How to Lace on the Bottom Metal Bit on a Snare Drum
The snares are the long metal pieces on the bottom of your snare drum that vibrate to create noise. When the drum is struck, these pieces vibrate, creating the snare drum sound. Getting the snares positioned just right can be difficult. Too tight and the snare drum sounds choked, too loose and it sounds muddled and messy. Once the snares are positioned correctly, you must experiment with the snare strainer to get the right tension for your snares.
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Instructions
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Lace the snare cords into the ends of the snare wires. There are holes on each end of the snare wires. Lace the cord into the hole, pushing it in one side and pulling it out the other, so that the cord is tight and at least 2 or 3 inches of cord comes out of the snare wires from each hole. Repeat this for the other end of the snare wires, using a second snare cord.
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Turn the snare drum upside down so you’re looking at the bottom of the drum. Lay the drum flat on the ground or a surface.
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Position the snare wires on the bottom of the drum so they are perfectly centered.
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Lace each set of snare cords into the corresponding metal gap on the bottom rim of the drum.
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Secure the cords on the side of the drum that doesn’t have the snare strainer by lacing the cords into the metal piece, tightening them in place using a screwdriver or tuning key, depending on how the manufacturer made it. Tighten them at a spot just a little from the end of the snare cords. You can change this tightness later.
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Repeat this tightening process on the other end of the snare wires, this time securing the snare cords on that end to the metal piece on the bottom of the snare strainer.
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Turn the snare drum over and place it on a snare drum stand. Turn the strainer to the off position.
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Look at how the snare wires hang under the drum. On the side of the snare drum that isn’t the strainer side, the wires should hang right below the drumhead without touching it. If this isn’t the case, loosen the metal piece on that side, lower or raise the height of the snare cords to bring it to the desired location, and tighten the metal piece back in place.
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Look at how the snare wires hang on the side of the drum that has the snare strainer. The wires should be a little less than 1/2 inch to about 1 inch away from the drumhead. If that’s not the case, perform the same steps to fix this as you did with the other end of the snare wires.
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Turn the strainer to the on position. You should hear the snare wires make contact with the bottom drumhead. Hit the snare drum using a drumstick. If you get the sound you want, you’re done. If not, adjust the knob on the top of the strainer, which tightens or loosens the snare wires to the snare drum, depending on which way you turn it. If you’ve tightened the knob all the way and the snare wires still don’t sound like they’re on tight enough, adjust the positioning of the snare cords to bring them closer to the head. Likewise, if you’ve loosened the knob all the way and the snare wires still sound like they’re on too tight, loosen the snare cords to position them farther from the drumhead.
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References
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