Can anyone help?
So I’m going to put a spectrum on my kick and root bass key so I can tune kicks… I’m using impluse (ableton) and a layered kick, so I will need to tune each layer before I bounce the final kick to audio I think. (I’m not sure how this is going to work with the hi and mid areas of the kick??)
There is a transpose thing in ableton but I really what to fine tune as much as poss.
I know in reason, in the redrum there is a pitch control, is there anything like this in ableton or any other alternatives to using transpose?
Cheers! 
All the parts of the kick, need to be in the same key, yeah mate.
Find the key you want and transpose them all accordingly, then layer together. It’s the only way to do it mate. Remember, transposing is in semitone values. So you got your initial thump in A for instance, the other part is in F, you’ll have to increase the other part by 4 semitones.
How can you see what original key your kick is in?
[quote]jjdejong0 (19/09/2010)[hr]How can you see what original key your kick is in?[/quote]
Use the spectrum plugin in Ableton! 
Play the kick and you will see the frequency.
It has a little letter when you roll over it signifying the key
That’awesome I love ableton. Do you have to do this with all your percussion, hats, snares, claps etc or just the kicks?
you can def do it with your hats and stuff. i dunno if its essential. i kinda like variation from the other percussion pieces. but thats me. im sure there could be an argument 4 it.
i think the kick is definitely the most important part.
ever since i learned about spectrum I always tune the kick 2 the bass line or vice-versa.
doing this ensures they live in the same space and blend well together.
thing with most kicks is they are generated by sweeping the pitch down so wont always have a fixed note necessarily.
I think its more important to have a kick that sounds nice and has a nice thud than keeping it in tune with the key of your track.
[quote]phil johnston (20/09/2010)[hr]thing with most kicks is they are generated by sweeping the pitch down so wont always have a fixed note necessarily.
I think its more important to have a kick that sounds nice and has a nice thud than keeping it in tune with the key of your track.[/quote]
i hear ya phil. but what about doing both?
[quote]phil johnston (20/09/2010)[hr]thing with most kicks is they are generated by sweeping the pitch down so wont always have a fixed note necessarily.
I think its more important to have a kick that sounds nice and has a nice thud than keeping it in tune with the key of your track.[/quote]
Maybe thats why I’m having some issues… when I put the spectrum on its hard to see what the fundemental is for all parts of my kick because its covering the whole fq range and what looks to be the fundemental, when change the the correct key, sound likes total ****!
So now I thinking about building a new kick instead of using this one I made and use in another tune in a different key… back to square one 
I think you should stop using your eyes and just use your ears.
Use 1 Ear & 1 Eye 
[quote]gofunk (20/09/2010)[hr][quote]phil johnston (20/09/2010)[hr]thing with most kicks is they are generated by sweeping the pitch down so wont always have a fixed note necessarily.
I think its more important to have a kick that sounds nice and has a nice thud than keeping it in tune with the key of your track.[/quote]
Maybe thats why I’m having some issues… when I put the spectrum on its hard to see what the fundemental is for all parts of my kick because its covering the whole fq range and what looks to be the fundemental, when change the the correct key, sound likes total ****!
So now I thinking about building a new kick instead of using this one I made and use in another tune in a different key… back to square one :([/quote]
what about using the tip-top frequency? where the point is highest on the spectrum…
it gets even more complicated when you play 2 or 3 kicks at once.
another thing that I just thought of is surely the all elements of the kick dont need to be on the same note. As long as they are all in the same scale/key then that should be fine I guess as that way your kinda playing a chord with the kick.
I think you guys are over thinking this a bit to much.
Don’t worry about what key your kicks are in, just whether or not they sound good.
i didnt think it was that big of a deal either at first... but i like it better when i take the time to do it. its not like its incredibly hard 2 do. to your other points tho, obviously none of this matters if you dont have a sweet kick... but it doesnt hurt if you do it right.
I mean think about it... does a drummer Tune his kick drum 2 the guitar player every time the band plays a new song? helll no. they just play. that's what its usually all about.
[quote]onetwoseven (20/09/2010)[hr]I think you guys are over thinking this a bit to much.
Don’t worry about what key your kicks are in, just whether or not they sound good.[/quote]
I’m afraid it does matter man.
If your kicks arn’t in the same key as your bass line, there will be a noticeable dissonance when it’s played on big speakers.
To gofunk’s earlier comment about being in scale. Technically it does make sense coz we talk abt being in harmony and being in scale. Situation with an offbeat bass, sidechained not interfering with kickdrum, will it make a difference, dont think so, because there is no frequency clash. IDK any thoughts ! going by the ear makes sense… Like tuning in a way distorts the kick !
If you are not making your kick from scratch - dont bother with tuning the KICK.
If you are using a Sample - it’ll probably sound bad if you start pitching something up or down.
Try and choose the best kick from your collection - in the Key that you want from the get go. Tune your bassline etc… to the Kick, rather than the other way around. Thats what I do. I always got confused trying to actually tune the KICK itself. Just cos it never sounded ****ing good.
Everyones got Millions of Kicks. Go through them & Pick out a selection of cool ones. Stick them in a folder & rename them to include a A or E or G or whatever. It’ll save you tons of time autoplaying your entire collection with your track.
Thats what I do now anyway. I really couldnt give 2 fcks anymore about making or tuning kicks as I dont have to.
Voxengo Span rocks.
download the demo for melodyne. you can drag wav files into it and it tells you what key any sound is in.
[quote]lucaskhass (26/09/2010)[hr]download the demo for melodyne. you can drag wav files into it and it tells you what key any sound is in.[/quote]
this only works with vocals I think, tried it with a wav and it didnt show anything…