Drum Tuning

[DangerousDave]

I feel that this is a pretty important topic that I don't see mentioned on here much. Apart from the obvious kick tuning I really would like to know how you all tune your drum kits via Live. I mean, the individual kits in Live are generally pretty adjustable as far as overall tuneage goes, but what if I am taking bits of a kit from here and there (kick from one, snare from another, etc.) how would you go about, say, adjusting a snare's pitch if there is no option for it in the kit?

On another note, is there defined theory to tuning kits? (Pardon my ignorance) but say if your kick is more or less in your root key, should a snare also be in that key, or should it be say a fifth above? a seventh? I mean I know some aspects of a drum kit are more just rythmic and contain very little tun to them, but they can still be pitched and whatnot. Likewise, what about crashes/rides/cymbals? Mine often feel out of place in a mix, they just dont groove along with the rest of the "drum harmony" if you know what I mean, and I am wondering if they too should fall into a particular pitch range, or if they should be left alone or what?

I just notice that some songs have drumlines that really can stand on their own as far as both rythym and harmony goes, they just really groove along and make natural sounding changes between kick, snare, cymbal, etc. and I was wondering what kind of thought goes into drum pitch in this regard.


I hope some of this makes, if not tell me and I will try and clarify or provide examples. If anyone can shed some light on this subject it would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[Lazos]

If you find that drum parts are not meshing properly with the other elements of the mix that include or are made up of more melodic/harmonic or otherwise pitch-oriented elements, then perhaps solo each of the hits or elements in your "drum kit" along side the other elements and adjust the pitch to taste agains the other elements of the song.

I don't know what you are using for drum sounds, but with drum racks, Simpler or Sampler can be pitched up or down easily via the "transpose" and "detune" parameter. Also Sampler has "Root Key" and "Scale" parameters that allow a different type of adjustment of the pitch. Operator/Analog/Collision drum sounds are also easily tuned.

I don't think there is a universal theory about tuning drum sounds this way or that. My theory is just tweak 'til it sounds good!

[Tone Deft]

pabloagustus dropped some knowledge here
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?p=679902#p679902

I've always wondered about this, what do you tune a drum to? I think all I've heard is that you tune a drum to itself so it resonates correctly.

As mentioned above each drum has a 'sweet spot' created by the particular dimensions and material of the drum (& this is the note that DW prints on the inside of their shells). A well made drum with a good bearing edge (where head contacts the shell) should have a tunable range with several 'slightly less sweet' spots above and below the sweet spot where the drum will also sound good and resonate well.

For tuning an individual head the key is to first equalize the tension between all lugs at a loose tension. One slightly higher/lower lug will muddy up the tuning. Once they are equal you can bring them up equally by quarter/half turns until you get it where you want. The press firmly on the center of the head to pull up any slack and equalize the lugs again. This is where the drum dial may help a beginner train their ear. The key is to play with your drums and spend hours tuning, and don't be afraid to adjust tuning as moisture levels change, different rooms, etc.

Having the bottom head tuned the same is probably the best place to start, if its higher than the top the pitch will pull up as it decays (my preference for jazz), lower and the pitch goes down (my preference for reggae & funk).

As far as intervals between toms, some people prefer to use a chord, or tune in fourths/fifths. I prefer tritones or diminished chords so that I'm not implying a distinct tonality that might clash with songs in different keys.

As a final note, if you are trying to tune older/dented drum heads, do yourself a favor and buy new heads; tune new heads very tightly over night at an even tension to seat the head onto the edge, (or you can use a hair drier to do it quickly). then bring them down the next day and tune 'em. If you don't properly seat your new heads they will never contact the bearing edge with even pressure and it may be impossible to get any sort of decent tone out of your drum.

There are several amazingly comprehensive tuning guides online.

[DangerousDave]

Cool, thanks for the responses gentlemen