john bonham snare tuning

Thats was i was thinking but i thought someone had a trick lol what about the snare and tuning and such? This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. (Just put that giant gong he had behind his kit right out of your mind.). Custom Speed King Pedal In Red/Silver Finish Bonzoleum on Youtube is a very interesting guy and I think very knowledgable about Bonham in both playing and equipment. device: ['desktop'], // display only on device userType: ['guest','loggedin'], // display only on user type Tune this to medium pitch. The snare drum is the loudest part of the drum set and is known for having a lot of attack but very little sustain. All Rights Reserved. The set was eventually bought by British drummer Robin Melville, who lives in Cumbria. adUnits.push({ // START: Defining Adunits Resonant heads dont need to be replaced as often as batter heads; you can usually change them every second or third time you change your batter heads. Go for 14-inch and 16-inch rack toms married to an 18-inch floor tom. If and when those Bonham disciples do find what theyre looking for, they end up paying a premium for it. At the age of ten his mother bought him a real snare drum, which according to Mick Bonham (John's brother) was a white, Pearl snare drum. When he isn't touring with one of his several bands, you will find him hunched over his desk at home writing articles for the likes of Vice, The Guardian, Loud & Quiet and more. Be careful to keep track of all the tension rods and claws. adUnits.push({ any muffling for either drums? var device = "desktop"; Drum heads are generally made of different types of plastic: Generally speaking, if you play on a regular basis, its a good idea to change your batter heads every six months to a year. 14 x 6.5 LM402 Snare Drum Included. I was just listening to the John Bonham site here, the guy talked about the way he tuned his drums, the batter heads were tuned high, but the reso heads were higher, same thing with the bass drum, does anyone know how they were tuned, and if you were using a drum dial, what would the settings be, i really like his sound, any help would be appreciated thks. His bass drum was truly a bass drum often measuring 26 inches. The drums themselves evolved from animal skin heads attached with rope to a modern system that uses multiple parts. "It wasn't a hugekit, but it was phenomenally loud. Bonham though, tricky as he was, often enjoyed playing his kick on the upbeats of a phrase while his left foot held the downbeat. For more options and additional information, visit our. } The main concept behind Bonhams tuning strategy was that he tensioned the resonant heads tighter than the batter heads. -Ambassador Snare Hazy-42 strand Snare wires If the heads are new play for approx one week - then start to tuning. Big drums. Furthermore, engineer Eddie Kramer once recalled a mere tap of his finger eliciting a timpani-like resonance from Bonhams front bass drumhead during a session for Houses Of The Holy. Would have been awesome to see what JB would have played then and through the 80's, 90's, and today as drum equipment has changed. { Learn how to sound like the Led Zeppelin legend. code: 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_tablet_sticky_728x90', 714-503-1880. As mentioned before, each drum has a range of pitch that it can accommodate. A bad day of drumming is better than a good day at work! That being said: Head choice- Remo Emperors on the batter side of both kick and snare. To fully understand how drums work, youll first need to understand what their different parts are and what they do. // Init DFP Some really tasteful panning, eq, compression, and some downright beautiful sounding rooms. While there seems to be no general consensus on exactly how much tighter, the fact that the batter heads were tensioned rather tight themselves indicates that the resonant heads probably werent much higher than the batters. Note each of the following as you put together your drum set: The drum hoop is a round piece of metal that holds the heads onto the drum. adUnits.push({ Instead, he says thinks like; "he tuned the bottom head WAY up", and "the bottom head would be tuned the way you would hear a snare drum being tuned". device: ['desktop'], // display only on device Generally, this was Bonham's complete set up (even though it can be found on the internet widely): 6.5"x14" Ludwig LM402 Supraphonic Snare Drum, 10x14" (or 12"x14" [on his Maple drums] or 12"x15" [on his Stainless Steel drums] Rack Tom, 14"x26" Bass Drum (he used two of these for a few shows), Paiste Giant Beat Multipurpose 18" Cymbal, Paiste Giant Beat Multipurpose 20" Cymbal, Paiste Giant Beat