Tuning Kick Samples to Key of the Track

[Kenny Troy]

Hey guys, I wanted to discuss tuning kick samples to fit the key of the track and the different methods one can possibly use to do so. For reference I am using FL 11 (Edison method), and also have Pro-Q 2 which can be used to tune samples.

I've watched nearly every video tutorial online, including the ones on ADSR Courses which I thought were pretty darn good, but I still feel as if I am struggling to correctly tune my kick samples.

What is your preferred or most effective method used to tune kick samples? Tips, tricks?

Basically I am just going to buy Nicky Romero's Kick 2 as it seems like the easiest and one of the best ways to tune kicks... however I want to be able to tune any sample to fit the key of my track as well not just kick drums.

Edit: Maarten Vorwerk suggested Melodyne, so I am currently on a trial run for that, and most likely going to buy it.

Whenever I use Edison and change the semitones of a sample it comes out extremely distorted and basically fucks up the entire sample... yet Dyro did it perfectly in his Razer tutorial so I'm clearly messing something up here.

Thanks in advance!

[Marrow Machines]

i tune my drum layers to make sure they fit well with each other first.

after i sample them, i then pitch my sample to how i want it to be in the song.

ie, a more present and tight kick drum i tune up. more of feeling in my kick i tune it lower.

rarely do i get to the key of the song, which in that case i'd suggest you get a tuner.

[Arktopolis]

In FL just make sure you're using the "e3 generic" mode, you can do this in Edison, but I prefer to just double-click the sample on the playlist and adjust the pitch from the properties window.

Another trick that I learned a while ago, applies to snares also: if you drop the pitch of the sample and find that the transient loses its punchiness, add a downwards pitch envelope to the beginning of the sample. In FL you can use the "pogo" knob, or the pitch env in sampler for more control.

[Dreamilite]

I like to change the key of my song to the kick, rather than pitch it which will rarely sound pretty. High passing the fundamental tone of a kick and then layering it with a sine wave is also an option.

[FarleyCZ]

Lately I've been doing it this way:
- Load frequency analyser of your choice, possibly one with "note" readout.
- Crank up the FFT window to something like 65 536. It'll get slow, but it will give you precise frequency readout.
- Look at the peak your kick/snare/tom/whatever "ends". That's the fundamental that would clash with the rest of the notes.
- Tune it to nearest in-key note.

Done.

[8-bit heroes]

You dont always need to tune drum samples, if it sounds good as is, leave it.
But when i tune them first i detect the pitch of the sample...either by loading into edison and using the detect pitch function or by loading it up in a freq analyser. Then i just tune the sample in FL's sampler channel. Couldnt be easier. Also you dont have to tune the sample to the root note of the track you could also tune it to the 5th sometimes this works better because extreme pitch shifting on drums can sound shite. So you want to go to whichever would be the closest to the samples original pitch.

[Tentronic]

As cliche as it sounds, your best bet is to use your ears. Typically most kicks sit around the 100Hz range but try listening to it with other elements in the mix to check how it sits in the mix. Id say the most important thing is to have a distinction between the kick and snare as they are usually very close in terms of frequency