Snare Unit, Buzz Issues or Sympathetic Vibrations
I
have found on the less expensive snares, the depth of cut on the snare bed can be a real issue that contributes to the buzz. Oddly, the same can be true on expensive or custom build snares. So look close to
see if the snare bed is cut deep enough to accommodate the snares themselves. Sometimes
the way the actual wire is attached to the end clips make the snares ride off the head just a fraction, this will cause a
buzz. After market types such as Puresound are made with a better attention to
this detail and can be less prone to that issue.
I
have also come to believe that a 200 weight head should be the stock snare side head on all snares as opposed to the
very common 300 or "Ambassador" weight snare side head. In my opinion, the 200 or Diplomat
weights tune better, help greatly with sensitivity and allow snares to ride up into the head easier at high tension
tunings and thus, help to reduce sympathetic buzzing of the snares. I strongly
suggest you try it on your drum (even if you play death metal!).
There
are many instances where the sympathetic resonances of the snare drum snares are problematic. I will break this down into
first, a simple set of suggestions to rid yourself of the buzz, and then a fairly detailed method.
Usually
the tuning of nearby drums or the bass guitar, etc causes the "buzz". The cause of the problem is that the tuning of the snare
is at or close to the frequency of the sympathetic vibration, that is, they’re too close in pitch. Retuning the snare
may be the last thing you want to do now that you’ve found this incredible sound. But as is everything in sound, there
may have to be compromises. It can be quite complex to solve this problem because of the inherent overtones found in the snare.
I will attempt to summarize what
others have offered for solutions. I have found the first two tips work very well, but many have become overly concerned by
this and really shouldn’t be. The buzz in many cases is the essential ingredient to getting the drum sound, such as
a “fat” tuning and does not appear in the recording or the audience, as a buzz.
Simple Methods
1. On the snare side of a ten-lug snare, detune both lugs on either side of the snare where it attaches
to the shell until the head ripples. Then tune it back up until the ripple just disappears. This means you will have detuned
4 lugs. Now, compensate by over- tightening the remaining 6 lugs (3 on either side of the snares).
2. Find the offending instruments and retune it. Usually it’s one of the toms and the tuning of the
tom is usually not as critical in the mix. Others report that if the toms are tuned a 5th away from the snare and then from
each other, this can eliminate the problem. But this is only partly a solution, as the snare drum itself is very rich in overtones
(independent of tuning) and removing one overtone (by retuning) is likely to introduce a new one!
3. A completely different approach put some very thin piece of paper or duct tape between the snare and
the bottom head near the place where the snares attach to the retaining clip. You have to experiment a bit with thickness
and placement, but it is possible to reduce the problem a lot.
4. Different heads. Calfskin heads were rather insensitive to this phenomenon. It is thinkable that the
use of calfskin-like heads (e.g. REMO Renaissance or FiberSkyn 3) may reduce the effect.
5. Drape a towel or other heavy cloth from the bottom of the snare drum between the drum and the offending
source if it is a nearby drum.
6. Wire snares are the most problematic. Try using cable snares such as those made by Grover, Patterson
or Hinger. Traditional gut snares are also less likely to buzz. However, the sound may likely change to the drier as a result.
7. Try tuning the bottom head down in pitch and the batter up to achieve the same note and if that doesn't work, do the
opposite. The idea is to create a larger value in pitch difference between the
heads so the drum does not want to vibrate as freely at the same frequency head to head.
Complex, but Educational
Here’s a method I have
developed to help flush out the problem of snare buzz. But to solve it, you have
to get a little education. I’ll start by posing this question; if nothing different is acceptable, what makes you think
something will change?
The reality is, something in
the tuning of the drums (most likely the smaller toms or snare drum itself) or acoustics of the room must change. Drumheads are diaphragms that are caused to vibrate by something.
That “something” must set the heads into motion, be it a stick or other sound that will excite the head. Once the heads are excited, the snares riding against the surface of the head are
going to vibrate. This is much the same as a piece of paper laying on a floor
tom will vibrate when a nearby bass guitar hits a note or the glass in your bookshelves will rattle when the subwoofer is
turned up during a movie. These sound sources causing the vibration must be of
sufficient volume AND frequencies to make it all happen. Knowing this is key to making the buzz go away.
