Drum Tuning Chart
Where each drum sits in pitch · set the interval between toms · hear the whole kit
How to play
- The ladder shows a 5-piece kit stacked by pitch: snare on top, then the toms, with the bass drum at the bottom. Each drum shows the note it’s tuned to. Tap a drum to hear it.
- Tom interval sets the musical gap between neighbouring toms — a minor 3rd is the classic rock spacing, a 4th spreads them further for big fills. The toms and the interval tags update as you change it.
- Resonant head sets the bottom head relative to the top (batter): lower makes the note bend down after the hit (fat rock tom), matched gives the longest sustain, higher makes it bend up (jazzy). Listen to the difference.
- Play kit rolls down the drums like a fill. Vol sets volume. Keyboard: Tab to a drum or control, Enter/Space to activate.
With this drum tuning chart, you can hear how various tuning options impact on a complete kit. You can play or select each drum directly with your computer keyboard or mouse by navigating through the kit. It’s designed for you to be able to try changing head tension and pitch relationships without the need for real kit.
In this example, I’ve set out the five-piece kit with the snare on the top, then the high tom, the mid tom, followed by the floor tom. The bass drum is placed at the bottom of the chart. It’s marked with size of each drum and the note it plays.
How to Use the Drum Tuning Chart
You click on a drum to play it and highlight it briefly. You can also tab through each drum; press Space or Enter to play the sound.
You can change the musical space (interval) between your tom using the tom interval control. A minor third sounds natural, quite close together and comfortabley for rapid fills. Wider intervals, such as a perfect fourth or major third, will place the notes further apart and make the melodic jumps more noticeable. The updated diagram show the new interval steps and names of the notes.
With the resonant head set on higher, the sound of the drums becomes short and fades quickly as the pitch bends upwards. Set on lower it has a longer sustain but the pitch bend downwards after being struck giving it that thuddy sound we often hear in Rock music. On the matched setting, the pitch remains stable and give the longest sustain, making this a good choice if you want resonance and clarity. Hear what the same drum sounds like with each setting.
Quickly loads popular tuning combinations using style presets.
Jazz: Long sustain, a wider interval and matched resonant head.
Funk: Snappy attack, moderate interval and higher resonant head.
Rock: Deep tone, tight minor third and lower resonant head.
Metal: Big fills, wider interval and lower head.
Clicking on a preset adjust both interval and resonant settings simultaneously. This will run through a sequence on the drums similar to a fill. This is great because you can hear how the head setting and interval setting work together.
There’s also a volume slider that controls the master output level for all sounds. If the audio sounds too loud turn this down. If you want to listen clearly then turn it up.
The fullscreen button enlarge the chart to take over your whole screen leaving you plenty of room to view the controls and notes. This enables an easy comparison of sounds as you don’t have to take your hand off the desk.
Press Enter on a drum or control, tab to that and press again to activate it. It’s quicker then clicking a mouse if you’re testing lots of different combinations.
Play through the kit and try changing the interval to notice how it alters the character of the fill. Once you have chosen your desired settings, experiment with mixes. Maybe you want them all very close together with matching heads for sustain; or maybe you prefer a wider spread of visuals but want the head to match in sound. Perhaps you are after something more compact and choose to use a lower head and closer interval. Hit the play kit button and listen to the result of your changes. They will update straight away on the chart as you do so.
Before playing the kit, spend some time listening to each drum by itself so you can get an idea of what each part add to the whole. Begin with a style preset that suits your taste or your ongoing project. Adjust the resonant head and interval settings until you get the sound just right. Tap each drum, listen for pitch and how it decays. Press the play kit button to hear how the sounds plays through in a sequence.
Experiment, there’s much to discover about tuning drums.