House of Drumming.com

So, does anyone have some suggestions on tuning for a 1960's sound? I don't usually play that kind of music, but I've been hired for a show with an oldies band (60s meaning Beatles, Rascals, etc., not Hendrix or the like).

Maybe there's a good YouTube video?

Thanks for any help.

Wallets, O Rings, towells, blankets!
It's pretty easy actually... just damp everything, and the damp somo more!

Take a look: http://books.google.com.ar/books?id=Emk ... ms&f=false

Actually, it depends on which part of the 60s. Recording technologies were just taking shape around this time. Early to mid-60s you would have drums setup and tuned the same as any jazz drummer of the time. Little dampening except for the bass drum and higher tension on 12, 13, 14 and 16 inch toms and 20 inch bass drums. Near the end of the decade, dampening the drums with towels and tape became more common.

1964:

1968 (notice the towels at 2:44):


Also, medium to thin cymbals.

DSOP wrote:Actually, it depends on which part of the 60s. Recording technologies were just taking shape around this time. Early to mid-60s you would have drums setup and tuned the same as any jazz drummer of the time. Little dampening except for the bass drum and higher tension on 12, 13, 14 and 16 inch toms and 20 inch bass drums. Near the end of the decade, dampening the drums with towels and tape became more common.

1964:

1968 (notice the towels at 2:44):


Also, medium to thin cymbals.

Awesome! That totally makes sense! the towels

Couple of other tricks some of you might know. One is take paper towels and fold them into a square 3x2" or so and duct tape them to the batter head.

Also take a turkish towel and cut it into 1.2 to 2" wide your chosen length strips. Remove the batter head, install the towel strips over the bearing edges anywhere from either side or right down the middle of the drum. It's kinda like the felt strips on the BD. Re-install the batter head "tune" and play.