by
Anonymous
April 21, 2004 -- Since the inception of hoop and rod type acoustic drums, tuning has been a difficult and challenging task. In fact most drummers rarely achieve the quality of sound their drums have to offer. Drum Tech introduces the new DTS Advanced Drum Tuning System, a major breakthrough in tuning. The DTS retrofits to most ‘hoop and tension rod’ type acoustic drums, streamlining the entire tuning process. Once properly installed on drums, turning individual tension rods is no longer necessary as the DTS allows each drumhead’s pitch to be raised or lowered via one adjustment. This allows drummers to play the drum while simultaneously adjusting the interval between the top and bottom heads.
The main reason tuning drums has been so difficult is because of the many tension rods around each drumhead that have to be individually adjusted. All of these rods need to be adjusted to approximately equal tension in order for the drumhead to have a clean tone. Large amounts of time are usually spent just trying to get these rods even. That is not tuning, that is equalizing. The act of tuning is normally the ability to change the pitch up or down, with one adjustment, while listening to find the desired pitch. The DTS allows a drumhead to be tuned with just one adjustment without having to individually adjust each tension rod. This saves a tremendous amount of time and permits the desired pitch to be found with ease because the full range of the head can be heard in seconds.
What is not as commonly recognized, is just how important the pitch is between the top and bottom heads. When the right tuning between the two heads is achieved, the drum will sing with a rich and full tone. Even with unequal tension between the individual tension rods, a drum will still have a rich tone if the top and bottom heads are in tune with each other. In order to find this precise tuning, the top head has to be struck while the bottom head (which only resonates) is brought into tune with the top head. The sweet spot between the heads is found by ear while sweeping the bottom head through its range (much like tuning a guitar). Unfortunately, this is practically impossible to do when manually tuning. By installing the DTS on the top and bottom heads of a drum, this precise head to head tuning can be achieved, and in just seconds. In fact, by installing the DTS on just the bottom head, the most difficult part of tuning is overcome.
The DTS Advanced Drum Tuning System brings to drums a whole new approach to tuning. Most drummers either don’t have the time or don’t have the knowledge and experience to properly tune their drums. By adding the DTS to their drums, they can with little effort, hear the way their drums were meant to sound. Available for 8”, 10”, 12”, 13”, 14”, 15”, 16” and 18” drums.
Telephone: Toll free (888) 378-6832 Website: www.drumtech.com
This article courtesy of http://www.drummc.com.
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