Drum tuning BASICS?

I'm lost, my drums sound horrible; the toms resonate like crazy, i just want a clean kind of "CHUG" sound out of them!

This would require a pretty long answer, but there is a pretty good basic explanation of tuning at this link: http://www.evansdrumheads.com/EVATunning.aspx

As for your specific questions,

- Which should I tune first: the top head or the bottom?
It doesn't really matter whether you start with the top or bottom head. Both heads need to be tuned before you can really hear how the drum sounds.

- Should they be in tune with each other?
This depends on your personal preference.
-On the toms I like to have the batter head and resonant head tuned pretty close. This gives a nice focused sound to the toms.
-On the bass, I like the batter head tighter than the resonant heat. This gives good rebound for the kick pedal and adds a nice punchy attack. The looser resonant head creates a big, boomy bass sound.
-For the snare, I like the batter head really tight and the resonant head a little looser than the batter. This gives good bounce for the sticks and the high pitch gives a good contrast to the low pitch of the bass drum. The looser batter head helps the snare rattle a little better. Plus, keeping the snare heads out of tune with each other reduces the amount of snare buzz that you get when you hit the toms or bass drum. (also make sure that you don't tune either of the snare heads to the same pitch as any of the other drums in your kit, this will cause buzzing)

- Do I tune to the main sound, or the resonance/feedback for each lug?
If you tune so that the "resonance" at each lug is the same on a certain head you will get a good main sound. When the pitch is different at the different lugs around a head you will get distracting overtones. If you want to reduce the overtones even more, you could use Sound Control rings, moongels, or small pieces of duct tape.

Tuning a drumset can be a difficult thing to learn, but once you get the hang of it, its not that hard.

It is also important that you have good quality heads on the top and bottom of each drum (Evans and Remo are good brands).

If you are having a hard time getting one drum to tune, try loosening the heads all the way on that drum, then try tuning it again.

Drum Tuning Troubleshooting | Drum Lessons

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