Drum Sound and Drum Tuning: Bridging Science and Creativity

Drum Sound and Drum Tuning assists drummers, sound engineers, and music students in learning critical skills related to drum sound and achieving an optimised and personalised drum kit set-up. The book covers the essential theories of percussion acoustics and develops this knowledge in order to facilitate creative approaches to drum tuning and professional-level recording and mixing of drums.

All aspects of drumhead vibration, drumhead equalisation, and resonant drumhead coupling are de-mystified, alongside discussions relating to drumhead types, drum shell vibration, and tuning to musical intervals for different performance genres. The book develops drum sound theory and creative analysis into a detailed dissection of recording and production techniques specifically for drums, including discussions on studio technologies, room acoustics, microphone techniques, phase coherence, and mixing drums with advanced digital audio workstation (DAW) techniques and creative processing tools.

Drum Sound and Drum Tuning includes many practical hands-on exercises that incorporate example tutorials with Logic Pro and iDrumTune Pro software, encouraging the reader to put theory into immediate creative practice and to develop their own listening skills in an informed and reflective manner. The book also documents primary interviews and opinion from some of the world’s most celebrated drummers, music producers, and sound engineers, enabling the reader to connect the relevant theories with real-world context, whilst refining their own personalised approach to mastering drum sound.

Rob Toulson is an innovative musician, music producer, sound designer, and studio engineer working across most music and film genres. He has collaborated with many successful music artists and award-winning music producers, including Talvin Singh, Mediaeval Baebes, and Ethan Ash. He is an expert in musical acoustics and digital audio, with a doctorate in vibration and acoustics analysis and a full professor title in commercial music from University of Westminster, London, UK. He is also founder and director of RT60 Ltd, who develop cutting-edge technologies for the audio and music industries.