Tenor Drum Buying Guide: Tips for Choosing Your Next Marching Tenors
Few instruments capture the raw excitement of a live drumline quite like tenors. These tom-like marching drums create dazzling rhythms and electrifying melodies that will energize any tailgater or parade-goer within earshot.
You may already have a skilled set of snares and basses in your battery, but trust us: until you harness the twangy punch of a tenor section, your drumline could be missing out.
Are you wondering where a budget set of quads or a full fleet of top-tier quints can take your next show? You’ve come to the right place. Sweetwater’s curated selection of marching tenors was handpicked by our drum specialists to give your group the edge in competition and exhibition.
How Quads and Tenors Took the Marching World by Storm
You’re probably familiar with today’s highly refined marching tenors. But have you ever wondered how they came onto the scene?
Military bands and drum and bugle corps of the 1970s helped pave the way for modern-day tenor drums. Players seeking melodic field instrumentation were known to fashion crude carriers to mount multiple timbales, bass toms, “timp-toms,” and tenor field drums onto their backs — drums that sometimes exceeded 18 inches in diameter and 25 pounds in weight!
Mind you, this practice predated the allowance of a pit percussion front ensemble in many marching organizations, so directors and performers were happy to break new ground to get new sounds onto the field.
Further refinement throughout the ’70s led to the creation of marching tenors during Winter Guard International’s and Drum Corps International’s rises to prominence in the 1980s. Tenor drums have remained a staple of marching percussion ever since, and with each year, they’ve become smaller, lighter, and sleeker for marching.
Tenor Drum Shopping Advice
Quads, quints, and tenors: What’s the difference?
You may hear terms like “quads” and “sexes” tossed around in drumline meets and discussion threads. These terms just refer to different configurations of tenor drums.
Quads are the standard 4-drum tenor set that many beginners cut their teeth on. Advanced players may eventually migrate to 5-drum quints or 6-drum sexes (a.k.a. sextets or squints). High-numbered tenor sets often feature one or more high-pitched central drums known as gocks, shots, spocks, or spikes. A gock drum possesses a high, clear tone and an extremely aggressive rimshot, adding color and variation to the standard 4-drum quad voicing.
If these terms weren’t confusing enough, marching percussionists may use the term “quads” in the generic to indicate tenor sets with any number of drums. Just know that these terms are more or less synonymous.
How should I tune my quads?
The ideal pitch of a tenor drum is the register where it “speaks” (resonates) best. Since every drum shell is different, it can be tricky to assign a universal pitch value to every set of tenors. For this reason, many quad players rely on intervallic relationships rather than specific pitches.
With this method, you find the starting pitch of drum four (the lowest tenor), and then tune drum three (next lowest) up by two to three semitones. Once you find a good pitch relationship between drums four and three, tune drum two up another two to three semitones. Finally, tune drum one around four semitones higher than drum two. Spock drums are usually “cranked to glass,” meaning they’re tuned as high as the heads can withstand.
Some competitive groups like the Bluecoats and the Santa Clara Vanguard, however, do specify tunings for each drum. One popular option for 6-drum tunings is F#, A, B, D, F#, B (lowest to highest). This ultra-tight tuning takes on the tone-filled twang of a D6 chord that shines for well-rehearsed lines. Another option, E, G, A, C, X, X, drops the four low tenors down a whole step (C6) while keeping shot drums cranked, resulting in a blooming resonance with plenty of clean definition.
If it sounds like quads require a lot of tuning to maintain their pitch relationships — they do! For this reason, many sections will keep a familiar song in mind — like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” or “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” — whose pitches align with their tuning goals. This makes staying tuned between sectionals and performances quicker than constantly reaching for the pitch pipe.
What role do tenors play in the drumline?
Pitch-tuned bass drums began emerging in the late 1960s, thanks to the influence of prominent groups like the Chicago Cavaliers and the Phantom Regiment. Marching tenors of the ’70s aimed to offer similar harmonic and melodic reinforcement in a solo instrument. Quads and tenors soon became a force to be reckoned with, breaking up the unison-only rhythms with complex melodies and a visual flair that couldn’t be matched.
What is the “zone” approach to tenor playing?
Marching drumlines during the Carter administration could have never dreamed that today’s quads and tenors could so effectively bridge the gap between split bass and snare ballistics in such streamlined field instruments. The secret to getting the most out of your tenors? Efficiency. Learn your zones so well that you could land edge and center strikes blindfolded. Staying limber and not reaching further into the drumhead than necessary will help you squeeze every ounce of speed from your cross-sweeps and windmills.
How to care for your tenors: heads, hardware, and more
Proper maintenance is essential to getting the most out of your marching tenor drums. Check out our Drum Care and Maintenance Guide for more tips on keeping your tenors (and the rest of your drumline) in tip-top shape.
Still Shopping for Your Next Tenors? Sweetwater’s Specialists Can Help!
We get it: shopping for new tenors can be a huge commitment! We want you to know we’re in your corner if you have questions. Here’s what you can do to make the most informed buying decision.
Familiarize yourself
Did you know Sweetwater has a dedicated team of band and orchestra experts who personally write web descriptions for every set of tenors we stock? If you’re ever curious to know what shell layups, drumheads, carrier types, and bearing edges a set of tenors uses, Sweetwater.com is a great place to start.
Read reviews
Sweetwater isn’t shy about admitting we have the best customers in the industry. And guess what else: our passionate shoppers love sharing their firsthand opinions about the tenors we sell. Be sure to read the product reviews and testimonials on our site to gain valuable insights into the distinct advantages of each tenor set we sell.
Ask the experts
Sweetwater’s classroom and marching percussion specialists are your first and final line of defense in your tenor search. Contact our Sales Engineers anytime for recommendations based on your needs, your budget, and your existing gear. They have the knowledge and expertise to help set up your drumline for success today and for many seasons to come.
Special thanks to drumline historian, DCI trailblazer, and all-around unstoppable powerhouse Lauren Vogel Weiss for chronicling the history of marching tenor drums. Check out the full report in the May 1998 issue of Modern Drummer.
