Tune-Bot GIG

UPDATE:I just changed all the heads on eight drums in about 30 minutes. It doesn't get any easier than that, and the results were dead on as always. This is one of the best gadgets I've ever purchased!ORIGINAL REVIEW:As a new drummer, I have really struggled with tuning. The DrumDial lets you get even tension on the head at all lug positions, but if you blindly follow the needle on the dial, you can merrily over-torque your lugs to the point of warping your hoops. The Evans torque key lets you get even torque on all the lugs, but discovering the correct target torque is fiddly, and imprecise. Neither of these tuning aids really has anything to do with the pitch of the drum, and neither one can help you get your drums in tune with each other. After using both of these devices along with my ear, I finally got my drums in some kind of tune.When I heard about the Tune-Bot Gig, I was skeptical about dropping more money on yet another tuning gadget, but I was also intrigued. I let the thing sit around for a few days before I finally tried it, and then I struggled briefly figuring out how to use it correctly. I really wasn't set up to be a fan of this gadget, but then I worked through the issues. I started by finding the one tom I liked the best, and determining what pitch it played. Next, I used the Android app to generate a tuning for my set of toms with something close to that pitch in that position. Finally, I tuned all five toms to that scheme, moving some a lot more than others, and then I tuned my snare to a note exactly halfway between the two highest toms. Basically the trick to this is to ignore the fundamental pitch, and tune each head to the specified lug pitch individually, then check your work afterwards by letting both heads resonate. You will find the tunings they suggest are spot on for producing a desired fundamental pitch, even if you are doing something apparently weird with the lug pitch.In maybe 30 minutes of work with the Tune-Bot, I really dialed in the focus knob on my kit. WOW! The toms are still highly resonant, the way I prefer them, but I have solved at least 75% of my snare buzz resonance problems by positioning the snare on a different note from any of the toms. The intervals between the toms have smoothed out, and it is suddenly apparent how much worse they sounded before. My lowest tom came up a lot in pitch, but it still thunders nicely, while my nice high tom came down just a hair to sit on a note that works better with the rest of the toms. That definitely made a positive difference, and it didn't take very much work to get there. I am highly amused with this gadget!If Amazon had half stars, I would deduct half a star, because the Tune-Bot really had some serious problems with the higher pitched drums. The target is 258 Hz, for example, and you're tuning 220, 230, 240, 250, 253, 375. Wait, what? How did I go all the way to 375 with that tiny adjustment? The answer is that I didn't. I know from my experience building tuned wind chimes that it is very hard to tune percussive things with a conventional chromatic auto tuner. The apparent fundamental frequency you hear is made up of a very complex mixture of different overtones, which is also how you can tune each head to some apparently ludicrous pitch, and end up yielding a much lower fundamental once both heads are free to resonate. What happens with the Tune-Bot is that sometimes it picks out the wrong overtone, and it shows you that pitch, instead of the pitch of the overtone you are working on tuning. Working through that aspect of things was the most fiddly part of using the Tune-Bot, but by moving the unit to the opposite side of the drum from the lug I was tuning, and by relying on my ear to tell me that I hadn't really jumped 100 Hz in pitch, I was finally able to muddle through and get everything tuned quite impressively well.Even the Tune-Bot doesn't replace your ears, but it helps a great deal, and combined with the app or the tuning builder on the website, the complete system really helps you target and achieve a tuning that works very well. Considering how poorly a standard chromatic auto-tuner performs at this kind of task, what they have achieved with this gadget is truly impressive.

I've been playing drums for a long, long time, but I've always struggled with tuning and tuning quickly. The tune bot made this process almost foolproof. It has a lot of features that I haven't even explored yet, so that's why the ease of use is 4 stars--it's not hard to use, but there is a lot that you can do with it, so you do need to sit down and work through the features and use the websites or the app to figure it all out. You also might need to do a little math to dial in your specific setup.BUT, I'm sure this gets easier over time, and the results have been absolutely worth it. I didn't want to admit I needed to spend this much money to make my kit sound good. But, it doesn't just sound good, it sounds great, and I feel confident about the sound. The only hiccup was with tuning the snare, and that was a little odd. It just seemed to have some difficulty with some of the lug resonances on the snare head. I did take the snare off when I tuned it, but my snare has just always been a little hard to tune. That's part of why I wanted to get this gadget. But I've read that some other folks seemed to have a similar issue on the resonant head of the snare--it almost seemed like, on the higher tensions, that there were times when it just read the tension wrong, like 100 off, but I knew it was obviosly not the low reading that came up. I could dial up, and then suddenly, over a certain tension the reading just dipped by, like, 100 points. That didn't make sense. So, I kind of went with it and used my ear a bit, and I got them in line together. Overall the sound is still superior to any tuning I've done in the past. The sound of the bass drum is also much better after applying the tune bot formulas and getting real readings. I love being able to get nice intervals between my toms.The bot can save settings too, and it can adjust for multiple setups. I haven't even gotten into any of that yet. Probably one could get away with the basic bot instead of the studio. But, it didn't seem like the 20 buck different between the two was enough to get the lesser tool. Others may have a better idea of that, since I've never played with the regular tune bot.Great tool, I wish I hadn't waited to get it.

It is not easy to use but tuning drums is an art and does help with the process

I love my Tune-bot. It takes all the guess work out of tuning. I've had a lot of old school drummers who tell me it's cheating, and taking the art out of drum tuning, and how much they love to tune by ear. Well, you can still do that with this. To me, it really helped me get great pitches on my toms that worked well together. I had to experiment to find what worked best for my kit, but once I found it, you just easily save it in the app and tuning my entire kit takes minutes. I'm confident I have the exact tuning I want every time. And I know that each lug is the same pitch, and the batter and reso heads are in tune with each other. If you are new to drumming or don' t know much about tuning, it's a great tool and will actually help you learn what sounds you like by trial and error. And if you're an experienced player, I've found you can use this as a starting point, and then tune by ear to get it exactly where you want it. I actually do that if I use my Tune-bot and then fine tune by ear, for example if you're in a smaller room than usual, or playing with a bigger band, or even a different type of music. You can also create your own settings. If you have the tuning you like, then use the Tune-bot to check the lug frequencies and then make note of them. Again, much quicker than tuning by ear and you're confident all of your lugs are even. The only downside I see, you have to actually hit the drum to product the note for it to work, unlike the Drum Dial that you can tune without hitting the drum. But you don't have to hit it loudly. I actually use a mallet when I tune. I recommend it.

Very Good.