OT: Bass drum tuning in US marine bands.

[imperialbari]

For other reasons I just listened, on YouTube, to a few marches played by 3 different US marine bands: Presidents Own, Parris Island, and West Coast massed station bands.

It belongs to the story that I consider good bass drum playing being extremely important in marches, where a well played bass drum can be a real relief for the tuba section. I have heard British military bands use two beaters, but here in Denmark one beater is the norm for bands in our own tradition.

As far as I could hear and, sometimes, see, the US marine bands use two beaters on their bass drums. And apparently they tune the two drum heads a fifth apart.

Is there a firm tradition for the tuning of bass drums?

Klaus

[sousaphone68]

The first band I played with was a military style brass and reed union band in Dublin where the tradition was a single large bass drum with two beaters but both skins tuned to the same note.
I still play with a band of this style and also a marching band of the American style with sousaphones mellophones and a full percussion section with quads etc and 4 bass drums of varying sizes from 16 inch to 26 inch.
A lot of the music comes with 4 different bass drum parts. Due to a lack of percussionists at the moment we parade with only 2 of the bass drums but have tuned the sides to different notes to cover the parts.

The bizarre and unexpected result of this for me is that sometimes if the drummers are too enthusiastic or if the notes are close to what I am trying to play or their position relative to me is right then they cancel out my sound and have on occassion made it feel very hard to get my sousaphone to sound certain notes.
I have experienced the same effect when I bring my upright tuba down to rehearsal. I dislike being in front of the drum section in either marching or concert format especially the cymbals.

[Alex C]

Sousa's bass drummer, Gus Helmecke, was the highest paid member of the band. That's how important Sousa considered a fine bass drummer.

Sources, quotes and all other references to follow.

[David Richoux]

Since I sometimes play Bass Drum in one band I am in, I did some research on this - not an easy answer to find! Nothing specific on the Marine bands that I can see so far.

(Many bands now use multiple bass drums tuned to different pitches, and the "best" note for any bass drum depends on the size of the drum. I have not found much on older, Single Bass bands, but these might help: http://www.fearthefrog.org/BassDrumTuning.pdf and this one is full of useful tips! http://www.bandmusicpdf.org/files/Recre ... actice.pdf

This answer from Remo seems somewhat useful, certainly has the most specific info I have seen so far:

QUESTION: This question is for Bret Kuhn.
I think that the concert bass drum sound of the Cavaliers is the best of any I have ever heard. I just love it! What size drums, head type and tuning scheme do you employ to get that fantastic sound? Also what tuning schemes do you employ in the battery? Do you tune to specific pitches or just relative intervals?

Thank You
Matt
BRET'S REPLY:
Hey Matt,
Thanks for asking about the tuning scheme for the concert bass drums and the battery. We do have specific pitches for tuning all of the membrane instruments. The concert bass drums are 40" and are tuned to a C#, the batter head is a Fiberskyn III and the resonant side is white plastic. Often times people tune the concert basses too low and they don't resonate properly. As far as the battery goes, here is the tuning scheme for this past year. The snare tops are white max and tuned to an A and the bottoms are the 3-mil thin plastic/clear (SA-0314-TD) and they were tuned to a D#. With the tenors we used Suede Emperor Crimplock on everything except the shots and there we used the clear Emperors. The pitches are as follows- 14"-B, 13"-D#, 12"-F#, 10"-A, and for the two 6" shots the low was a B and the high was a D#. The bass drums used Ambassadors (BR-12XX-MP) for heads and were tune in perfect 4th's. 32"-D#, 28"-G#, 24"-C#, 20"-F#, 16#-B. We really strive to create a sonority with all of the battery voices and tuning changes from year to year depending on the musical needs of the group. I hope this helps and gets you thinking about what you want to hear from your drums.

[Dan Schultz]

..... As far as I could hear and, sometimes, see, the US marine bands use two beaters on their bass drums. And apparently they tune the two drum heads a fifth apart.

Is there a firm tradition for the tuning of bass drums?

Klaus

I've never heard of tuning the two heads on the same drum to different pitches. I've always thought the pitch of the bass drum was more-or-less dependent on the size of the head and depth of the body. Whenever I set up a single bass drum for a concert band or for a drum set... I just tune the heads until they 'feel right' relative to the resonance when the head is stuck.

Timpani??? That's another story altogether. Out of tune timpani drive me crazy!

[imperialbari]

Marching timpani? Hardly. The German army sets up a dock for its Zapfenstreich type displays and parades, where they have timpani in Eb and Bb to match a special march repertory, where their regular trumpet players change to Eb valveless cavalry trumpets. The British cavalry bands have timpani carried by Shire horses. The Danish hussars add timpani carried on a Frisian to their cavalry trumpets at the last stretch of royal escorts, when they change from the initial trot to pace.

One sample of the dual tuning of the same drums is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRmFS1nNmtQ

To me it sounds like the "tonic" is on the right drumheads and the relative "dominant" on the left drumheads. Sometimes I heara the dominant a fift up and sometimes fourth down.

Klaus

[tuba114]

I've heard of percussionist tuning the top head of a bass drum to a specific pitch and the bottom head a fifth below the top head. Apparently, this gives the drum a much better sound. Also, with snare drums they try to have them tuned to a concert A.

[Dan Schultz]

... To me it sounds like the "tonic" is on the right drumheads and the relative "dominant" on the left drumheads. Sometimes I heara the dominant a fift up and sometimes fourth down.

Klaus

Naw... those heads are tuned the same. They may sound a little different thanks to Mr. Doppler's principle, though. Maybe one of the sousa players can ask the bass drummers.