Percussion is primarily considered a rhythmic element in any song however percussion possesses some level of pitch information as well. It’s often subtle in say a snare or kick but in the cases of a timpani or the toms of a drum kit it can be quite pronounced. Tuning these elements to complementary tones within the scale of the song you’re recording/mixing can add a deep sense of cohesion to a song.
Take The Bodhran Down 1.36 Semitones
I recently mixed an electronic hybrid piece with ethnic drums that had a distinct pitch. It worked rhythmically and wasn’t a problem in the mix but it wasn’t in tune with the scale of the piece so there was an underlying dissonance in the ring of the drum. Tuning it down 1.36 semitones fixed this and glued it within the mix.
Given that the drum was prominent throughout it definitely shifted how the song sat. A 1% improvement but an improvement nonetheless.
A Drum Kit Tuning Trick
When I was working on a worship album a couple of years ago it was using Logic’s drummer instrument for most of the drum parts. The beauty of a tool like this is the ability to tune each drum to pitch. So for each song I’d fine tune the kick, snare and toms to lock them to key of the song.
Generally you want to tune the kick and snare to either root or fifth but not not the same note. The toms can be a variety of scale tones but I usually settled on 5th, 3rd and Root or 5th, 4th, 5th from highest to lowest.
For myself I found it was sometimes tricky to pick the fundamental pitch of the kick and snare. Sweeping the tuning of the kick whilst it plays a steady hit helps you find the pitch and then I would often hum the note I wanted to tune it to and was able to land on that pitch.
Now Saturate
In one of the songs I had moderately saturated the toms which highlighted resonances in them but also the pitch of the toms. This gave me an idea. If I saturate the kick and snare it should help draw out the fundamental frequency of the drum.
It worked a treat and at times I was even able to use the inbuilt tuner in logic to confirm the pitch. One other way to confirm is using a virtual instrument that give you a sine wave where you set it to play underneath on the pitch you’re aiming for. It helps you dial in the note in the drum by ear.
Obviously there’s a little more involved with tuning a live kit to the key of the song but if you’ve got the time it’d be worth giving it a try. I think you’ll like how it sounds.
The Takeaway: Is it worth tuning your drums to the key of your song? Yep. Will it break your song if you don’t do it, nope. Give it a try and see for yourself is my advice. It’s a 1% improvement and the more of those you apply to your recordings the better.
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