to a torque key
http://www.gallinsmps.com.au/drums/drums-brands/drums-evans/evans-torque-drum-key.html

... oh and the torque key you can use without having to demount the drum, the dial, you need the head to be horizontal with dial on top (not underneath), a real pain having to pull every drum from your kit to get to the resonant head and of course the kick!

The Tasmanian wrote:I just got one a few months ago Lee.
The reason I did was so that when a drummer starts a session, and we get the kit all tuned nice, I want to know where the tuning was, especially when new skins are put on the kit and they change during the session.
Also - I get to know more about tuning particular drums in the process.
Its amazing how many drummers are not great at tuning too.

That Is such a great idea for tracking, which makes me wonder why I have never seen one in any studio/session I've been to. Will you be using one on your under water session?

yes certainly using it for this gig - as the kit being submerged,it changes the tuning because of the (large) pressure changes, so I need to come back to roughly the same tuning during each rehearsal "dunk" / and the final gig.
I was just using the drum dial a few minutes ago - I like it,its well built, and for the first time in my life I think I can finally write down some basic (approx) tuning notes for drums on a session.
It has been a handy tool to get a understanding of the tension relationship between front and back skins too.
Still......amazing drum tuning really is a black art.
Ive witnessed many great drummers, (who pull really great tones) when Ive asked them to tune the snare (or anything) a touch, and they will tune 1,2 or 3 lugs and suddenly it sounds incredible - no reference to finicky pressure,or tapping each lug to check each overtone, or making sure that they apply the same turn on the other lugs, to keep them the same...

The Tasmanian wrote:Ive witnessed many great drummers, (who pull really great tones) when Ive asked them to tune the snare (or anything) a touch, and they will tune 1,2 or 3 lugs and suddenly it sounds incredible - no reference to finicky pressure,or tapping each lug to check each overtone, or making sure that they apply the same turn on the other lugs, to keep them the same...

agree.