Drum tuning.

Let's talk tuned drums!

What, if anything do you guys do in relation to pitch shifting percussion samples to fit them in a mix better?

Why do I ask? Well, I once read that sometimes it works well to tune your kick to your basslines. I'm curious as to how tuning relates to snares, hats or other percussion. I'm particularly curious if this is relevant to layering as well. for example: you could layer two snares and either try to tune them to the same note or perhaps tune them an octave apart. Both would sound different.

I tune my drums to the same pitch as the layer that sounds best without any retuning (full; strong fundamental). So if the meatiest layer of my layered snares has a pitch that sounds like a D, then I might tune the other layers to D. Sometimes the tuning on the other layers are just so far off by default that tuning ruins the thickness of the original tone and it gets up sounding either thin (too high-pitched) or lofi/dated (too low-pitched). That's a clear indication to pick a different layer Sometimes I'm OK with the layers being a fifth apart instead of just in unison.

With the kick in particular, I do the same thing, but instead of looking at the frequency balance on the fundamental near ~200Hz (when looking for the 'best' layer), I look at it near ~100Hz. Usually it's the one with the longest tail that interacts more with a bassline. EDIT: I would actually rather not tune it if the 'best' layer already sounds more or less unpitched, and I agree with zircon that a kick with an audible pitch can clash with a changing bassline.

If I can't tell what the pitch is, then I try playing it in different octaves to get a clearer pitch to listen for. Usually a higher pitch on a drum sound is easier to distinguish. It's like how if you have a bass sound and you go down low (like, lower than C3), it starts to fail in the pitch and wobble around because all the harmonics are bunching together. In higher pitches, the harmonics are more spread out and the pitch is more distinguished. It may be hard to see this unless you have a visual EQ plugin (which is why I love FL).

I don't do kick tuning because if you have a changing bassline, it won't sound good. I prefer kicks that don't really have a strong 'pitch' but more of a bassy thump and a nice midrange click. Of course, most all kicks DO have some kind of pitch, but ideally (IMO) it should be in the <30hz range with most of the transient being a sweep down to that final point. I DO tune snares and hihats a bit to get them to sound brighter or darker/thicker, but not to actually get them in tune with my song.

To get the pitch of a drum sound, run it through a guitar tuner.

I think tuning the drum is the key to a great song. Not only the snare, but I mean the choice of the cymbals and toms.

Having a tom tuned to a semiton higher than a note in your main scale(s)/key will create a dissonance and this is overlooked ALL the time.

Change the pitch, by a semiton, of ONE tom in Phil Colin's "In the air" when the drums enter (highlight of his tune/entire show) and well, lol...

So yeah, I say tune to the main key

Having a tom tuned to a semiton higher than a note in your main scale(s)/key will create a dissonance and this is overlooked ALL the time.

Change the pitch, by a semiton, of ONE tom in Phil Colin's "In the air" when the drums enter (highlight of his tune/entire show) and well, lol...

Indeed. I would prefer to tune toms more so than I would prefer to tune snares because toms are often more pitched (though some synthesized snares may have a clearly pitched layer where, if you take off the noise-generation layer, it's more tom-like).

Huh, never thought about this. I do toy around with the pitch of (electronic) drums but not in the sense of tuning, just the sound. I guess I'll pay attention to them toms from now on though.

I never do it very often, tbh. Once in awhile I'll repitch a snare or hi-hat, but not to get it in tune with the song.