So, i've got this mylar marching snare that sounds horrible. I can make it sound decent but the overtones that it has are horrible. It rings more than a set of tenors. Also, the snare wire is broken. I tried using a set of Gibraltar replacement snares but they wouldn't help. Basically, I need the best tuning tips that you've got. I'll post pics up later.

Overtones are pretty normal. It's something that's often heard pretty strongly up close, but not as much from a distance or in a line setting. Some Mylar heads like the Powerstroke 77 batter head or Evans MS3 snare side have an underlay to reduce ring.

It's possible to dampen ringing by taping a small patch to the head. To get an idea of the effect, you can set a leather wallet or some other semi-soft object on the top head while playing and see if the ringing is reduced.

If the ringing is particularly bad, there's a pretty good chance the heads aren't balanced. Whenever you install or tune a head, you want to make sure that pitch is the same at each lug. Tap the head about 1½-2" in from each lug to check its pitch. If that lug's pitch is higher than others, loosen it a bit and move on to the next lug. If the pitch is lower, tighten the lug a little bit. Keep moving around the drum and repeating until the pitch at each lug is equal.

Since Mylar stretches with time and tension, it's possible that your head is ruined if it's been out of balance for a while. Uneven tuning can lead to uneven stretching. If your head's out of round, tuning can be difficult if not impossible.

Speaking of things being out of round, another thing that can lead to uneven tuning and some nasty overtones is a warped shell. I'm a little suspicious about this possibility since you mentioned wire snares. Unless we're talking about pipe band drums, wire snares are usually a sign of lower-end drums which could be more prone to warp.

One more thing that can affect the amount of ring is the interval between the top and bottom heads. If they're tuned to a consonant pitch, you'll have more sympathetic vibration -- when one vibrates, the other will, too. If they're tuned to a less-consonant interval, the amount of sympathetic vibration will be reduced, in theory leading to less ring.

...and I almost forgot: Don't try to tune it like it's Kevlar! It's pretty normal for people who grew up with Kevlar® heads to over-torque Mylar.

I'm using a Remo Powerstroke 77 WITH an Evans Staccato disk which is supposed to reduce overtones. I just got the new heads yesterday. I'm not tuning it like Kevlar® because I've never owned a high-tension drum. Thanks though. I'll try that and get back to you on it.

I'd recommend leaving the staccato disk out. In my opinion, one of the hallmarks of a good Mylar snare sound is lots of snare response and the staccato disk is going to dampen that quite a bit. Besides, ringing from the snare side head is typically not much of a problem with Mylar heads.

What kind of snare side head are you using? Evans MS3? I can't think of another Mylar bottom head with a ring you could use to insert the staccato disk.

I was actually using a Remo Ambassador Snare Side cause I didn't know you had to insert it into that ring. But, yeah, you're right, my snare sounds 10 times as better without the disk, much snappier and much louder!! The overtones aren't really a problem any more. Thanks!!!

Ohhhh my lord!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7G96UF447s

Slingerland TDRs are beautiful.

In their own old school kind of way, they sure are.

35 years later, I still miss it. Anyways, I'm still getting this buzz from the snares after I hit the drum. Any tips?

My knee-jerk reaction would be to suggest tuning the snare strands and maybe increasing their tension a bit. But that's with tunable (synthetic) gut snares in mind. Wire snares don't offer many tuning options. If adjusting their tension doesn't help, you might have to resort to improvisational tuning methods. Tape across the snare and removing some snare strands are two ways of reducing snare response, but I don't know if they'll help with your particular buzz.

What kind of drum are we talking about, by the way? (I'm wondering about those wire snares, among other things.)