Tuning drums

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TrueStory
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Joined: 02 Sep 2020

09 Oct 2020

What's a good tool for analyzing drum pitches? Any RE or VST I can use in the mixer channels for Kong, Umpf or Redrum?

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BRIGGS
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09 Oct 2020

TrueStory wrote:
09 Oct 2020
What's a good tool for analyzing drum pitches? Any RE or VST I can use in the mixer channels for Kong, Umpf or Redrum?
Drum hits are short, with not a lot of information. Typical analyzers, often are wrong. I just use my ears.
r11s

PhillipOrdonez
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09 Oct 2020

Melda manalyser is free.

Goriila Texas
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09 Oct 2020

Yep my experience also.

BRIGGS wrote:
09 Oct 2020
TrueStory wrote:
09 Oct 2020
What's a good tool for analyzing drum pitches? Any RE or VST I can use in the mixer channels for Kong, Umpf or Redrum?
Drum hits are short, with not a lot of information. Typical analyzers, often are wrong. I just use my ears.

Goriila Texas
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09 Oct 2020

Your best bet is to buy from professional sound designers that's what I do it's not worth the headache.
TrueStory wrote:
09 Oct 2020
What's a good tool for analyzing drum pitches? Any RE or VST I can use in the mixer channels for Kong, Umpf or Redrum?

stuk71
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10 Oct 2020

I drop the sample into Grain as it shows a pitch analysis.. I feel it gives a good start when adjusting pitch to a key

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Rising Night Wave
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10 Oct 2020

that would be a good idea.
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Goriila Texas
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10 Oct 2020

Yeah but most kicks have a fundamental frequency and overtones with it and Grain doesn't show them. This is important because you want your kicks root to be harmony the overtones ie root is C the overtones need to be E or G. Without that info your 808s will never sit right when following the melodies. The problem with most analyzers is that the analysis flashes too fast to see it properly or the sample is too short. Most if not all are made for long strum for tuning guitars.

stuk71 wrote:
10 Oct 2020
I drop the sample into Grain as it shows a pitch analysis.. I feel it gives a good start when adjusting pitch to a key

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Boombastix
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10 Oct 2020

This thing comes up sooo often (I blame YouTube.... :roll: ). But as always, the pitch of a drum changes rapidly and barely settles in until the sound has ended (not talking OG 808 kicks with extended sustain, but normal drums). So your brain will pick up a "tune" somewhere along the line, but which exact pitch is it? Use your ears for it. When the drum tune fits the song it fits the song.

The ONLY way to analyze a drum pitch would be something like a spectral analyser that highlights the fundamental, there you will see an exponential pitch decay.

Need to re-tune tune? - try Waves Torque, it actually retunes the fundamental but leaves the high end noise/rattle alone. Grab it if you need it and when it is $29 (and that is often :o ). It it works real-time, so you can tune while playing the song. The only one I know of that does that.
Some other plugins can separate the fundamental vs noise and then re-compose (off-line), but that would be a ton of trial-n-error.

The simplest way is just to use the sampler's fine tune knob, but then you also change the pitch of the noise component. works sometimes - sometimes not...

Maybe we should make a sticky in this forum - "WHY PLUGINS CANNOT DETECT A DRUM PITCH !" :lol:
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Boombastix
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11 Oct 2020

Found this little pict - it is from Cubase.
Now it doesn't detect pitch in the initial click as it is just changing pitch so fast. If it could the yellow line would start somewhere in the upper left corner.
But half ways through the kick sound it does detect the pitch (the yellow line), and as you can see it is going down - fast, and for short kicks it rarely settles in.

With a typical pitch curve like this you will have issues with sampler pitch detection, also the very last end of the kick is low in volume and pitch, so you will not hear it, AND it is changing so fast that the brain will have a hard time knowing exactly what is going on, so there you have it.
So if you think you hear a pitch where on the line would that be? :shock: Considering each cycle has a very different pitch...

And the pitch detection, did it pick up the 4th cycle, the 5th, or, which one, and is it the "right" one, and is it what you perceive as "pitch"?
-
Kick w pitch.gif
Kick w pitch.gif (31.63 KiB) Viewed 593 times
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BRIGGS
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11 Oct 2020

Boombastix wrote:
11 Oct 2020
Found this little pict - it is from Cubase.
Now it doesn't detect pitch in the initial click as it is just changing pitch so fast. If it could the yellow line would start somewhere in the upper left corner.
But half ways through the kick sound it does detect the pitch (the yellow line), and as you can see it is going down - fast, and for short kicks it rarely settles in.

With a typical pitch curve like this you will have issues with sampler pitch detection, also the very last end of the kick is low in volume and pitch, so you will not hear it, AND it is changing so fast that the brain will have a hard time knowing exactly what is going on, so there you have it.
So if you think you hear a pitch where on the line would that be? :shock: Considering each cycle has a very different pitch...

And the pitch detection, did it pick up the 4th cycle, the 5th, or, which one, and is it the "right" one, and is it what you perceive as "pitch"?
-

Kick w pitch.gif
I light of this....... I would say, drum tuning, is more art than science.
r11s

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aeox
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17 Oct 2020


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