While this isn't necessarily relevant to achieving a specific drum sound, it's certainly applicable to tuning in general, so I'll share:
When getting a head in tune with itself, don't be worried about matching one lug to another, as many seem to do. Instead, try finding the lug with the most discernible pitch and, having sort of memorized it, approach each lug individually, tuning below and then back up to that pitch. Doing this enables you to really zero in around the head and, when done, you'll have a head that is beautifully in tune with itself.
Realizing and putting into practice this little tip completely opened up my drum-tuning abilities. Get into it.
How to tune my drums to sound like this?
12we all agree that there is no "standard" tunning for any given drum and that it is very subjective. however, i discoverd over the years, that a "logical" or "coherent" or "homogenic" tunning could be achieved to best suit this particular drum.
this might sound a bit pretencious but what the fuck:
tune the resonnant head around "zone n°2", flip the drum, tune batter side around "zone n°1" and start from there: adjust the stick response and maintain the same tention for each lug (up). lift the drum with your hand hit it to hear how it sounds (...horrible) flip the drum again and tighten the resonant head up so that your moving away from that zone n°2 for a bit less resonnance (gently). apply this to all the toms and the bass drum. play your kit for a while and try to listen to the global sound and the notes between each tom. now try to adjust the pitch between them with the resonnant side to get a nice scale (very gently by 1/4 turns max) remember if you want to lower the note to always leave it with some tension in the lug (up).
now this should be close to what i call a "normal drum tuning" or if not, a good starting point.
conclusion:
i think the most "natural" tunning for a drum is when the resonnant and the batter heads are tuned right above zone 2 for the resonnant side and zone 1 for batter side. think it's a good compromise in terms of sustain/resonnance and dry/tight sound that can be controlled. i could make an analogy saying that this "set up" is the +4 dBu of drum sound.
the fact that the head is tunned right above the zone gives you a margin of action (dynamics), you can still tune up a little and still have a bit of resonnance (headroom) and still lower the head a little without it to sound completely distorting or dull (noise floor).
so try to tune your drums to sound like this
this might sound a bit pretencious but what the fuck:
tune the resonnant head around "zone n°2", flip the drum, tune batter side around "zone n°1" and start from there: adjust the stick response and maintain the same tention for each lug (up). lift the drum with your hand hit it to hear how it sounds (...horrible) flip the drum again and tighten the resonant head up so that your moving away from that zone n°2 for a bit less resonnance (gently). apply this to all the toms and the bass drum. play your kit for a while and try to listen to the global sound and the notes between each tom. now try to adjust the pitch between them with the resonnant side to get a nice scale (very gently by 1/4 turns max) remember if you want to lower the note to always leave it with some tension in the lug (up).
now this should be close to what i call a "normal drum tuning" or if not, a good starting point.
conclusion:
i think the most "natural" tunning for a drum is when the resonnant and the batter heads are tuned right above zone 2 for the resonnant side and zone 1 for batter side. think it's a good compromise in terms of sustain/resonnance and dry/tight sound that can be controlled. i could make an analogy saying that this "set up" is the +4 dBu of drum sound.
the fact that the head is tunned right above the zone gives you a margin of action (dynamics), you can still tune up a little and still have a bit of resonnance (headroom) and still lower the head a little without it to sound completely distorting or dull (noise floor).
so try to tune your drums to sound like this