I went geeky this year and tuned my toms to be a third apart. I have the bottom head tuned a 5th from the top head. I used my chromatic tuner to try and get as close as I could. Tuned the snare this way, as well.

Drum Top/Bottom
Snare D/A (with the snares off, obviously)
Hi Tom G/D
Mid Tom B/F#
Low Tom D/A
Kick G/D

How do you have your set tuned?

Posted - 12/01/2009 :  20:17:12  

Any chance of a sound post of your drums? Sounds interesting.
I just recently started using a drum dial to tune. What I ended up with was not far from what i've been tuning to for years.
snare....85
12" mounted tom......65
16" floor tom.....85
Bottoms tuned to about 72
I still tune the 22" bass by ear for tone and response. Haven't put a dial to it yet.
I would post a sound clip, but i don't know how. ( In reality, I've just given up trying to learn any new things on the computer.)

Posted - 12/02/2009 :  04:56:10  

I will see if I can get my little MP3 player to do a recording this week at practice. The result of my tuning efforts is a roll-around that sounds very even to my ears, and matches up with the other music instruments more evenly.

Posted - 12/10/2009 :  13:18:28    

I always find it really interesting when people will tune their drums to an exact note. I have not tried it. I've always just muted the head that I'm not tuning and adjusted in very minor increments until I hear the drum get into it's "sweet spot". How difficult is it for you to get a pure note out of the drum?

Posted - 12/10/2009 :  14:07:23  

It takes time and a quiet room...and a chromatic tuner. You have to make very small turns of the tuners so you don't over-shoot your note. The end result is a set that can blend very well with the other instruments in a melodic way.

Posted - 12/10/2009 :  14:19:42    

Pretty cool. I'll have to give it a shot since my set is stationary now. I can see how doing this would prove very difficult with a gigging kit due to climate changes.

Posted - 03/13/2010 :  18:48:26      

I gotta to try the chromatic tuner. I always tuned the snare a toms to sound like a 3 note chord, and the bass drum slack, but not too slack, so the beater has got some bounce. On the snare I tuned the bottom skin to a semi tone lower. Last time I did a gig I noticed the snare was in unison with the guitar E.