Melodic 808s

O

Orion11

New member
Hey guys...this may be a no-brainer to some of you but...

I've noticed a lot of R&B and some Hip Hop songs that seem to be using the 808 kick as the "KICK" AND the "BASSLINE" in the song. Now, I understand when making music your Kick and Bassline should "agree" as far as their tuning, eq, mix, etc., but I was wondering

a) are they tuning a full octave of 808 kicks to make the bassline

b) how can I tune the 808 perfectly to match the normal tuning of a piano. ( I know how to tune individual keys, I'm just asking how to tune an 808 specifically to match the normal "standard tuning")

Is it all by ear, or are there specific amounts (cents) that you tune up or down from note to note? I hope this makes sense...

also, are there any kits/libraries/vsti's out there that have already done this, that I could just play or load into my samper?
 
Get an 808 kick sample, figure out its nominal pitch, and spread it out over several keys in a sampler.
 
how can I figure out the normal pitch of the 808 other than just getting it close with my ear?

Also what about looping the 808 in the sampler and then putting a ASDR filter on it?
 
Use an FFT spectrum analyser to determine the frequency it lies in and then use simple maths to get the octaves, semis etc..

It is defeatist to try to loop an 808 sample as a tone as all that would happen would be that you would end up looping the body (if you're lucky and you would have to work off low cycle counts as the sustain drops off very fast) and that would change it's tonal characteristics.
 
are artists doing this or is there some other 808 type bass that acts as the kick and bassline that they are using?

Could you explain what to do once I used the freq. analizer? I'm not sure what you mean by "simple maths" etc? Thanks!
 
The simple way to figure out the pitch of the 808 Kick you are using is to play it at a pretty high octave. If you can tell the pitch of it, just note the keys x number of octaves lower.
 
The best approach is to use an 808 and layer a sub under it.
You then either EQ to taste so they blend and sound as one source or you use the attack of the 808 and the body of the sub and layer the two for one sound.

I sometimes use a good analogue synth and programme the 808 type of bass sound so it sounds like an 808 but is an actual tone.
By simple maths I mean: read this.

However, as with any very short and percussive sound, it is very hard to locate the exact frequency and then to divide or multiply for the octaves, so using the ear and even an analyser to get the ball park frequency helps.
 
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