Pitching 808's

djba$$ay2k5 said:
808's have to be pitched or "unpitched" with the bass of the song or else they will sound like sh*t when they over lapp each other
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True, but you don't have to worry about that if the 808 is the bass line, like I'm talking about.

The drummer in my last band tuned his toms to the first five notes of the major scale, but I don't remember what key. He tuned the kick and snare so that they had the right presence for the room we were playing in, and when he started using two snares I'm pretty sure one was a flat 9th to the other snare.
 
Villainaire said:
It seems to me 808's are nothing more than sine waves. If that's the case they HAVE TO BE IN SOME SORT OF KEY!
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Thing is, the way kick drums like the 808 or other analog electronic kicks are made, means it can sometimes be difficult to get an absolute pitch over the duration of the sound because of something called pitch modulation.

As an example, you can make an analog kick like the 808 or 909 by generating a 40hz sine wave in an audio editor and putting a fast pitch envelope over it using a sampler. Now it's because of the pitch envelope that you can make a kick what it is and it's what gives the punch. But try analysing it's pitch and it will be different along its duration as the pitch is not constant. I'd just tweak this until I think it sounds right.

With longer 808 kicks, there is obviously a very noticeable pitch and such things require tuning but it doesn't necessarily apply all the time, would depend on the sound in question.
 
Delphine said:
Thing is, the way kick drums like the 808 or other analog electronic kicks are made, means it can sometimes be difficult to get an absolute pitch over the duration of the sound because of something called pitch modulation.

As an example, you can make an analog kick like the 808 or 909 by generating a 40hz sine wave in an audio editor and putting a fast pitch envelope over it using a sampler. Now it's because of the pitch envelope that you can make a kick what it is and it's what gives the punch. But try analysing it's pitch and it will be different along its duration as the pitch is not constant. I'd just tweak this until I think it sounds right.

With longer 808 kicks, there is obviously a very noticeable pitch and such things require tuning but it doesn't necessarily apply all the time, would depend on the sound in question.
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If you're sayin' analog's pitch is varied then I agree with you, if not, I'll be taking the quote out of my post.
 
tuning 808 kicks is so ****ing easy i cant believe u havent figured it out yet. im guessing ur using a sampled 808 and not the actual drum machine, so just adjust the tuner in ur sampler til the kick is the pitch of the root of the song...or tune all ur 808 kicks to the bassline u want if ur gonna do it that way. if u cant figure out how to do that i dont know if ur ears work.
 
Kick (if it has a lotta low end) and bass drums does have to be in the key of the beat (it's mandatory), but not the snares, hats, or claps. Those are optional.
 
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This is probably not the most effective method but what I do with 808 'booms' is I sample them into my drum machine and raise the pitch like 3-4 octaves. This makes it much easier to tell what key you are playing them in. After I find the key I simply lower the pitch and play accordingly. Not rocket science.

I was not aware that "hiphop" producers tuned any drums besides 808's. I have never tuned any acoustic drum ever. I just play with the pitch until it sits well with the track. This method seems to work fine.
 
I have to ask what type of monitoring chain do you guys use. There's not much mathematics to making drums, just make them sound good. You need good speakers/monitors to hear all the lows, but it's not even an answerable question, each mix needs what it needs to sound good.

Just play a song with the sound you want to acheive behind your own music, play with your mix until it matches up.

And if you don't have monitors that give you proper bass response, getting some will make a huge difference.
 
Mr. Freeze said:
I was not aware that "hiphop" producers tuned any drums besides 808's. I have never tuned any acoustic drum ever.
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i try to tune every percussion sound in my beats, starting with the kik/808 and the snare, all the way up to the hi-hats and ride cymbals. At first it may be difficult to determine the exact pitch of a percussion sound, but once you've scaled it chromatically it is clear which pads or keys fit best into the track
 
It seems to me 808's are nothing more than sine waves. If that's the case they HAVE TO BE IN SOME SORT OF KEY!
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808's are not the same as sine waves, I can't exactly explain it, but 808's are different than sines
 
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I use logic and the ESX Sampler. I know how to Pitch using the Piano Roll and Tuning knob. For me tho, this changes the Sample length which negatively effects the sound. Any suggestions. People have suggested melodyn... There must be a simpler way...
 
I do tune my drums, but I have a keyboard in which I can take a 808 drum and throw it through all 76 keys.. and when I press the key, it plays in that note of the key I'm pressing in the 808 or drum sound.. I can do the same with any drum.. If you hear my tracks you can see that my drums are all in key with the tracks.. (Atleast 90% of em.. I'm lazy sometimes)..Drums don't necessarally have notes, but time/rhythm

Don't know how you will do this as a VST or with software..

DRUM MUSIC/NOTATION:
On a staff there are 5 lines.. The top line is marked with a x for hi-hats.. (notice x is not a note)

snares are written on the 3rd line (note B)

The 4 spaces (these notes are F.A.C.E.) are for the Toms hi, med, low..etc..

The bottom line is the bass drum..(note E)

So on a music staff the first space is the F note.. You cannot play a F note, that space signal low tom drum.. the type of note illustrated tells you step half step, whole step..etc..

 
Pretty easy to do. Eq it at the right frequencies. Boost a certain freq up that corresponds to the right note i.e C3 is on 130.81hz. Boost the 808 at that and ull here it. imo when done right, ur speakers go BOOM and hit hard
 
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