How to Setup a Snare Drum

Video Transcript

"Okay, we defined the parts of the snare drum and now I'm just going to start from square one. This is how to set up a snare drum. So first you have your stand, and so let's go through this rather quickly. So you have your stand and the top if it is the base for which, this is where the snare drum actually goes. So you unfold those no problem. Come down here, loosen this nut and you spread the legs out. And you want a really wide base because if your snare drum falls during a show, as we talked earlier, it's a pretty vital drum; it's going to cause some problems So you want a wide base. Make sure you tighten that up nice so you got your base. I have a double kick, and so that there's a bar that goes across. So I like to put my snare on the inside of this, right about like that. And you want your snare drum, I like my snare drum pretty much right between my legs which is a general. A lot of drummers kind of like it right there because it's a central piece and it's right there for you all the time. So put it right about like that. Then you get your snare drum out and you make sure your snare drum is in between those rubber pads. And just lay it straight down. And that should be about the right height that you want it. I like my snare to be right about my knees. And then you tighten up from the bottom, which is usually just the swivel nut, sometimes it's something different. But they all do the same thing. If you tighten it, it tightens the claws around the drum, and it holds it really snug. And you want this to be fairly tight as well because you don't want because the snare takes a lot of pounding. So you don't want to hit that snare and have it jump out of your stand, which has actually happened to me a couple of times. So this is something I should be teaching myself. So you tighten that up really nice and snug to the point where even if you can rattle the snare and it won't come off your stand. Make sure your base is nice and solid. And the next thing you're going to deal with is the angle of your snare drum. A lot of people like again, just going to go with something and you're going to just play for awhile and you're going to notice what you like and what you don't like. I used to play with my snare at a lot more of a pitch, so it was facing me more. Over the years I've planed it out a little bit so right now it's not quite flat but it's just about there. So then it allows me to hit the snare a certain way, which we'll cover later. So basically that's it. Just make sure everything is really snug, really tight and in place. And just fool around with it until you find an angle you like."