Kick, snare, hi hats frequencies in key.

Hy. If i want to know on what note the drums are hit better how to do it ?
I did like this: record an ideea, then program drums over it. And on every drum piece i use a frequency analyser to see exactly the peaks on frequency. Then if i want to boost some frequencies which coresponds with the key of the song let's say A, where do i boost ? (i have a frequency chart to know all the frequencies). Let's say the kick: Use the frequency analyzer on it and i see some peaks. First how do i know if it's on A note. And second where do i boost (just on 110 or on more frequencies that coresponds to A note).
Thanks !

An A note is any multiple of 27.5 Hz (the lowest practical A): 55, 110, 220, 440, 880, 1760, 3520 (the highest).

Here's the frequencies of the octave above middle C. To get any octave of one of these notes, multiple or divide by 2.

C = 261.63 (middle C)
C#/Db = 277.18
D = 293.66
D#/Eb = 311.13
E = 329.63
F = 349.23
F#/Gb = 369.99
G = 392.00
G#/Ab = 415.30
A = 440.00
A#/Bb = 466.16
B = 493.88
C = 523.25

unu Wrote:
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> Hy. If i want to know on what note the drums are
> hit better how to do it ?
> I did like this: record an ideea, then program
> drums over it. And on every drum piece i use a
> frequency analyser to see exactly the peaks on
> frequency. Then if i want to boost some
> frequencies which coresponds with the key of the
> song let's say A, where do i boost ? (i have a
> frequency chart to know all the frequencies).
> Let's say the kick: Use the frequency analyzer on
> it and i see some peaks. First how do i know if
> it's on A note. And second where do i boost (just
> on 110 or on more frequencies that coresponds to A
> note).
> Thanks !

Why do you want to do this?

Yeah, it sounds a bit funky, but it's your music. I think that for most drums, you'd have to take it down a couple octaves to get a recognizable pitch. As far as boosting the frequencies, I would boost the frequency (only on the drum track, unless you want it to show up across the tune) at the fundament, an octave above it, a just fifth above that (not an equal tempered one), a just fourth above that, and so on up the overtone series.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2010 11:49PM by LuxembourgianSixth.

My question is how do i recognize if a kick is on what note ?

unu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My question is how do i recognize if a kick is on
> what note ?


Well, it isn't. If you have a frequency analyser, you can maybe identify specific peaks, and check if they align with note frequencies (use the figures I posted to calculate note frequencies in all octaves - down to around 20Hz for bass notes).
Then maybe decide to boost those and cut others, to "tune" the sound.
(Hopefully your frequency analyser is accurate enough to identify semitone differences at least.)

If your track is already in a specific key, you know which frequencies to look for.

Your problem is - do you tune the kick to the keynote (tonic)? or to each chord root? Or maybe to the dominant of the key (5th scale degree)?

Eg, if your song is in A, and you want the kick on the keynote, boost all frequencies which are multiples of 27.5 (55, 110, etc) - and/or cut others accordingly.
The problem you then have (although it may not be a problem, depending on the effect you're after) is that every chord will then acquire an A root. For a tune which is mainly a groove, eg a dance track, this might work well. For a song with a complicated chord sequence, it may be off-putting. Tuning the kick to each chord root would solve that problem, but would be a lot more work.
Only trial and error will tell. (This is not something I've tried before.)

If you have a bass instrument already, I would say tuning the kick is not going to achieve very much. In a sense, the hit of the kick drum combines with the bass to make a pitched bass hit (in normal rock/pop music). It's like the bass instrument provides the pitch, and the drum - if synchronised with the bass - just gives you the attack - so why struggle to tune the kick too? (Of course, the kick may not always coincide with the bass, so you would have two kinds of pitched bass sounds - and you could even, in theory, harmonise them...!)