Multipurpose 24" Cymbal, [He used another 18" {I think} for when he occasionally used 2 bass drums], Paiste 2002 18" Medium Crash (He used a second one from 1979-1980), Cowbell (made by Paiste according to Bonham's drum tech). There are three ways to tune a drum: resonant (bottom) head higher than the batter (top) head, resonant head lower than the batter head, and both heads tuned to the same pitch. im using 2 mxr ribbon mics as the overheads, a shure beta 57a on the kick facing the beater about 2-3 inches in the porthole, and a pyle mic on the snare (the shure sm57 copy). This gives them a louder and brighter tone. The kit was a Super Classic: 22in x14in bass drum, 13x9 and 16x16 tom toms, with a 14x5 Supraphonic 400 metal-shell snare drum. The one I am wanting to own would be the one he recorded " Kashmir and Levee Breaks. 6b). Ditch the porthole on the kick. }); I'd assume his first 6.5 is keystone since he got it with the maple kit. 6a). 7b, was also an exercise in self control. It's going to sound wrong at first when you're sitting in front of your kit. No youll never get that sound out of a 22 Gretsch. }); This is sometimes referred to as the resonant pitch of the drum. }); This had been the standard rock drum kit in Britian, for those who could afford one, since Ringo Starr had swapped to Ludwig from the British brand Premier in 1963. userType: ['guest','loggedin'], // display only on user type Once youve got your kit together, theres one more thing before you bang it like Bonzo go for the groove! Timbales? -- John Bonham A Thunder of Drums by Chris Welsh and Geoff Nicholls, Given Bonzo's affinity towards Ludwig kits, odds are Bonzo was using a Ludwig kit to record Led Zeppelin 1. if(adUnits[i].assignToVariableName && (adUnits[i].assignToVariableName !== null)) window[adUnits[i].assignToVariableName] = dfpSlots[i]; If you opt for a regular singleply head instead, cut up an old bass drum head (just as Bonham would do) and make your own muffling ring. For tuning, Bonham loved having the resonant drumheads tuned higher than the batter heads. 1b illustrates how Bonham would sometimes highlight the flipside of an eighth-note triplet by emphasizing only the left-hand notes in a sixtuplet. I play coated Ambassadors on the reso with coated Emps on top to get his sound. Any snare resonant head will work. You cant go wrong with a versatile workhorse like the Shure SM57. These little air holes are built into drums and allow air to escape the drum shell when the drums are hit. if anyone could help me with any input that would be much appreciated! I read somewhere that he understood the science behind his snare and getting the sound that he wanted. adunit: 'drumforum_tablet_sticky_728x90', the drummer already has a Ludwig kit. how could i replicate his tuning with the drum types and sizes that i have? It is RPM and speed limited. One end of the tension rod is threaded; the other end has a square head. I also recommend Paiste PST7, Meinl Classics, or Sabian APX if youre looking for a budget buy. Toms are usually tuned a fourth apart (the first two notes of Here Comes the Bride). Ex. Received maple thermogloss in early 1969 - Keystone, Sep 15, 2015 - MAGE MUSIC: 1968 Led Zeppelin - Goteborg, Sweden at Liseberg Amusement Park, Do you guys know if John Bonham ever used the Ludwig LM402's W/ Keystone Drum Badge in early days Or was his 6.5x14 snares always B/O badge. Bomham had a technique where he would kep moving his left hand in time even after the note had been hit on the snare. The "not so secret secret" JB used was tuning his reso. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our cookies policy. As you tune your resonant head, increase the tension until the wrinkles are gone and theres equal tension across all the tension rods. device: ['desktop'], // display only on device googletag.defineSlot('/143039214/drumforum_Midcontent_VideoAD', [1, 1], 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_Midcontent_VideoAD').addService(googletag.pubads()); Remo Ambassador on the kick resonant. Theres no way to notate it and it can be difficult to express, but technically speaking, this elusive rhythmic value sits right in between the second eighth-note of a beat and the third note of an eighth-note triplet in that same beat (see Ex. With the School of Rock Method app, you can get live feedback as you play to make practice smarter, not harder. Once the head is centered, place the hoop over the head and line it up with the lugs on the side of the shell. dfpSlots[i] = googletag.defineSlot('/'+adUnits[i].network+'/'+adUnits[i].adunit, adUnits[i].size, adUnits[i].code).addService(googletag.pubads()); This is a giant rabbit hole, fyi. pageType: ['mainpage','post'], // display only on page type Its useless to ponder what the future might have held for Bonzo had fate not intervened so unfairly; his contribution was, after all, so much more than anybody could ever have asked for in the first place. Most of us can recite it in our sleep by now: Ludwig drums 14 x 10 rack tom, 16 x 16 and 18 x 16 floor toms, 26 x 14 kick, and the legendary LM402 14 x 6.5 Supraphonic snare drum; Paiste cymbals, Giant Beat and 2002 combined 15 Sound Edge hi-hats, 16, 18, 20 crashes and crash/rides, 24 ride, and a 38 symphonic gong; all topped off with a squeaky Speed King pedal and a ching-ring tambourine mounted on his hi-hat stand. adUnits.push({ New technology was able to take the 1976 Black Beauty to daring new heights. As much as Bonham enjoyed the funky syncopation of Good Times Bad Times and Over The Hills And Far Away, he would sometimes take the complete opposite approach, and the results were always stunning. E-mail them directly. When tuning your drums, be careful not to overtighten the heads. r/Drums - The subreddit where drummers of all skill levels can discuss the world of percussion and share their grooves with the friendliest community on Earth. network: dfpNetwork, Out of pure musical devotion, rather than seizing the opportunity to showcase himself in his own composition, he brilliantly chose to serve the song with a drum part as lean and uncomplicated as the riff that it was accompanying. The demo of his green sparkle kit and the methods of tuning the 26" kick. The lugs are attached to the shell of the drum, and the threaded part of the tension rod is inserted into the lug. The subliminal effect of every drummers influences can be enormous, and Bonham learned much of his initial technique by observing the styles of two early giants of swing, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Jonas Gehrmann, a live sound engineer for the Dutch-Iranian singer Sevdaliza, relies on the Shure Axient Digital ADX5D, which he can safely and comfortably Bang It Like Bonzo: How to Get John Bonhams Sound. The main groove from When The Levee Breaks, as seen in Ex. Youll hear a cracking sound: Thats just the glue in the head cracking and is totally normal. As youre tuning, tap the drum head lightly with a stick close to the edge of the head, using the rods as a guide. size: [[728, 90]], Medium high on the batter. Then you can use tune-bot to tune your set to those specific values. 2a). Bonhams choice of head was dependant upon the shell material of the kit he was using, which, in turn, depended upon the performance setting. Any wrinkles in the drum head should disappear once you start to get your drum head up to proper tension. assignToVariableName: false // false if not in use adUnits.push({ You are using an out of date browser. The tension rods are placed through the holes in the claws and then threaded into the lugs and tightened. code: 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_mobile_sticky_320x50', if(device == 'tablet') googletag.defineSlot('/143039214/drumforum_tablet_float_videoad', [1, 1], 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_float_videoad').addService(googletag.pubads()); var userType = 'guest'; // set the user type, available: guest, loggedin, paid Go with a double-ply batter head. For best results, wed recommend a pair of Shure PGA181s offering a super flat frequency response. Set this up Glyn John-style, with one directly over the snare and the other six inches above the floor tom and to the side. pageType: ['mainpage','post'], // display only on page type Bonham pretty much always played with Paiste B8 alloy cymbals, so to sound legit, stick with these when you can. Mute the opposite head as you hit the drum a few times to hear the tone. Multiple toms are generally tuned more closely together so that the drums are all in their normal pitch range. Firstly, using a drum key, tune the lugs between 10 and 2 o'clock to high tension. You certainly wont want any muffling inside Bonhams kits were always alive, and he embraced overtones. i played a show Friday and i used the other drummers kit, i was only a bloody Ludwig vistalite! But the following tips and tricks can help you sound like rock royalty without busting your budget. When you place the new head on the shell, spin it around to make sure its centered on the drum. adunit: 'drumforum_atf_300x250', This is only for start-up, NOT DRIVING! Tune the drums so theyre roughly a third apart, but dont be too focused on pitch. Using a diagonal pattern, give each rod a half turn, gradually bringing the drum up to pitch. From tuning to rudiments, our instructors have the knowledge and experience to have you quickly playing your