Hey guys, in this video we’re going to take a look at the TuneBot electronic drum tuner,
and see how this can help us to improve the sound of a beginner drum kit.
These tuners are excellent for recording since they allow us to get the best drum sound we
can, and reproduce that sound at another time.
In this video, we’ll be using a beginner DDrum kit that isn’t tuned very well, and
getting it in tune with this tuner.
Let’s start this video with an overview of the TuneBot.
We start by turning it on with the power button in the bottom right.
The top of the TuneBot shows us the frequency in Hz of the previous note for the drum head
that was hit.
Below that we see a dial that shows us how far it is from the nearest note, either sharp
or flat, and the bottom right shows us the note value.
If we press the triangle button in the bottom left, we switch between absolute mode and
difference mode.
In absolute mode, we simply see the frequency of the drum head.
If we have it in difference mode, we see the difference between the frequency that is hit
and the saved reference frequency that is saved when we press the filter/save button.
Now let’s look at how we can save frequencies with kits and heads in the TuneBot.
The TuneBot is capable of saving 5 drum kits with 10 drums per kit, each with a frequency
for the top head, bottom head, and fundamental pitch.
To save a pitch, first get that pitch as the one that is reading on the TuneBot by adjusting
the drum to that pitch.
The TuneBot doesn’t have a way to manually enter the frequency otherwise.
Then make sure you select your kit, drum, and the head.
The kit button cycles through the 5 drum kits, the drum button cycles through 10 drums, and
the head button cycles through the top, bottom, and fundamental modes, with a default mode
that can’t be saved in.
We need to be in either top, bottom, or fundamental to be able to save the pitch.
When we’re in the slot we want and ready to save the pitch we have reached, press and
hold the Drum button until the LED flashes and the pitch is saved.
Before we get tuning the drum kit, let’s hear what we’re starting with.
For this recording, I’m just recording with a Zoom H5 on my camera.
I’m not a drummer, so I’ll just hit the drums a few times so you can hear what they
sound like.
If you’re looking for recommended drum tuning frequencies, TuneBot has an app in the Apple
store and the Google Play store with tunings.
They have a tuning calculator, and tunings from artists.
I’ll be using the tuning calculator to get some frequencies for my drums today.
For a demonstration, we’ll start by tuning the snare.
To do this, we need to make sure we can separate the top and bottom heads.
I’ll take the snare drum off the stand and place it on my bed, which will mute the bottom
head while I tune the top.
The TuneBot will clamp to the rim between two lugs as I’m tuning.
Then I’ll go around to each lug and tune them up to the pitch that I want.
I’ll tap the head lightly with a drumstick about an inch away from each lug towards the
center of the drum, and that represents the individual lug pitch.
After I have the pitch I want, I’ll enter difference mode and tune the rest.
This will take a bit of patience to get it right.
After that, I can flip the drum over, and start tuning the bottom head in the same way.
Once again, I’m using the recommended frequencies from the app on my phone, for the entire drum
kit.
Now we’ll tune the rest of the drums off camera, in the same way, using the recommended
tunings from the drum tuner app.
Now that it’s done, we’ll once again listen to the drum kit played with the Zoom H5.
So we got a bit of an improvement in the sound of the drum kit from this tuner.
Obviously, there’s only so much we can do with this kit and the heads that are still
on it, but keeping it in tune is the best way to get the best sound out of it, without
upgrading the kit or changing the heads.
Thanks for checking out this video on the TuneBot drum tuner.
If you’re interested in getting one for yourself, check out the links in the video
description.
While you’re at it, you can also like the video, subscribe to the channel, and press
the bell icon to get notifications whenever a new video is released on this channel.