how do you determine the fundamental frequency of a kick drum

[NuEra]

frequency analyzer? and if that is the case, how do you read it...its pretty hard to see what frequency is most dominant at the lower end of the spectrum as its just one big lump

[Rambunkcious]

Most frequency analyzers have an option that'll let you increase the resolution of the analysis spectrum, which in turn narrows the range of frequencies you're viewing. instead of viewing from 20hz to 20khz, you could bring it down to 20hz -200hz or 400hz. That should help a bit.

Plus if you can find out what key the kick is in, along with a more defined spectrum range (noted above), that should give you a better idea of what the fundamental is.

hope that helps

[NuEra]

Plus if you can find out what key the kick is in, along with a more defined spectrum range (noted above), that should give you a better idea of what the fundamental is.

oh i meant how do i find the key...so whats the dif between key and fundamental?

[Rambunkcious]

they are one and the same to a certain degree

Edit: They are only the same when the specific note you are trying to determine the fundamental of is also the root key, my bad thanks for the correction jes.

any given sound will have a fundamental as well as harmonics, harmonics are normally the frequencies that are multiples of the fundamental at x2, x3, x4, x6.

I figured you were looking for the fundamental frequency specifically.

finding the key for kick drums is just like any other sound (as kicks are tuned as well), pull up a piano sound, or any other sound you feel more comfortable with, and go thru the different notes in an octave, to see which one sounds the most like the kick drum.

you might want to play with one of the lower octaves, that might help a bit. My personal preference is to use the octave around C4 when looking for the key of any given sound.

[NuEra]

sweet, thanks for the help!

[Rambunkcious]

You could also use a tuner, that will tell you what key is coming thru

[admin]

As Rami suggested just use a freq analyzer that lets you fine tune the resolution down in the bass region. I wouldn't even bother with a tuner as it might not be accurate.

With a proper freq analyzer it's very easy to see the fundamental.

Also they key and fundamental are not the same. The fundamental is the base of the pitch of a note.

If that note is in the same key as the rest of the notes of the song then it's in key.

For instance if your kick is showing a main peak at 60hz then it's a C note. It would then be in key with any of the keys that use the C, for instance A minor or C major.

I used to have a chart for this on the old site. Will convert it over to the new one.


Here's an example:



The kick is right at 52hz, hard to tell here but if you mouse over you can see.

52hz = G#1

So this kick will be in key in any of the keys that include G#1

I'll make a chart this weekend with all the keys in it along with putting up the converter page.

[admin]

Ok didn't put the page itself up yet but here is the screenshot of it, better this way as you can just save it to your desktop:

[klooptheloop]

Nice 1 J, thanks