EQ...composition...discussion...thoughts?

[Len911]

Brilliant topic, drum tuning. Wonder why we don't discuss this more.
How should they be tuned, and what about modes?

Cass, any insights?

I agree, why isn't there more discussion?! However, for myself, I sometimes wonder if it's because I haven't searched in the right place.

Bass drum with the root of the chord??

[Len911]

Basically, you want to avoid an arrangement situation that has to be 'fixed' with EQ, because it doesn't, really. This is why I mix mono first, before panning anything.

Good point about the mono! Taking note.

[cassmcentee]

Brilliant topic, drum tuning. Wonder why we don't discuss this more.
How should they be tuned, and what about modes? Cass, any insights?

I agree, why isn't there more discussion?! However, for myself, I sometimes wonder if it's because I haven't searched in the right place.
Bass drum with the root of the chord??

Yes, Kick to Root and then add a tight EQ accentuation (somewhere in the 50Hz through 100Hz range) the Root Note's low HZ on the kick
Use an EQ chart like this: http://i1.wp.com/obiaudio.com/wp-conten ... art_lg.gif
...to find the frequency, I mostly do it by ear...

[Len911]

and then add a tight EQ accentuation (somewhere in the 50Hz through 100Hz range) the Root Note's low HZ on the kick

Cass, you've lost me here, could you further expound on this? Ty in advance!

[cassmcentee]

Let's see if this works: https: http://www.dropbox.com/s/v0utm0mndhhozw ... 2.png?dl=0
The song is in the key of E
So look at how I've EQ'd my Kick (After Tuning It)
E = 82.41 Hz

I'm sure experts will disagree, but this is how I've been EQing lately...

[TheElement]

I go by ear. most of the time I'm tuning kicks. last kick I tuned was in A#. bass was G#. A# sounded better so I used that. But I'd just tune and see what works with the track.

[cassmcentee]

I go by ear. most of the time I'm tuning kicks. last kick I tuned was in A#. bass was G#. A# sounded better so I used that. But I'd just tune and see what works with the track.

Exactly Gavin! By Ear for final decisions!!!

[Danny]

Len.

I did not see Rob Chiarelli's interview so I really can't comment.

When I say "Trust your ear", I mean that you should be able to hear unforgiving frequencies such as muddy bass, etc, on your own. The guy listening to your tune in his car is not going to have a Spectrum Analyzer and Frequency Correction calibration tools to hear an awesome tune. His ears are going to determine that

Being a drummer for about 35 years, I can tell you that a beautifully tuned kit can work wonders for a tune. To ensure you have less EQ issues BEFORE the problems arise, you can make sure that the kick has some slap or click in it as well a little bottom end to fatten out the kit. The snare should be tuned to itself so no stray harmonics pop out of the head. Carefully monitor the miced kit as someone plays it for you. I use in ear monitors while I am preparing my kit for a track. It cancels the outside noise drastically. Micing and tuning drums is an art in itself and whole books are written on it.

Now, for the rack tom tunings, I use a minor chord, starting with the root on the first Rack Tom. There is no standard way to do this and it will be disputed in drum forums for many years to come. Some drummers do not tune to the song and some do. Hey! Neil Peart tunes his rack toms to the trumpet call of a starting Horse Derby. I would say that he has been a little successful.

When a band records a live show, they don't tune the Drum Kit for each song......

Now what you said, "The ear is only an interpreter and can be very forgiving, unless you have a very trained ear." My focus and point was learn to train your ear. It will be the most valuable tool in your studio.

You are welcome to PM me anytime for help regarding drums in the studio. I am far from a Grammy Award producer but have done this a few times

Len,

You may be thinking too much into this. A "Real" composer will have the experience to know the frequency range of the instruments in different sections. He/She would not have two sections playing opposing parts together whereby their frequencies would clash or cause muddy resonance or dissonance.

If you are talking about pop music, always try to make the sounds work together BEFORE you start worrying about EQing.

Trust your ear and intuition before you worry about Spectrum Analyzers, saturation, etc.

Good monitors and a "Tuned" room will work wonders..

Better arrangement= less eq problems. check.

"trust your ear", I'm not sure about this one,lol! As Rob Chiarelli mentioned implied harmonics by eliminating the fifth. If the third is left out, there is no implication of major or minor for the triad.


The ear is only an interpreter and can be very forgiving, unless you have a very trained ear. It's good at comparisons, so if you listen to all songs with say the bottom end rolled off at 500hz, it can differentiate between the different songs, but doesn't really "notice" the missing low end, unless you have a different speaker where the low end isn't rolled off to compare it to. Another example of not trusting the ear, is the "myth" of perfect pitch??
http://www.news-medical.net/news/201306 ... think.aspx
Then they have a later study where you can be taught pitch...
You can't really trust your ear, unless you know how your brain is working,lol!
"Frequent breaks", why, it's not that the music is changing, it's that the ear or brain adjusts. It's not a bad thing really, but it's biased, or focused mainly in favor of speech frequencies. It has to adjust constantly to comb filtering and less than perfect listening environments. It's not used to listening in a vacuum or pristine environment. How important is good monitors and a tuned room, important yes, but is it really as important as reference tracks listening in the same environment, on the same equipment?? idk

[Len911]

Omg, you drum people are really attacking me with a rudiment on the brain!lol

It is ironic that my current project is to make midi drum rudiments??
from the "40 P.A.S. International Drum Rudiments"
If anyone already has them from notation, or maybe has a list of all the 4/4 variations of some of the different rudiments, I might not have to research as hard??lol!

Cass, ok, but what's that other bump around 61hz??

Danny, unfortunately, I only have boxed drums.

Now the question is, what tuning temperament, equal, just, pythagorean??

[cassmcentee]

That's my way of countering the 30Hz cut, i can push the 60Hz a little harder.
Since the ear starts registering around 50Hz on up, i try to bolster what gets heard.
Does that make sense?