favorite Rock songs on stage. In this Shure guide, learn How to Start a Podcast: Structuring an Episode. Snare drum shells can also be made of metal. Legal Beat: Do You Need Permission To Upload A Cover Song To Youtube. Sound wise wouldn't make too much difference between the two, mainly would be how you set it up. The right hand, normally playing the hi-hat on a downbeat, occupies the first of the three notes, followed by two swift right feet, fulfilling the triplet, and then followed by a release with both hands in unison on the hi-hat and snare. E-mail: info@superiorautomotive.com. With the proper tuning, even a beginner drum kit can sound great. }); To hear Bonham at his most behind the beat, listen to Black Dog, When The Levee Breaks, and the impossibly groove-laden Whole Lotta Love (Ex. The legendary drummers time with Led Zeppelin ended all too soon with his premature death in 1980, but his legacy lives on through forever having changed how rock 'n' roll drums are played. googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); I have Ocheltree's DVD. Vents may be easily overlooked, but theyre actually very important when thinking about how drums work. In most of his kits, John Bonham had a kick drum well over the standard 22" in most commercial kits these days. Bonham preferred his coated heads to be pretty well worn for the ideal sound; notice, in any footage of him with a maple kit, that beautiful brown-gray patina in the center of his coated heads. Then, mixing singles and doubles, he ends the phrase by emphasizing the last note of each triplet on the kick, an orchestration that Bonham made frequent use of throughout his career. Also use a singleply resonant head with an inner plastic muffling ring. network: dfpNetwork, Place the hoop over the head and then insert the rods into the hole in the hoop and thread them into the lugs. Specialties: We install everything we sell at our 15,000 sq/ft facility in Garden Grove, CA. Different styles of music may call for different tunings. He took up drumming at the age of five, received a snare drum at ten and made up his own home made set of drums with food and coffee containers just like I did. South Hadley, MA 01075. adunit: 'drumforum_rosbtf_300x250', Click a section below to learn more about how to tune your drums. On the steel-drum kit he changed the awesome 15 inch tom back to a 14 inch for the last 1980 tour. While theres no standard note that the snare drum is typically tuned to, most drummers pitch their snare somewhere between E3 and B3 (the third octave is the octave below whats called middle C on the piano). i do know that bonham used a felt strip. As you practice, you may notice the tone of the drums changing. device: ['tablet'], // display only on device code: 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_desktop_sticky_728x90', The tension of the resonant head is particularly important for tuning your toms. We define success through achieving both yours and our Full Potential on and off the track . There are, of course, a number of variables to be accounted for. Apart from the bands collective love of James Brown, it was Bonhams joyfully busy grooving and penchant for syncopating bass drumming that infused an element of funk into the groups sound. Make sure you have felt strips on plain coated heads with no porting for your kick drum. Here are some methods and tips that will help you achieve your perfect drum sound: Drum dampening is done by adding something to the batter head to minimize the unwanted ring of a drum. You can apply lubricant to the tension rods to keep them from stripping out the lugs. What is required of those interested in going the full distance is an awakening to the true subtleties of Bonhams playing. Combine that with large drums, his unique feel, and boom, classic rock god. The Ludwig Zep Set 5-piece shell pack is a re-creation of John Bonham's legendary acrylic set. In fact, DRUM! Then place the new head on the shell of the drum. If you move your drum set frequently, make sure to check the tuning often. A3 is a fairly common pitch for snare drums. 4a, each worth one beat, can be thought of as the building blocks for a number of Bonhams most well-known grooves, including those in Examples 4b, 4c, 4d, and 4e, all of which speak mightily for themselves. Those guys tuned their kicks up so that there was a resonant note. A Reproduction of Bonham's Iconic Kit. Most drums are four- or five-piece kits with two or three toms. As with the toms and the bass drum, tune the resonant head up to a mediumhigh pitch and the batter to medium. So how to replicate that big, fat, funky Bonzo sound yourself? }); He attributes this to the fact that, due to the drums behemoth 26 diameter, the large amount of air that needed to move through the shell had to travel very quickly to properly excite the resonant head. size: [[728, 90]], assignToVariableName: false // false if not in use That's the only one I suspect you could see a picture of and know which drum it is. He knew that by moving back and forth between these two modes sometimes within a single phrase, as in Ex. