Where to start, what to do?  Fear of the unknown is often the greatest obstacle between you and your goal.  So give your fears the middle finger and start with the basics.

Like a guitar string, the tighter a drum skin the higher the note.  So before you start tapping the skins you first need to know which note you want to tune it to.  Play air drums and get the sound in your head first, then try tune the drum to that note in your head.

Unlike a guitar it takes a little longer to tune a drum kit.  Whereas you can tune a guitar in under 60 sec it can take you up to 3 hours to tune a newly set-up kit.  Don’t worry, it won’t take you this long every time you set up, it really should only be the first time after you have bought your kit or have replaced a skin.  You should tune your drums regularly to maintain your sound and also to help protect the skins against damage.  A poorly tuned drum sounds dull and off-pitch and will easily tear due to uneven tension.  The sonic quality of your drum kit is directly linked to how much time you spend tuning it by following some simple guidelines.

1. Seating – this is by far the most critical aspect when replacing old skins.  Apart from getting back that fresh sound you also get a chance to inspect the inside of the drum for any bumps or cracks on the rim.  When you seat the new skin you are putting it under higher tension than what it would be tuned to, basically performing a pre-stretch on the skin.  Same as guitar strings…  You would need to re-assemble the shell, skin and hoop so the skin is held in place by the hoop to the point where you start seeing the first signs of tension – no wrinkles or bumps on the skin, the skin has also now lost its papery feel and has a bouncy feel to it.  With the drum on the floor (carpeted) press down with an open palm in the centre of the skin, apply gentle pressure.  At this stage you will hear crackling noises as the skin takes shape around the bearing edge.  This is normal.  Do this a couple of times, always ensuring to apply even pressure.
2. Batter skin vs Resonant skin – assuming your drums have double skins.  The side you strike with the stick is the batter side, the other side (usually under!) is the side which resonates in sympathy to the batter side.  An easy way of listening to one skin only is to place a dry folded towel under the drum to dampen the skin you are not working with.  Then, instead of a stick, use your finger to tap the skin to get a better idea of the pitch.
3. Criss-cross tuning bolts – work your way around the drum’s tuning bolts by working on them in pairs.  Look at the drum from the top imagining you are looking at an old fashioned watch’s dial.  Start at the 12 0′clock and 6 o’clock pair, then the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock pair, then the 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock pair, then… you get the idea?  Tap the area near the tuning bolt you are working on and turn the drum key slowly as you tap the area.  Hear the pitch go up and down as you turn the drum key half-a-turn in each direction.
4. Pitch up or Pitch down – you can create different effects by tuning the batter skin and resonant skin a couple of semi-tones apart.  Or you can tune them to the same pitch.  It really depends on what you want your kit to sound like.  For instance if you tune the resonant head higher than the batter head you get what is called “pitch bend”.  Or you can tune them to the same pitch to get longer, even note.  So the more you experiment and play around with pitching the more you will grow as a drummer.  All of a sudden it’s not just about keeping time any more!

Here are two very useful links if you want to get a bit deeper into tuning drums:

Prof. Sound’s Drum Tuning Bible

Tomas Howie Drumming Web

Remember to say “Howzit!” to your drums at least once a week

Adriaan