Lesson 07
Tuning by Ear
Articulating sound and developing the listening skills that matter. Start using reference tones to build accuracy and confidence.
For many drummers, the Holy-Grail desire is to be able to perform ‘tuning by ear’. So, what is tuning by ear? How can drummers learn to tune their drums by ear?
Well, ‘tuning by ear’ is essentially a catch-all term, really just referring to fact that no assistance or devices are required when tuning. The drummer relies on their experience and confidence in their hearing accuracy to achieve the sounds they are aiming for. This can be learnt tacitly over time through trial and error and years of experience in different scenarios, but - for many drummers – tuning by ear remains a dark-art mystery and a mountainous goal that they cannot figure out how to climb. OK then, let’s...[lesson locked]
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Course content by Professor Rob Toulson – Professor of Musical Acoustics, Inventor of iDrumTune and author of the book Drum Sound and Drum Tuning: Bridging Science and Creativity.