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. As a result, he was able to conserve a lot of energy that other players waste flailing their arms about. Once mastered though, it has the potential to add considerable texture to a phrase, not to mention the unusual effect of making it sound like there are more drums playing than there really are. Since his drums were large in size, the sound is bigger than one would anticipate. userType: ['guest','loggedin'], // display only on user type However with those clues, and some experimentation, I have come very close. } Startup tune $200+ HPT credits (This is only for a start-up tune. There were no SuperkickEMADyaddayadda heads back then. Tuning the heads the same produces the most even tone, tuning the bottom head tighter than the top gives the notes a slight bend upward, and tuning the bottom head lower than the top gives the pitch a slight bend downward. 2b). Theres a common misconception that Bonham played with a double pedal how else could he play so fast? I also can't believe that Jason Bonham doesn't own a set from back in the day. googletag.defineSlot('/143039214/drumforum_mobile_320x50_sponsor', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_mobile_320x50_sponsor').addService(googletag.pubads()); var advelvetTargeting = []; device: ['mobile'], // display only on device Send Message. Emperor/Ambassador or Controlled Sound/Ambassador and a felt stripand a good ear. July 14, 2014 in Musician's Corner. Now play the drum without muting either head and see if the tone is clear and even. Kick - John tuned like a lot (not all) of the jazz players. His kick sound is very open lots with of ring and resonation without much dampening. Bonham used Primoco sticks, custom made for him. The final microphones are your two overheads. Jimmy Page ended up scrapping a track the one time he did use a double pedal, because the guitarist deemed it too busy. size: [[300, 250]], Bonham used 42 strand snares on his snare drums. From a physical standpoint, Ex. GUIA DE COMPRA PARA O SEU PRIMEIRO KIT DE BATERIA. }); Just make sure you dont fit it too tight youll lose all that lovely resonance if you do. return window.screen.width || window.innerWidth || window.document.documentElement.clientWidth || Math.min(window.innerWidth, window.document.documentElement.clientWidth) || window.innerWidth || window.document.documentElement.clientWidth || window.document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0].clientWidth; Bonham preferred his coated heads to be pretty well worn for the ideal sound; notice, in any footage of him with a maple kit, that beautiful brown-gray patina in the center of his coated heads. QUAL A MELHOR IDADE PARA APRENDER A TOCAR BATERIA. If youve got cash to splash, the Paiste 2002 series sounds great, while the more wallet-friendly PST7s will do in a pinch. . }); Some drums have a natural, stained wood finish, and others have a wrap, a colored synthetic material thats very durable. network: dfpNetwork, Whether acoustic or electric, recording studio or live concert, there are several factors to consider when miking your guitar. This allows the drums to breathe as the vibrations of the heads resonate. Very flexible yet easy to tune, its tone is what I was looking for. adUnits.push({ The snare itself should be a 30 or 40-strand model. device: ['mobile'], // display only on device Here is another interesting tidbit. In a sense, this idea further manifests itself in another of Bonhams signature moves from Moby Dick. If we open up the two notes left foot and kick they reach a point where they occupy the first and third notes of a triplet. THE JOHN BONHAM SNARE DRUM SOUND TUNING BONZOLEUM 63.1K subscribers Subscribe 756 Share Save 215K views 13 years ago The early era Zeppelin John Bonham snare sound (think Zep II. This could also explain Bonhams preference for an unported front bass drumhead. Tuning your drums only takes a few minutes, but its well worth the time you put in. Your purchases also help protect forests, including trees traditionally used to make instruments. But the other two options will get you close. Plus, the Vistalite would "only" give you the JB stage sound. Haven't ever seen a good photo of his snare where the badge is shown. Despite Bonhams occasionally Viking-like