(fine) tuning the kick

[DaveBlack]

I hear a lot of people talk about kick and bass competing for the low end but I rarely hear anybody give the advice about kick drum tuning. So I just wanted to throw it out there and let ya know this is my first course of action when it comes to cleaning up and 9 times out of 10 it's an automatic improvement. Sorry if this is "Duh!" knowledge but like I said, since I've been here, i've never heard anyone give that advice. Does anyone else do this?

 

[Metaltastic]

When you say its your first course of action when it comes to cleaning up, do you mean like Melodyne-ing the kick after it's been recorded? (cuz I wouldn't exactly consider tuning the kick drum itself before tracking to be a clean-up job, so I just want to be sure) If so, that's an interesting idea, never occurred to me!

 

[Fox Mulder]

Nice post dude.

Even though EQ-ing and other tweaking is inevitable for getting the modern sound, it's always a good idea to clean up as much as possible before you record. For example, as you already know - if you want a kick that hits you in the stomach you'd want it to peak at 60hz. If you want the kick to be 'bouncy' and 'rubbery' you would expect it to peak at 80hz-100hz. Right?

So why not try to achieve that as much as possible while tuning? More dampening and a low tuned kick drum would really help you peak at 60hz, and little dampening would help you hit a more of a muddy 80hz-100hz kick which can be really cool for some genres.

Tune it, record it and check. The tuner plugin from GVST can really come in handy here.

Also, this helps a lot if you're using a tuner: http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html

So as per your exact question: If your bass is peaking at 80-100hz, tune your kick to peak at 60hz and vice versa. A good starting point for that is to tune the beater head kinda tight, and the resonant head somewhat loose. Add plenty of dampening, and make sure that a little of the dampening material is probed against the beater head.


Happy tuning!

When you say its your first course of action when it comes to cleaning up, do you mean like Melodyne-ing the kick after it's been recorded? (cuz I wouldn't exactly consider tuning the kick drum itself before tracking to be a clean-up job, so I just want to be sure) If so, that's an interesting idea, never occurred to me!

+1

 

[DaveBlack]

Well, the original post was more or less geared toward post processing like replacement with slate samples. By all means though, get the right tuning and sound with a natural kick before hand and you shouldn't have to do a lot of clean up!! For me, I would choose the right sample for the job then adjust the tuning knob until it fits with the bass. As long as I used subtle boosts or cuts in the EQ, I find that I can still add/drop a little something extra without losing what I liked about the original sample.

 

[ahjteam]

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

awesome video

 

[beyond dead]

the two drum keys t a time trick is cool. cool vid overall. I laughed a bit t the noises he makes as he tunes the drum. 'oooooo" "oh yeah" "mmmhmmmm" "oh yeah"