Snare wire buzz

[cale w]

Heeeeeeey drummers (and anyone else who might know),

When the snare drum is buzzing like crazy every time the bass player hits a note, is that something that can be fixed on the drum itself, or do we just have to live with it?

It's pretty annoying when you can't isolate the amplifiers away from the drums...

[Tim A]

DI the bass then reamp it?

[Snarl 12/8]

Try "trick tuning" the bottom head.

You tune the lugs by the ends of the snares the loosest and tune progressively tighter until you reach the lugs that are ninety degrees from the line of the snares. This will bend the rim slighly so that the head is slightly away from the snares.

[shakestheclown]

My first reaction would be to turn the bass amp down.


Oh, and get it off the floor.

[Tim A]

Try "trick tuning" the bottom head.

You tune the lugs by the ends of the snares the loosest and tune progressively tighter until you reach the lugs that are ninety degrees from the line of the snares. This will bend the rim slighly so that the head is slightly away from the snares.

Interesting, iver never heard of this. How does it effect the sound of the drum itself?

[Snarl 12/8]

Try "trick tuning" the bottom head.

You tune the lugs by the ends of the snares the loosest and tune progressively tighter until you reach the lugs that are ninety degrees from the line of the snares. This will bend the rim slighly so that the head is slightly away from the snares.

Interesting, iver never heard of this. How does it effect the sound of the drum itself?

I didn't notice much change to the sound except the sympathetic buzz from the bass and toms was gone. Like almost completely. It worked about 20 times better than I thought it would when I first tried it. A little change in tension goes a long way. I think it might work a lot better on a 10 lug snare than an 8 lug. Or so I've been told. Are there 8 lug snares? I heard something about more lugs being better for this.

I learned about this via YouTube. I looked, but can't find the video any more, but there are still a bunch of good videos, full of tips, on snare tuning up there.

[sir hills]

I just got a set of these puresound wires: http://store.daddario.com/category/1147 ... rency_id=1 They're actually pretty great sounding/don't allow much sympathetic buzz from other drums but I haven't tried them with a bass amp in the same room. Snarl - never heard of that trick tuning but I'll have to give it a shot!

[roscoenyc]

My first reaction would be to turn the bass amp down.


Oh, and get it off the floor.

This

[Snarl 12/8]

One thing that got mentioned on the YouTube is that often one or more wires can be looser than the others. This forces you to either over tighten and choke off the sound of the drum or tighten enough for the majority of the snares and put up with some buzz. The guy who pointed this out said you can either cut away the loose snare wires, but to make sure it's symmetrical by cutting away the matching one on the other side. Also bend the left over wire away from the head so you don't puncture. He said this reduces buzz on another level because less snare wires equals less buzz, natch. I haven't tried this myself, because the trick tuning worked for my purposes. I've been meaning to check for loose wires because I do feel like I've over tightened my snares a bit.

[cgarges]

This

Agreed.

DI the bass then reamp it?

That's a good technique, too, if you don't need the sound of the amp in the room.

It's funny about the snare drum tuning thing. That trick will work, but I don't like how it changes the response from the drum. Personally, I have several snare drums with which I do the exact opposite-- tune the lugs around the snare beds tighter. This seems to give a deeper sound from the drum, but of course, you do get more potential snare buzz from doing this. I never really have a problem with it. It does seem to sound better with some drums than with others.

I know your issues may be more obvious than this, but listen to "Whole Lotta Love." There's snare buzz going on all over that song. It may not be anything worth obssessing over. Then again, it might be. Just worth thinking about.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[slowcentury]

When the snare drum is buzzing like crazy every time the bass player hits a note.

But that's the best part!

[cjogo]

May change the sound too radical for many drummers -- but, I have been just simply placing small pieces of tape across the snare ~~ since the early 60's. Playing quiet venues a lot these days & usually right next to the bass player. Just drummer etiquette

[weatherbox]

A guy recently showed me how critical super minute differences in snare-wire placement can be. He reset the wires to be absolutely equal in placement distance from the rim on either side (i'd always kept mine close, but wasn't freaking out about small discrepancies) and just like that, way less buzz and bad rattle.

[joel hamilton]

sidechain a compressor to the kick so it turns the bottom snare mic down a few Db only when the kick is hit, rather than trying to gate the bottom snare, just have the kick push the buzz down and shape the envelope so it works well with the ssnare/tempo/song...
I love that trick.

If I was tracking it, I would just ignore it and do that during the mix. if it is an issue, dont have the bass loud. it seems incredibly obvious... like saying: "what should I do with the steering wheel if my car is aimed at a tree and I am going 70 mph?"