john bonham snare tuning john bonham snare tuning

Drum tuning only requires a couple of basic items: While its not required, some drummers use two drum keys when tuning drum heads so they can tune opposing sides of the head at the same time, giving them equal tension. So much of Bonhams rhythmic vocabulary with Led Zeppelin referred back to the swinging triplet rhythms of the American big bands that he grew up listening to. }); Mute the opposite head as you hit the drum a few times to hear the tone. adunit: 'drumforum_mobile_1stguestpost_300x250', assignToVariableName: false // false if not in use As youre tuning, tap the drum head lightly with a stick close to the edge of the head, using the rods as a guide. High tension on the resonant side. userType: ['guest','loggedin'], // display only on user type But the other two options will get you close. Tuning: Bonham tuned the batter head medium-tight while the resonant was cranked much higher, although this will require some experimentation. If your snare head has a lot of dents and is difficult to tune, swap it out for a fresh head. B8 alloy is the way to go. It should have a deep sound with a nice attack. Change your heads when needed, and try to strike the center of the drum head so that you dont dent the edges. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. assignToVariableName: false // false if not in use You just don't perceive this with John because he a) used felt strips and b) had a massive kick so the note value was low enough that it just sounded like a thump. I play coated Ambassadors on the reso with coated Emps on top to get his sound. device: ['desktop'], // display only on device assignToVariableName: false // false if not in use Ex. How did he tune his drums? adunit: 'drumforum_rosatf_728x90', You can't get these, but I believe the sticks matched a 5B hickory pair. Most memorably, Bonham employed this trick during many an evenings performance of the legendary drum solo Moby Dick, where it was used as a metronomic current for the flurry of notes happening above (Ex. I read somewhere that he understood the science behind his snare and getting the sound that he wanted. If your kick drum lacks definition, pitching the resonant kick drum head slightly higher than the batter head will tighten up the tone. 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. From beginner to advanced, School of Rock has taught thousands of students how to play drums and achieve their full potential. If you find a recording of a snare that you want to emulate, try to match that pitch. On Kashmir, the group is in truly top form, working as one to create a work so singular and impressionable that many consider it their greatest achievement. From there, experiment with the pitch until you get a tone that you like. ", By mid 1968, Bonham was touring with American folk singer Tim Rose and playing the same green-glitter Super Classic. var adUnits = adUnits || []; 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. code: 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_mobile_midcontent_320x50', network: dfpNetwork, 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. Click a section below to learn more about how to tune your drums. This is a giant rabbit hole, fyi. John knew how to tune proficiently and also had a magnificent touch on the instrument. The "not so secret secret" JB used was tuning his reso. After choosing the best drum set for you, and tuning your drums, the next most important thing for a beginner is learning how to play! For the most accurate recreation of Bonhams sound, go with aluminum. Tune the batter head to a medium pitch and the resonant head up to a mediumhigh pitch. Take a look at the refined shadings of Bonhams entrance in No Quarter (Ex. Make sure you have felt strips on plain coated heads with no porting for your kick drum. adunit: 'drumforum_rosbtf_728x90', Professional drum techs (the people who set up and maintain drum sets for professional level bands) sometimes employ a turntable, which allows them to rotate the drums easily as they adjust the drums tuning. His TOUCH was what made the tone happen, he had his own way of playing that some can emulate, but no one can really duplicate as they are not HIM!!! for (var i = 0, len = adUnits.length; i < len; i++) { The first choice of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham Chrome-plated aluminum shell delivers cavernous tone with crisp attack Imperial lugs provide an elegant appearance Inject killer attack into your drum sound with the Ludwig Supraphonic LM402 snare! Spartan, muscular, even downright menacing, the relentlessly heavy grooving of two songs in particular, Kashmir and When The Levee Breaks, remain the ultimate testament to the sheer power contained in