Almost every room that has not
been acoustically treated has a frequency that is more pronounced than others. Further,
this “node” in the response will occur at even multiples of that frequency again and again. Studio designers know
this and go to great lengths to create things called bass traps to suck up these “spikes” in the waveform, treat
the surface to further absorb and diffuse frequencies to help eliminate these problem node frequencies. Sounds in the bass and mid bass region are the most problematic with regard to snare buzz. Rooms that have
walls, which are parallel to each other, are much worse than are those where every wall is a different length or angle. If
this problem frequency happens to fall close to or at the tuning of a drum, or close to a note that a bass, keyboard or guitar
player hit, the buzz will get worse because the volume of that note is accentuated and creates a sympathetic resonance within
the drum due to its tuning.
Also, if a source of volume is
situated close enough to your drum or drum set (such as an amplifier speaker cabinet), then regardless of the note, the shear
movement of air caused by the playing of a note at a high volume, can again cause a vibration of the head. Again, it will
vibrate and in the case of the snare, buzz more if the note is close to or at the point of tuning.
Younger and less experienced
player get pretty annoyed with this and tend to choke the snare response in an effort to eliminate the buzz. The result at the audience or under mics is the drum has no life or sensitivity for the playing of ghost
notes. Most experienced players ignore it because they know that the buzz is not really heard in the mix and at the distance
most audiences sit. Also you must realize that because rooms as well as instruments sitting in close proximity can cause the
buzz and ringing of drums to occur, you must also realize that as you move from room to room, or from a room to stage it’s
very likely that the buzz won’t be there in the next venue.
Nonetheless, now that you’ve
nee slightly educated on the basics, here are some thoughts on how to minimize or eliminate the buzz caused by snares.
First try to change the position
of the kit in the room. For example, if you have the kit placed facing out of
a corner, consider placing it in the center of a longer wall. Placing a kit facing
out of a corner can cause bass loading and accentuate certain bass frequencies. Your
kick drum and toms may sound fuller placed in a corner than elsewhere. Hence moving the kit may also help to eliminate the
ringing of toms. This movement may very well be the key to eliminating the buzz
if other instruments rather than the striking of a tom cause the buzz. You can also try simply carrying the snare drum around
the room while others are playing and look for the place in the room where the node frequency has been canceled due to the
acoustic nature of the room. Where there’s a spike, there’s usually also a null point where phasing has caused
a dip in the frequency response of a room. Studio engineers routinely look for places in a room where acoustic instruments
sound better, you can too, and now you know why.
If all else fails, and raising
and/or lowering the pitch of toms and snare are no longer options, or haven’t produced an acceptable result, and the
snare still buzzes, here’s my method to help reduce or eliminate the buzz once all the options available above have
been exhausted.
Take the batter head off the
snare. See if the snare still buzzes when you hit the toms or toms or the note is played that cause it to buzz? If it does then you need to raise or lower the pitch of the snare side head in very small increments while
playing the offending drum and/or instrument. Look for a place in the tuning
where the buzz has been minimized or eliminated. If it does not go away, then
the problem is acoustic and changing the style of head may help? For example, glass based heads such as those made by Evans
have a higher specific gravity and are not as easily excited. Try a thinner head
because although its excited more easily, due to less mass it stays in motion for a shorter length of time and the buzz may
become more acceptable because it does not linger as long. Thinner heads such as the Evans Glass20, 200 and REMO Diplomat
series of Snare Side heads also allow the snare to ride up into the head easier and can sort of contain the snare movement.
However, the opposite may be true? A thicker head may be the answer because of its mass, it may not be as easily excited by
the offending frequency. Thicker heads make the snares ride on top of the head and this can lead to snare buzz.
If after making a change regarding
the resonant head things got better, then its time to replace the batter side and begin to retune it. Make sure you continue
to play the offending note as you do.
If after you removed the batter
side head the buzz goes away, it’s a simple tuning relationship between top and bottom heads that must change. In other words, find a different note to tune the drum to. Again, if nothing different is acceptable, what makes you think something will change? Try walking the batter head up and the resonant side down and see if an alteration in head tension helps?
Try the reverse; Walk the batter side down and the resonant side up.
Beyond this it’s the process
of deductive reasoning and experimentation. Such as trying a different snare
drum or using a muffle ring or head on the snare drum.
