How to Make Drums Sound Professional

Making drums sound professional requires some physical changes to the instrument. You also need to develop your technique to create a quality sound. Simply striking the drum with your drumsticks won't be enough to get a professional sound from your instrument. The proper drum technique and approach to playing makes a world of difference in the actual drum sound. Learn to modify your instrument and control your technique to get the best sounds possible from your drum.

Step 1:  Change the drum heads. To get a thicker, richer sound, use oil-filled drum heads on the auxiliary drums and a thicker drum head on the snare drum. A good thickness for a strong snare sound will fall between two and three centimeters.

Step 2:  Check the tuning of your drums. Drums are indefinitely pitched instruments, but you can generally raise or lower the pitch by tightening and loosening the lugs. Moving in a criss-cross pattern around the drum, use the drum key to tighten each lug one-half turn. Continue this process until the drum head looks smooth without wrinkles.

Step 3:  Tap on the drum head with your drumstick near each tension screw and tighten the nuts until you achieve the desired sound. Tapping near each tension screw should produce the same sound. If one area of the drum sounds higher than another, adjust the screws to match the pitch. The actual pitch of the drum will be your own personal preference, but the drum must be uniformly tuned.

Step 4: Play with proper technique. Sit up straight and hold your drum sticks with a matched grip. Both palms will face the ground in this grip. The stick should be held between the thumb and index finger, with the other fingers wrapping around for support.

Step 5: Aim for the center of the drum when you play. Avoid hitting the side of the drum, unless you specifically want a dull, less resonant sound. Hitting the center of the drum allows the vibrations to spread equally in both directions across the drum.