Alright, let me give you the story...

The school I once attended and now teach at has been playing the same old 13" Pearl Championship FFX snares for about 10 years now. Over the years, as drumheads evolved and tuning methods changed, They have probably seen a lot of incorrect tensioning and abuse. Now that I have finished my years there, I have become snare tech and the assistant percussion instructor. Trying to tune these snares has driven me every direction but insane. We use a Remo White Max as the batter and a Remo Falam II as the snare side (new heads each year or two). Every year, I think I've finally figured out just how to get them to have that full bodied tone with lots of response, but am always disheartened to find out that I was once again, wrong. The drums sound great when you stand about 3 feet away. As you move back, slowly the sound becomes more "chutty" and has almost little to no snare response - all you can hear is the batter head and it sounds as if the drum has compressed itself, even though it has plenty of tone once you move closer. I've check both heads numerous times to make sure we have the correct tensions, and nothing is over or under-tensioned. The batter is medium-high, the bottom is a hair higher than the top. The strainers are unchoked and seem to give good response. I really can't figure out what the problem is. I've tried tuning lower, and higher at different points throughout my years, but always get the same result and I'm starting to get sick of losing sleep over it.

So now that you've read my novel, here are a few of the things I've narrowed down the problems to...
1. Not playing through the drums - I've explained the concept to these kids numerous times and they seem to understand it quite well. I'm wondering if maybe just in the heat of the moment once they are moving, it goes out the door?
2. 13" drums - Maybe 13" drums really just can't sound like and have the tone that 14" drums do. I was always under the impression that you could make anything sound good though.
3. Bottom/top head too tight? - Is it possible for the bottom to be too tight? Would that give the drum the "compressed" feeling? Ours are fairly tight, but we aren't shooting for a wet sound - we're looking for more of a dry sound.
4. Just plain too old? - 10 years IS a long time for drums, but they are in decent enough shape that they should still produce.

If I'm crazy and just looking way too far into this, then please, let me know. It'll at least bring me back to reality. Thanks to all for help of ANY kind!

I haven't read your entire post yet becuase I'm about to go to sleep but I will say that your last point saying that the drums are too old is probably not a problem. There's nothing wrong with old drums, only damaged drums. My freshman year, we had some bass drums that were about 10 years old and we got new ones my sophomore year. Even though the old ones were old, I still felt that they sounded better than the new drums. (In the defense of the new drums however, they weren't tuned or muffled very well.)

Regardless, raw age won't damage your drum unless the drums have warped or have been banged around to the point that something has cracked or worn off.

Well first thing a 13" snare with that head combo i would expect to have a higher more articulate pitch. and from 50 yards you would probably loose a lot of response and end up with a more top head heavy sound.

i would try a a couple things.

one: different bottom head. definitely mylar. something that has a wetter sound. Falams are notoriously dry, more so on a 13" model. now if your line is 6 or more players its easier to get away with anything under projection problems can occur, 13" models do not have the depth of sound as a 14" does. so aim for a wetter sound and it will probably balance itself out from a far.

second: new guts, especially if they are 10 years old. trust me they will make a difference, or to make due. spray the old with clear acrylic spray. it will "brighten" them back up. replacement is the best option.

It sounds like you know your stuff on tunning, just remember if it the drum has a lot of ring and sounds tiny close up, they probably sound perfect in the box.

edit:
adding scoops will help with projection as well. Assuming you don't have scoops on them

To fix a lack of snare response, I'd...

• ...try Mylar bottom heads. It'll give a little more depth to the sound of a 13" drum and can give you lots more snare response. Remo Marching Ambassadors, Evans MS3's, or Ludwig Xtra Thin snare side heads will do you well.
• ...tune the individual guts on each snare. If all the strands are at different tensions, you'll get less-than-ideal snare response.
• ...try a lacquer spray on the guts. It puts a thin hard shell on the strands, giving them a little more snap.
• If you want to take it a step further, you can replace the guts. It shouldn't be necessary if they're in good shape, but can make a difference if they've been abused (like a permanent kink where they cross the bearing edge). You can get replacement Pearl snare units from shops like Steve Weiss ($75) or re-string your existing ones with tennis racket string (dirt cheap but labor-intensive). Tennis racket string might seem like a jury-rigged fix, but I've gotten really good results using it.

Of course, there are the basics like tension on the guts and making sure they're as level as possible from end to end (no bend at the bearing edge), but it sounds like you've probably already got the basic stuff under control.

