How to Tune Snare Drum Wires

Snare drums get their signature sound with the help of thin, spiraling wires, called snares, that are stretched tightly across the bottom head of the drum. Without these snares, a snare drum would sound just like any other tom tom on your drum kit. Likewise, if your snares are out of tune, they may also make your snare drum sound a little funny. To maintain the sound you want, you'll need to tighten and adjust the snares from time to time.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Snare drum
• Screwdriver
• Drumstick

1. Think about what kind of sound you would like your snare drum to produce. There really is no right or wrong in this area; some drummers like the sharp, short, crisp sound of tight snares, while others prefer the resonating rattle of looser snares. If you're not sure what you want, don't worry. It's easy to experiment with the tension of your snares until you find the sound you desire.

2. Examine the snare assembly on your drum. The snares should be stretched across the bottom head of the drum and attached to opposite sides of the drum shell. If your drum was manufactured in the early 1950s or later, it probably has a snare assembly that uses thin plastic straps to connect the snares to the shell. The snares will be attached in a fixed position on one side, and on the other side, they'll be attached to a mechanism that allows the snares to be fine tuned and "thrown off" or moved away from the bottom drum head, making the drum sound like a tom tom. If your snare drum is older, the snares may be attached in a variety of ways. They are often attached to brackets using twine, and an ordinary screwdriver is often required to loosen or tighten the snares.

3. 
   The snare tension knob can be seen on the left side of the drum in this photo.

   Loosen the snares until they are slack. On drums with modern snare assemblies, all you have to do is turn the snare tension knob to the left several times. On older drums, you may need to untie twine, loosen standard screws or loosen other tension screws that are part of your drum's manufacturer's proprietary design. Even in these cases, though, the means of loosening and tightening the screws should be fairly obvious and simple.

4. Begin tightening the snares a bit at a time. On modern snare drums, this is just a matter of gradually turning the snare tension knob to the right. Again, on older drums, the method varies from one manufacturer to the next, but it should be straightforward.

5. Hit the top head of the snare drum with a drumstick after every little adjustment. As the snares get tighter, you'll hear the drum tune from a tom tom sound to a loose, rattly snare noise to a tight, crisp popping sound. Every few turns of the knob should result in a different sound, so by fine tuning the snares and testing the sound as you go, you can stop as soon as you get the sound you want.

Tips & Warnings

• If your snares are rattling out of control when you hit other drums, they may be too loose. But if you want a solution for the excess rattling that doesn't involve retuning your snares, consider investing in an O-ring. An O-ring is a simple, flexible plastic ring sized to your drum, and it sits right on top of the top head. It provides just enough weight and vibration dampening to reduce the excess rattling without drastically changing the sound of the drum.
• If snares are overtightened and left as such for too long, they'll stretch out of shape and start to produce a different sound. Snares are otherwise resilient, though, so you shouldn't need to replace them unless they've been overstretched.