TUNING THE TOP SNARE.
The top snare wire is held in place inside the drum by the internal snare mechanism.
By looking through the bottom head you should be able to see that the top snare is in a central position between the
internal support ring and seated correctly on the snare bed.
Please ensure that the bottom snare is in the off position.
1. Raise the top snare lever so that the snare wires are raised against the batter head.
2. Using the drum key provided, turn the bottom of the 2 adjusting bolts (closest to the bottom head) next to the top snare
lever clockwise to raise the internal snare wires up to the top head or anti-clockwise to lower the snare wires down away
from the head (this should be done if the snare wires are seen to be protruding through the top head). The top snare
wires should be raised until they sit flush against the inside of the top head.
3. Using the drum key provided, turn the top of the 2 adjusting bolts (closest to the batter head) next to the top snare lever
clockwise to stretch the internal snare wires or anti-clockwise to slacken them, until the de sired sound is reached (by
tapping the drum with a stick when making adjustments, you should be able to hear the change in sound until the
required sound is reached). Caution should be taken to not over tension the snare wires. This will not only cause
damage to the snare wires but also affect the tone of the drum (again, a dull tone or an over-ring on the drum is often
caused by under/over tensioning the snare wires).
TUNING THE WHOLE DRUM.
Ensure that all of the previous steps have been adhered to and checked at each stage.
Turn off both snare wires to hear when tapping whether the Drum is tensioned to the required pitch (repeat the stages for
tuning the drum heads if required). Turn on the bottom snare wire and tap the drum to make sure that it is now set to give
the required bottom snare sound (repeat the section for tuning the bottom snare wire if required).
Turn off the bottom snare wire and turn on the top. Tap the drum in the centre of the head to make sure that it is now set to
give the required top snare sound (repeat the section for tuning the top snare wire if required). Turn on both Snares at the
same time and play your drum. It is advisable that this whole sequence is carried out in the environment in which you will
be playing as your drum may give a different tone when played indoors as opposed to out.
When tuning a number of drums, it is advisable to tune one drum first and then one by one tune all of the other drums to
the first. It is also advisable to make sure that they are all tuned in the same environment and at the same height and angle
(try and keep all of the drums parallel to the floor when tuning a quantity, as each drum will sound different as the sound
reverberates from different angles).
We wish you lots of pleasure playing Pearl’s Viscount drums!
