tuning kickdrum (sample)

[anthonie]

Hi,

Tuning the kickdrum to the root note of the track is important.
But how can I do that in DP7.23?
I have tried the tuner form DP, but it doesn;t give any values.
I am using mainly samples for my kickdrum (TR 909).
So ..questions are:
1. how do i measure the key of the kickdrum i am using?
2. how can adjust the kickdrum to a specific note?

thank you all

[Tim]

What kind of music are you doing?

[anthonie]

dance(house) music

[Dwetmaster]

Try either Model 12 or nanosampler. Both of these MOTU plugs have a pitch setting.

[anthonie]

fair enough...but how do I know what key the drumsample is in?

[David Polich]

fair enough...but how do I know what key the drumsample is in?

There's no need to worry about what key the kick drum is in. Just change the pitch of it until it sounds right to you and you like how it sounds.

[Dwetmaster]

Thanks Dave, I couldn't have said it better...

[anthonie]

thank you guys,,,,the message is: let your ears do the work...i should have known

[Prime Mover]

Hi,

Tuning the kickdrum to the root note of the track is important.
But how can I do that in DP7.23?
I have tried the tuner form DP, but it doesn;t give any values.
I am using mainly samples for my kickdrum (TR 909).
So ..questions are:
1. how do i measure the key of the kickdrum i am using?
2. how can adjust the kickdrum to a specific note?

thank you all

Well, maybe that's true for boomy house mixes, but I've not heard a strong emphasis on tuning kick drums specifically for a song in many other styles. Often an album uses the same kick drum tuning for many or all songs, regardless of their key. There's a case for unity of drum sound across an album as well, so it all depends upon what you're going for. I'm usually more concerned about what note a kick drum sounds BEST on, not neccessarilly what the root key of the track is. The bassline should take care of the actual pitch.

One thing you might do is use the kick drum to trigger a synth subbass.

[anthonie]

for house music it will be true that if you using a kick pitched in C and a bassline in F#,,,,you might get harmonic issues....

[DoctorOrbis]

Hi Anthonie,

Have you tried bringing up the decay tail with a compressor? With some tweaking and possibly some post-compressor lowpass EQ, you might get the pitch to register on the Tuner plug-in.

You could also use a peaking equalizer and a level meter with peak indication (Trim) to find the frequency with maximum energy.

Alternately, set a sharp peaking filter to the desired frequency then adjust the pitch of the drum sample to maximize the output as indicated by the meter.

Let me know if any of these work, and good luck!

-O-

[bolla]

It's surprising how many times you hear "house" or whatever kick drums that do not work with the tonality of the song.

Some ways to find the pitch that might work. Try tuning it up an octave and see if the tuner finds it easier to find the pitch. Then drop it back down.
Or loop a bunch of 16th notes and see what the tuner makes of them. Otherwise as suggested UYE.

If I need a sub bass "note" to the kick I will usually use an extremely low sine wave sample that is triggered with the kick sample. If the kick sample already has a big bottom end (that interferes) I roll most of that off. This way you can keep the hit or punch of the kick but still have the low throb that is essential in a lot of house.
You set this sine wave to either follow the bass or stay at one pitch that suits the track.

Cheers, Bolla

[mhschmieder]

Yeah, it's all context-specific as to what works best, but I find it is most important to avoid the kick drum being pitched in a way that the bass line gets obscured or muddied up.

I frequently have to ask a drummer to re-tune their kick so that the bass sounds tighter. Good drummers have an ear for this in advance though and tend to have already adjusted appropriately.

Of course, you're talking about samples in the O.P. If I'm doing electro stuff, I'll use Battery or Waldorf Attack, and both of those let you tune every kit piece (as does BFD2 for acoustic drums). I use my ears but it's also nice to have the graph as confirmation that the resonant frequencies that compete with other stuff have been successfully avoided.