Drum tuning is very important, to the point that if you feel uncertain, hire a drum tech to do it. A good tech will do it in one hour and it will not be too expensive. You will also learn a lot by watching a pro tune the kit. Just change and seat the heads at least 12 hours before the tuning. By "seating" I mean tune the heads high and press them with your palm. You will hear a crackling sound. Remo heads usually require more seating than other brands. Be extra careful when you seat the resonant heads. They are usually much thinner, especially on the snare drum.

If you want to tune the drums yourself, learn the basics and then buy a drum tuner like the Ahead DrumDial or Tama Tension Watch. It will make the tuning job faster. But remember, you still need to fine-tune drums with your ears! When you use the drum tuner, place the drum on the floor or other flat surface.

I like to tune the kick drum very low, so low that the lugs on the batter side are almost rattling. The resonant side can be tuned a little higher. If the drummer can't play with the low tuning, tighten it a little bit. After all, you want the drummer to perform well. Go for "punch," not "boom" with the tuning. Muffle the kick with cloth, foam or whatever is available. Just don't make it too tight and don't use too much.

How about the snare drum? I want it to sound tight and fat at the same time. I tune the resonant head high and start adjusting the batter head to my liking. Most of the time you need to muffle the snare just a little bit. Remember, the real meat is in the texture, not in the attack. My favourite muffling material is Moongel. Duct tape works too, but it is not reusable. Try to position the muffling so that the drummer won't strike it and the microphone won't point at it. Wood snares usually require less dampening than metal ones. Remember to check the tuning after every song!

I want the toms to have lots of power and bottom but not a lot of sustain. I usually tune the batter head lower than the resonant head. The difference doesn't have to be huge. Start the tuning from the smallest tom. All drums are different, so you really need to experiment with different tunings.