What does it mean to tune kicks to the key of the track?

[JTreeZY]

First of all i dont get how a track can have a key, I know nothing about music. Isn't each note of a synth or sample or w/e a different key? So which key would you tune the drum to? Also I use Reason 5 so if anyone wants to answer in the context of reason it would be extra helpful but any answer will do. Is there anyway to find out the key of a synth or sample if you dont know music?

[kaili]

no. each note is not a different key. basically in very simple terms a key is just a set of notes/chords that sound good/work well together, all relating to a single note or 'root note'
for example, all the white keys on a standard piano sound good played together/in sequence, and thats a C major scale (in the key of c major)
so if you wanna get your kick in the key of c major you would have to tune it to a note that fits in the scale aka one of the white keys on a piano
but honestly, tuning your kicks is something you really shouldnt be worryin about if youre new to making music, and its not even important in general, just sum ppl get anal about that kinda thing, personally, i never bother
to find out the key of a sample you need to find the root note of the melody, if its just one note though it could be in a lot of keys lol
anyways as i said, wouldnt worry too much about theory just yet, but maybe the basics might be useful so just look for some tutorials theres tonnes of crap online

[Add9]

First of all, I would highly recommend studying music theory to answer these questions. People here may be able to provide helpful links, but there's not enough space in a forum post to explain all the theory behind chords, scales, inversions, voice leading, counterpoint, secondary dominants and leading tones, and all the other things that go into understanding how melody and harmony in music works.

I would also recommend ear training, as this will gradually increase your ability to identify chords and keys without having to think about all the individual notes themselves. Ear training will allow you to develop an ability called "relative pitch," which is a somewhat less useful version of perfect pitch in which the listener cannot identify pitch of an isolated note but can tell you how different notes relate to each other (as in, this note and this other note are a 5th apart). Some people have naturally good relative pitch while others must work to develop it, but regardless, it is an essential skill if you wish to be able to easily determine the key of a song or sample without having to pick it apart note by note.

To answer your question, though, you want to tune the kick drum to the root note of the root chord of the track. So if the track is in Ab minor, you would want a kick drum whose lowest frequency would hit at 51.91 Hz (the frequency of Ab1). In some cases, if you have a desired frequency range where you want the kick fundamental to be, you can also consider tuning it to a note that is a 5th away from the root note of the track. For instance, maybe you have decided that you want your kick to hit from 40-60 Hz (which is often considered the sweet spot for maximum kick drum impact on a club sound system). But say your track is in C# minor, and C#1 is below this range while C#2 is too high. In this case you might want to tune the kick to G#1, which would be a closely related note (according to the circle of 5ths) and would allow you to achieve a fundamental frequency that is within the desired range.

Unfortunately for you, Reason 5 is not the best DAW for tuning drums because it lacks a true frequency analyzer, which is necessary for identifying the exact fundamental frequency of the given sample. I would recommend using a free program like Audacity, tuning your drums there, and only later loading them into Redrum or Kong and using them in your project.

So that's all the advice I can really give you. You say you know nothing about music, so if I were you I would start learning some things about music well before I worried about tuning kicks to the key of a track. Personally I just use samples that I think sound good, I've never bothered to tune anything but the snare to be honest, and even then I go by what sounds good rather than thinking about what note it is.

[hellagargoyle]

if ur just looking for the kick answer and you are not clueless about chords n keys n shit.. all it means is basically just harmonizing your kick with the chords going on or the melody. treat your kick like a piano note or something. and use your ears kicks dont always sound "Better" when you tune them u have to fuck with it

[zosomagik]

Pick up a beginner book on theory, learn about the major scale, relative minor scale, intervals etc.

like kaili said, don't worry about tuning your kicks right now, if at all. The only drums I tune beside when layering them are long 808's

[hirszu]

if ur just looking for the kick answer and you are not clueless about chords n keys n shit.. all it means is basically just harmonizing your kick with the chords going on or the melody. treat your kick like a piano note or something.

And to determine whether a kick is in key (or just sounds good in your tune) it's best to tune it way up. This is what I do anyway. Take a kick sample and tune it +12 semitones (1 octave), +24 (2 octaves), sometimes even +36 (3 octaves), depends on the sample. Then you will be able to hear the musical content of the kick better. It will sound more like a piano note, considering what hellagargoyle said. Try different settings in this higher pitch, and when you find the sweet spot just tune it back to the lower pitch. E.g. when you hear that the perfect setting is at, let's say, +17, then go an octave down by subtracting 12 semitones. You will reach +5, so the sample will be 5 semitones higher than the original sound, but it still should be low enough to sound punchy. It all depends on the sample like I said. Just experiment and use your ears if you know nothing about music theory.
I hope I expressed myself clearly

[hellagargoyle]

if ur just looking for the kick answer and you are not clueless about chords n keys n shit.. all it means is basically just harmonizing your kick with the chords going on or the melody. treat your kick like a piano note or something.

And to determine whether a kick is in key (or just sounds good in your tune) it's best to tune it way up. This is what I do anyway. Take a kick sample and tune it +12 semitones (1 octave), +24 (2 octaves), sometimes even +36 (3 octaves), depends on the sample. Then you will be able to hear the musical content of the kick better. It will sound more like a piano note, considering what hellagargoyle said. Try different settings in this higher pitch, and when you find the sweet spot just tune it back to the lower pitch. E.g. when you hear that the perfect setting is at, let's say, +17, then go an octave down by subtracting 12 semitones. You will reach +5, so the sample will be 5 semitones higher than the original sound, but it still should be low enough to sound punchy. It all depends on the sample like I said. Just experiment and use your ears if you know nothing about music theory.
I hope I expressed myself clearly

good shit man i like that a lot better than using a eq to boost the lows up till i can hear tones.

[SonicMurder]

I think it's more important that the kick/snare sounds good, rather than be in tune. Tuning your kick to the same key as your song may not always be good, as it will likely be competing with all the other elements playing the same note quite often. Even having your kick's fundamental tuned up above the subass, i think it can still have clashing further frequencies up the spectrum. I've tuned my kick to the key of a song before and everything went to rubish, tuned it back down, and it punched though again.

[mromgwtf]

It basically means tuning kicks to the key of the track.

you lazy fuck

[fiveone]

it depends on the track you're making tbh, i would just experiment with what sounds better. i actually went through a load of my old projects i started a few years ago and fucked about with the tuning of the drums. a lot of the time (for me anyway), the instruments worked much more nicely in the track if i did change the note

[Trichome]

Ffs why is music production so pedantic nowadays

Who cares if your kick is in key, I'm willing to bet that #1. 99% of the time it won't sound any better tuned, and #2. The time spent pointlessly tuning your kick would be better spent doing something else

Do it if you want tho, I'm just ranting really

[Add9]

Ffs why is music production so pedantic nowadays

Who cares if your kick is in key, I'm willing to bet that #1. 99% of the time it won't sound any better tuned, and #2. The time spent pointlessly tuning your kick would be better spent doing something else

Do it if you want tho, I'm just ranting really

I think it depends what kind of music you're making honestly. For instance I know that in trance the kick and bassline relationship is very important so it's more important in that genre that the fundamental of the kick fits in with the bass. But in other kinds of music like dubstep I don't think it's that important, especially since dubstep seems to favor the sharp transient-heavy kicks over the really subby ones.