How to care for a battery and percussion: a useful guide

A battery will be cared for by revising and changing patches as they lose sound or tuning, tuning with and with each tensor and mounting the plates with felt and with no metal against metal and with no more tightening of any frying. At the hand percussion, as with the drawer and conga, what commands are wood, leather and tension.

And there's something that's not in the instrument: your ear. Playing unprotected acoustic drums, week after week, can leave a damage that doesn't have a backlight.

To sum up

He changes a patch with his sink and lost his cover and you hit them and his tuning isn't supported.
Stylish with small and equal turns and compare sound close to each tensor.
The plates range from felt and with a plastic cover onto the axis: never metal against metal or tighten.
If your contas are made of natural leather, put a little low as soon as they're put up with them.
He uses hearing protection while playing acoustic drums, even at short sessions.

When to change patches

There's no fixed date: lt's up to how much you play, how strong and how high they are. The pounding patch of the peller is usually the first to be spent, and those with an MRI, those with a low figure, are more and more long.

Signs of an spent patch
What you see or listen to	What does that mean?	What to do
Huntings where you hit most	The patch was irregularly stretched.	To change them: they have been pounding and pounding.
The white coating was purified at the centre	Unloaded for use.	To change it, especially with the repurer if you wear bangles.
He's been pounding his face every song	He's lost elasticity or bad-seated.	Check tuning and if it persists, change them.
That sounds bad, but how about that?	He came to his end of his useful life.	Cambiarlo.
Fold or cut	Direct damage.	To change them before they touch that drum again.

How to put a new patch

Loosen the star tensioner, remove the old face and patch, and clear with a dry cloth the edge of the hull.
Put the new focused patch and the ring on top.
Toss all tensors with his fingers till they touch his ring without using his key.
Press the centre of the patch with the palm to put it back. It's normal to listen to some crisps.
Fines as explained below.

Take care of the change to put a drop of lubricant onto the thread of each tensor: they turn better and tuning becomes more precise.

Basic endurance of the battery

The aim at first is not an exact note but the drum sounds the same close to each tensor.

With the tuning key, give the same turn to each tensor (a quarter or a half turn) following a star pattern, as with the tightening of a rim's nuts.
Soft hit about 3 cm from each tensor and listen. If a point sounds more serious, give that tensor a little more.
It's up and about till the drum's clear and with tone. If you get through, loosen up and get back up.
Fold the resonance patch with the same method. The relationship between the two patches changes the duration and character of the sound and it's worth experiencing with your teacher.

At the repurer, the embroidery (the metal spirals at the bottom) is adjusted with its knob: just so that it sounds clear, but not so tight as to drown the sound. Drop with the lever if it vibrates with other sounds from the room and never support the repurer about it.

A very common mistake is to tighten a single tensor a lot to remove an annoying harmonic: you only unbalance the patch. Check the complete tuning earlier.

Plates: assembly, blow and cleanup

Ride them with a felt down and another up and with the plastic cover at the axis of the support. A plate that scatters the metal thread goes out into the central hole and ends up scattering.
Do not tighten the butterfly: the dish should be free to move. Fitted, bad vibrates and it's easier for them to get out.
It strikes with a stringing angle, and with an angle with an angle that does not have an edge and perpendicular to its edge. That blow is a typical cause of broken sauces.
Transpand them into a plate cover with separate and intersecting machines.

The traditional finish sauces get dark with time and many prefer that sound and a dry cover for prints is enough. If you decide to clear them, use a product made for saucer and following the direction of the moors. Never use brilametal, steel wool or abrasive sponges: raan, they can clear the logo and change the sound.

Hardships, pedals and helmets

Stretch screws and butterflies just so they don't move. Reaping them more scrape them.
Each time check the nuts of the stands and of the hy-hat pedal: with vibration they loosen.
When the bulb pedal squeezes, put a drop of light oil into axes and springs and clear up the excess.
Change the paedal deck if felt or plastic was spent: end up breaking the bulb patch.
Use a cover under the battery: Keep the bulb from moving and protecting the ground.
Cleans the chrome with a dry cloth, especially in moist climate or near the sea, where it oxidizes quickly.
Do not leave the helmets to the sun or to a window: Plastic coating can form bubbles and wood suffers with heat.

Also check the baquetes. When scattering them, change them: scattering can leap and also scattering patches and sauces.

Roof and pitted with an internal combustion piston

The drawer

It's built to sit on top of them, not to stand on them or to bounce sitting.
The front cover, the one that gets hit, is thin: remove rings and watches.
If you have screws at the top corners of the cover, loosen them up a little more and more and do not remove them or force them.
Don't leave him on the wet floor and leave him with the sun.

Conga and Bongoes

A natural leather patch reacts to climate: in dry and moist environments it loosen. That's why many dupZionists lower their tension a little while after they have been put to an end, especially if conga are to be saved for days or they travel to a drier climate. It's about to turn all the keys together and in the same order. Synthetic patches are more stable and a good choice to play outside.

Traditional drums

Colombian drums such as a cheerful drum or a call machine are usually tightened with ropes and wedges. When you do not wear them, you have to put them down a little bit, put them in a dry and ventilated place and protect the leather from the direct sun. If the leather gets broken, a percussion artisan can change them.

Hearing protection: the most important care

An acoustic battery in a small room sounds strong enough to affect the ear with repeated exposure, and noise damage usually remains permanent. The buzzing in the ears after playing is a sign that you have been more exposed.

He uses cover for musicians with a filter: they lower their volume and keep listening with clarity. The foam also protects them, even if they turn them off more sharp.
If you play with hearing aids, hold up moderate volume and up to cover the acoustic battery is a common error.
To work technical, a pad of practice and [methonomic]](/herramientas/metronomo) cover much of the studio without noise.
with children, hearing protection goes from first class and we treated them with [child's drums guide]](/blog/bateria-para-ninos-guia-para-padres).

Errors that damage the battery

Filling with only a tensor that sounds weird.
Touch with scattering pits or with the paddle's paddle.
Rig with no felt or without cover onto the axis.
Rig up the armoured battery to move them: the frills are damaged and their helmets are broken.
Keep the drawer or conga next to a window or in a wet room.

If you are setting up your first set, at how to choose a battery or a drawer to start with we compare options for apartment. [percussion classes]](/clases/percusion)Your teacher's been teaching you how to tune and mount your instrument from the first few weeks.

Frequently asked questions

How often do you change the battery patches?

Depending on how to use. With daily practice, the pounding patch of the peller may require change several times a year while the MRI patches last for years. Be guided by signs: scattering, spent coating and tuning that doesn't hold up.

How do I know if a saucer's broken?

Check the edge and area of the central hole with good light. A scrape looks as a fine line and the plate usually sounds with a buzzing or quickly shutting down. If you find it, stop touching with force and consult before it goes forward.

Do electronic batteries need care?

Yes, but different: clear and dry pics, revised wires and connectors, module far from pounding and drink, a voltage protector and hearing aids at moderate volume.

Do I have to get my ears buzzed after I play?

It's common but isn't harmless: it indicates that exposure was excessive. It uses hearing protection and if the buzzing persists, consult with a specialist.

How to care for a battery and percussion tools?