Know One
Living A Lie
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2014
- Location
- That Big Country Everyone Hates
Hopefully I don't get slammed to hard for getting into this subject as I know the question of tuning kicks & snares to the root key of your song has come up a lot; but I'm still confused I guess you could say.
Now, I know I can pitch my kicks and snares up or down and check the frequencies on a spectrum analyzer until they hit in the root key of my song. But what I'm not getting is the fact a ton of DnB songs are written in F, F#, and G as the bass for your bassline\sub hit really well in those areas and sound grate in the club.
We hear time and time again that a grate place for your kick to sit in DnB for a nice smack and to sit above your bass nice is the 110-120hz range roughly. We also hear a nice place for your snare to sit and smash threw the mix is the 250ish hz range.
The thing is, none of these ranges land in the common keys I mentioned above, like F for instance. F2 is 87hz, then the very next F up the scale hits at 174hz. One is so low it interferes with your bass, the other is to high for a good punchy kick (the 110-120hz range). The snare is the same way, F3 being 174hz, and the very next F is 347hz (not the 250 area we all hear about).
Now, I've heard some say that it doesn't need to be necessarily in the root key, but within the scale of the track your writing; so if I was writing a song in F Minor, one of the keys of F Minor is B flat. B flat is the only key (of F Minor) that lands in the "supposed" sweet spot for the kick, coming in at 116hz. As for the snare, the note C would be the closest to getting near that 250hz sweet spot; coming in at 261hz. B flat as I suggested for the kick also come close'ish as well (not as close as C though) coming in at 233hz.
Now, would these kicks and snares really fit that much better in the tune being keyed to notes within the scale of F Minor if my track was in F Major? What is my track was in F Minor, but only rarely ever "played" any B flat or C notes?
I used to make tunes while never giving a shit about music theory at all whatsoever, but this day and edge I don't think you can really get away with that attitude. So I've really been trying to insure I follow keys, notes, scales, and theory as much as a dance producer with zero musical background can. But I'm going nuts at the same time. Things I used to just pump out, I'm now wasting tons of time fighting in my head over.
Am I going nuts on these drums and their tuning? Do they really need to be in tune\key of my track? How can I get the in proper tune given my confusion of findings listed about. I just feel like I might be going about this the wrong way completely.
Now, I know I can pitch my kicks and snares up or down and check the frequencies on a spectrum analyzer until they hit in the root key of my song. But what I'm not getting is the fact a ton of DnB songs are written in F, F#, and G as the bass for your bassline\sub hit really well in those areas and sound grate in the club.
We hear time and time again that a grate place for your kick to sit in DnB for a nice smack and to sit above your bass nice is the 110-120hz range roughly. We also hear a nice place for your snare to sit and smash threw the mix is the 250ish hz range.
The thing is, none of these ranges land in the common keys I mentioned above, like F for instance. F2 is 87hz, then the very next F up the scale hits at 174hz. One is so low it interferes with your bass, the other is to high for a good punchy kick (the 110-120hz range). The snare is the same way, F3 being 174hz, and the very next F is 347hz (not the 250 area we all hear about).
Now, I've heard some say that it doesn't need to be necessarily in the root key, but within the scale of the track your writing; so if I was writing a song in F Minor, one of the keys of F Minor is B flat. B flat is the only key (of F Minor) that lands in the "supposed" sweet spot for the kick, coming in at 116hz. As for the snare, the note C would be the closest to getting near that 250hz sweet spot; coming in at 261hz. B flat as I suggested for the kick also come close'ish as well (not as close as C though) coming in at 233hz.
Now, would these kicks and snares really fit that much better in the tune being keyed to notes within the scale of F Minor if my track was in F Major? What is my track was in F Minor, but only rarely ever "played" any B flat or C notes?
I used to make tunes while never giving a shit about music theory at all whatsoever, but this day and edge I don't think you can really get away with that attitude. So I've really been trying to insure I follow keys, notes, scales, and theory as much as a dance producer with zero musical background can. But I'm going nuts at the same time. Things I used to just pump out, I'm now wasting tons of time fighting in my head over.
Am I going nuts on these drums and their tuning? Do they really need to be in tune\key of my track? How can I get the in proper tune given my confusion of findings listed about. I just feel like I might be going about this the wrong way completely.