...and I know a lot of what I said echoes multi-Thomm. (But he's right.)

I'll second (third?) what the others said:

-Mylar bottoms
-Tune/Replace the guts (as I've gotten older I've realized how much of a difference this can make)

Make sure your guts aren't over reefed, they need a little room to breath.

I “fourth” tuning/replacing the snares (I’ve never done the lacquer thing), though if you want a dry sound you may want to try Evans MX5 as it’ll be drier than a plastic head but more responsive than the Falam. I think the way to approach this is to take one drum and experiment with it; once you have a sound you like, you can apply your head choice and tuning to the rest.

Just to cover all the bases, I’ll summarize my marching snare set-up routine (I assume you know what you’re doing, but you never know when you’re going to have a “duh! <smack forehead>” moment.) I may do something different that may (or may not) work for you.

1. Get each head “in tune with itself”: Pick a lug and tap the head around 1-1/2” to 2” from the rim in front of it and do the same at the lug directly across from it; tighten/loosen the second lug until it has the same tone as the first. Tune a lug next to the second lug to the second lug and then tune the lug directly across from the third lug to the tone of the third lug. Repeat, criss-crossing around the drum until you achieve a consistent.

2. Tune the batter (top) and resonant (bottom/snare side) heads in relation to each other: Tune the batter head to the desired pitch. Then tune the resonant head to a minor third (for a fiber resonant) or a major third (for a plastic resonant – plastic heads have a naturally higher pitch than fiber composites) above the batter head. [There are different tuning schemes, but this is what I’ve adopted; it is used by a number of DCI corps with a snare sound I like.]

3. Tune the snares (guts): Set the drum down bottom-up and disengage the snares. Slip a pencil (pen, wooden dowel, etc.) under the guts to bring them off the head. I usually push it over to the strainer end to apply a bit of tension without tightening the guts. Next, pluck a strand near the center with a coin, guitar pick, finger, etc. If it doesn’t have enough tension to make a tone, either tighten the overall tension adjustment knob or tighten the individual strand until it is tight enough to produce a tone. Working outward from that strand, adjust each other strand to match the tone of the first. Remove the pencil when you’re finished.

4. Adjust the height of the snares (guts): Using the height adjustment knobs on the strainer and butt such that the snares are touching the head without a noticeable bend at the bearing edge. Tap the guts with your fingers to check that they are in contact with the head all the way across.

5. Adjust the snare (gut) tension: With the drum on a stand, tighten the snare tension adjustment knob while tapping the top head lightly (~mp) with a stick until the snares begin to sound choked. Then, again while tapping the top head lightly, loosen the tension adjustment knob until you have the desired snare sound. You may have to play with the tension to decide what sound you like.

I hope there’s something helpful in there somewhere.

I can't thank all of you enough for your thoughts and advice. I've tuned the guts, but I'm almost positive that they are the originals. I'll try spraying them and see what that brings about. As far as replacing the bottom heads goes, its unfortunately out of the question for this year as our band's budget had some issues. I'm going to try to tune to a slightly lower fundamental pitch and get some more hum out of the drum and see what that brings about. I recently watched a clip of the PR snareline from this past year playing one of their breaks and their drums surprisingly had a lot of ring to them.. almost what some would hate, but like Multi-Thom mentioned, it sounds great in the box. I'll also find out about scoops and if we have ever had them or not. I'm almost positive I've seen them somewhere along the line. Thanks again to all!

Even if you've got budget issues, it might be worth it to scrounge up a few bucks for Mylar bottoms. They're only about ten bucks each. Of all the suggestions, it should make the biggest difference (by far) in your snare response.

If you're on that tight of a budget and can't afford scoops here's a quick and very functional fix-

Find one real scoop, whether that means buying it or borrowing one from another team at a show for a few minutes. Then trace the scoop on a sheet of posterboard, cut it out and laminate it.

Poof- instant cheap scoop.

Btw- you'll need to measure for and get velcro as well.

I don't know if its this video you saw? but Rennick explains it well. Whether drumset or battery or concert drums. ringing helps the drum project. the trick is getting the ringing to be in tune with itself. (no overtones) thats where people make mistakes. I always used to think my snare sounded like garabage up close but when somebody played it and i was 50 yards away it sounded amazing.

this explains why out of all the Dynasty lines, I only liked Phantom's sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j--g2WP8Q74