a drum kit. Right now I've a 22x14 Rogers and a 26x14 Ludwig. Maple, birch, oak, cherry, and mahogany are common woods used for drums. Here are some tuning basics by genre: Remember to use our drum tuning chart and experiment with different heads and tunings until you find your sound. It may not display this or other websites correctly. The bass drum was tuned quite high as well, which worked well due to the large size of the drum (he used a huge 26 bass drum!). Do you know how many drummers have asked that exact question over the years? He creates a similar effect in the live version of Since Ive Been Loving You (Ex. pageType: ['mainpage','post'], // display only on page type Go for 14-inch and 16-inch rack toms married to an 18-inch floor tom. Video: How to Make Your Kit Sound Like John Bonham's. Use 30 or 40 strand snare wires for increased sensitivity, but make sure theyre not too tight so they dont choke the drum. With the proper tuning, even a beginner drum kit can sound great. To my knowledge there are no photos of him with a Black Beauty so I don't believe it. Be careful to keep track of all the tension rods and claws. There was a lot of engineering done on the LZ albums. He employed this setup live as well, until 1973 when he introduced the world to what remains the most iconic kit of the Bonham legacy, the amber-colored acrylic drums from Ludwigs burgeoning Vistalite series. As notated in Ex. advises only the most creative and frugal application, so as not to be known as the drummer that always plays all those Bonham licks. Here you can see him playing that kit. }); }); This gives the drum a softer sound with less attack and sustain. Bonham might often be remembered for his thunder, but he was essentially an R&B drummer playing in a hard rock band. Oh, I have a drum dial too. code: 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_tablet_sticky_728x90', Here you can see him playing that kit. var dfpSlots = []; Also use a singleply resonant head with an inner plastic muffling ring. You have all forgotten the MOST important and CRUCIAL part of this "Tone" equation. 1d it made more of an impact on the listener than either one could have had on its own. I've seen pictures of two mounted drums near Bonham in 1970. Gretsch was the only ones making them in the 70's, that I know of You must log in or register to reply here. Kick drum heads generally last the longest. network: dfpNetwork, In most of his kits, John Bonham had a kick drum well over the standard 22" in most commercial kits these days. Answer (1 of 4): Well, there's the rub. Never lifting the stick very high off the head, and keeping his hand level with the rims, he would snap his wrist, quickly whacking the drum with incredible force. Medium high on the batter. Some really tasteful panning, eq, compression, and some downright beautiful sounding rooms. There were no SuperkickEMADyaddayadda heads back then. John Bonham's drumming was as large as the lifestyle he led. -- 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. Go with a double-ply batter head. var googletag = googletag || {}; code: 'div-gpt-ad-drumforum_mobile_footer_300x250', If youre happy with the fundamental pitch of the batter head, fine-tune the resonant head to maximize the resonance of the drum. 3b and 3c). Bonham used Rogers hardware for his cymbal stands, and even custom mounted his rack tom with a Rogers mount and snare stand on his maple kit. pageType: ['post'], // display only on page type Different styles of music may call for different tunings. Remember, its a matter of personal taste! For the kick drum, you might consider the Shure Beta 52. but Youtube has quite a few video's on how to tune a snare, for a Bonham sound. I'd assume his first 6.5 is keystone since he got it with the maple kit. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Most drums will have eight or 10 lugs. }); Be careful not to strike the resonant head too hard, as theyre very thin and not designed to be hit as hard as the batter head. John Bonham was self taught. }); The snare drum is hit the most often, so it may need replacing more often. Carmine Appice's rare Ludwig kit is for sale on Reverb for $25,000. People have been playing drums for thousands of years, but what we think of as the modern drum set wasnt developed until around the 1920s. 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. Bonham pioneered an iconically huge rock sound from behind his even larger drum kit. As with the bass drums, tune the reso heads up to a mediumhigh pitch and the batters to medium. network: dfpNetwork, The snares are attached to the bottom head and give the drum its signature sound. This gives them a louder and brighter tone. The snare itself should be a 30 or 40-strand model. Ok, here's the deal.