appearance, he was capable of phenomenal sensitivity on his instrument. } Regular drum maintenance is essential to keeping your drums in tune. but Youtube has quite a few video's on how to tune a snare, for a Bonham sound. adunit: 'drumforum_mobile_midcontent_320x50', Its important to note that throughout the evolution of Bonhams various kits, he always remained unwaveringly faithful to his Supraphonic 402 snare drums in all performance settings. Each type of head produces a different tone, and some are more durable than others. network: dfpNetwork, Look for 15 hihats, two 1820 crashes, and a 2224 ride cymbal. Based on your location, we've changed your settings: By clicking Subscribe, I agree to receive exclusive offers & promotions, news & reviews, and personalized tips for buying and selling on Reverb. Right now I've a 22x14 Rogers and a 26x14 Ludwig. if(adUnits[i].userType.indexOf(userType) === -1) {adUnits[i].display = false; continue;} for (var i = 0, len = adUnits.length; i < len; i++) { Tuning below this range sounds muddy and dull, while tuning your drum above this range will make the sound thin and choked. Drums produce a fundamental tone when struck in the center of the head. adunit: 'drumforum_rosbtf_728x90', pageType: ['mainpage','post'], // display only on page type Start with the same pitch for both heads and experiment with ranges by tuning the drums resonant head up and down. LS Swap tuning. size: [[300, 250]], His huge sound has been immortalized on classic tracks like 'When the Levee Breaks,' 'Moby Dick' and 'Immigrant Song.' Smashing his kit with such incredible power, he came to define what a rock drummer should be. network: dfpNetwork, Please check the fields highlighted in red. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. To pinpoint the interval between the heads is tough, but it was most likely somewhere between a half step and a fourth. Heres the shocker he also add a extra crash for that tour http://www.ledzeppelin.com/image/brussels-1980-4 here you can see that he used 4 crashes on that tour, from Bonzos left i think the first one in a 16 inch medium-crash, 15 sound edge-hit-hats, 18 medium-crash, 24 ride, 18 ride and a 20 inch medium-ride. Let the size of the drum not the tuning determine its pitch. adunit: 'drumforum_mobile_sticky_320x50', googletag.cmd.push(function() { 7a illustrates the rhythmic counterpoint between these two entities, then the change of groove that Bonham issues in the bridge (notice during this part his use of the figure from Ex. 1d it made more of an impact on the listener than either one could have had on its own. As a result, Bonhams blending of triplet rhythms with straight eighths and sixteenths allowed his groove to occupy a special place that exists in another dimension of rhythm. As Mr. Ocheltree says, "drum tuning is an art, not a science". Press J to jump to the feed. The first 0:26 of Good Times Bad Times was enough of a break from the past to have changed the course of drumming forever, but what followed was ten years of absolute innovation and musical authenticity of the highest degree, from a man who was so deeply in love with his instrument that the very thought of him often inspires us to drop whatever were doing and go play drums. The number of lugs can affect the tuning stability and the sound of the drum. Use 30 or 40 strand snare wires for increased sensitivity, but make sure theyre not too tight so they dont choke the drum. Me too. Bonham brilliantly used this phrase to construct one of his mightiest fills of all (Ex. Ahead Snare Drum revisin | radarmusical. The snares are attached to the bottom head and give the drum its signature sound. device: ['mobile'], // display only on device Answer (1 of 4): Well, there's the rub. He of course received several kits over the years and it's safe to assume he got a snare with each of them. Applies especially to vintage emperor Tune the bottom head to top head in proportion approx 3turns bottom to 1 turn top Muffle slightly the ring Look for the sweet spot: between 6-7 o clock, 2-3" from the hoop. Previous image. Additionally,inbetween this kit and the maple kit he had a Ludwig Black Diamond Pearl set for only a couple of months from December '68 - February '69 it can be seen in pictures from Gonzaga '68 and the Whiskey a go go in January of '69. snare drum tuning with a tune bot (John Bonham sound) mike evangelista 567 subscribers Subscribe 276 Share 85K views 9 years ago a guide to help you tune your snare drum to that. The snare had an Emperor coated batter and an Ambassador (sometimes Diplomat) snare-side resonant head. (function(n,e,r,t){function o(){if((function o(t){try{return(t=localStorage.getItem("v4ac1eiZr0"))&&0