Academic Lecture on Percussion Acoustics and Quantified Drum Tuning
By Professor Rob Toulson
Tutorial Videos on Acoustic Theory of Drumhead Vibration
Drumhead Vibration Modes
Description and measurement of fundamental and overtone vibration modes and associated frequencies
Coupled Drumheads
Showing the coupling between the batter and resonant drumheads on a cylindrical drum
Tutorial Videos on Tuning the Fundamental Pitch of a Drum
Pitch Range of a 13" Rack Tom
Showing the tuning range from 79.0 Hz to 138.0 Hz
Pitch Range of a 16" Floor Tom
Showing the tuning range from 60.0 Hz to 120.0 Hz
Tutorial Videos on Lug Tuning and equalising the Drumhead
Sonic Differences Between and Even and Unevenly Tuned Drum
Even tuning gives a warm tone with a smooth decay. Uneven tuning has audible modulation and frequency beating
Clearing the Drumhead by Lug Tuning
Taking an untuned drum and tuning to ensure that it has a uniform frequency response at all lug locations around the perimeter of the drum
Concept of Acoustic Beating and Phase Cancellation
Two similar frequency sine waves cause beating through phase cancellation when summed together.
Tuning the Resonant Drumhead
Resonant Drumhead Tuning
Using the Resonant Tuning Factor to evaluate different approaches to resonant head tuning
A Holistic Approach to Drum Tuning
Drum Tuning 101 - Back To Basics
A simple and holistic approach to drum tuning, controlling the fundamental and overtone frequencies of the drum
Spectrum Analysis and Filtering Frequencies
Using a simple filter feature to identify and focus on the frequencies of interest
Timbre: The Truth about Drum Shell Vibration
Musical Instrument Vibration - Tuning Fork Example
Showing how mass affects the fundamental frequency of a vibrating system
Drum Shell Vibration - Part 1
Showing how the shell vibration frequency changes with and without hardware
Drum Shell Vibration - Part 2
Showing how the shell vibration frequency changes with and without hardware
Snare Drum Tuning
Tuning Range of a De Broize Custom 14x6.5 Solid Oak Snare
Evaluating tone and timbre at low, medium and high tuning
Tuning Range of a Ludwig Supralite 14x6.5 Steel Snare
Evaluating tone and timbre at low, medium and high tuning
Fine Tuning a Snare Drum
Using lug tuning and resonant head tuning to optimise the snare drum sound
Snare Drum Tuning Comparison
Comparing the sound of three snare drums when all tuned to have the same fundamental and overtone frequencies