I'd consider this sound design...

[Ledger]

Today, I decided that I'd finally synthesize a kick and a snare, both of which have turned out more than amazing. Anyways, as I'm trying to synthesize this specific pair to the key of D minor (root D), the kick sounds perfectly fine at D, but I can't get the snare to sit at 147-148Hz (D3) without losing all power, and sounding muddy. I'm trying not to go with the 200Hz snare, as I want both my kick and snare rooted to the track, but it seems that I can't do that. Help would be great.

Also, if you can explain to me why it wouldn't matter if the snare was "tuned" to the key of the song, than by all means, please do.

This is the snare "tuned" to 147-148 (D3)
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1TlCIDu59TD

This is the snare at about 200Hz
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1gwLLoxvwF0

[Kreatur3]

What DAW are you in bro?

If youre using ableton i would suggest using the mix gel preset under compression, it makes things well, gel together haha it reduces a lot of that weird muddy gross sound.

Also you probably did this already but a little EQ boosting and reducing goes a long way!

Cheers

[Ledger]

What DAW are you in bro?

If youre using ableton i would suggest using the mix gel preset under compression, it makes things well, gel together haha it reduces a lot of that weird muddy gross sound.

Also you probably did this already but a little EQ boosting and reducing goes a long way!

Cheers

Considering Reason doesn't have a dedicated spectrum analyzer like Voxengo Span, I use FL for basically everything, then pop everything into Reason to arrange, and sometimes mix and master. And the snare has quite a bit of EQ on it, but could always use more.

[bennyfroobs]

meh screw all this tuning all ur drums to the key of the tune, unless they all sound really weird and off then just use the ones that sound good

heh

idk

[firstboyonthemoon]

A few notes:

1. Hearing your snares on their own isn't very meaningful, right? Any given sound only really has value within the context of a track.

2. Numbers are useful, but they're not everything. If something sounds better at 200hz than 147hz, then it is better. Maybe your snare needs to be a little dissonant to stand out...?

3. If it's really important to you that your drums are tuned to the key of your track, then perhaps you could try 175hz or 220hz which my pitch frequency chart assures me are F and A, respectively.

[mromgwtf]

Try to tune it to the perfect fourth of D, which is G and it is at 196.00 hz. It'll work too.

[mthrfnk]

What are you using to synthesise and tune the snares?

[Ledger]

What are you using to synthesise and tune the snares?

3xOsc to make the snare
And just the pitch control on the fl audio clip panel by Hul and Time

[Sure_Fire]

Stop wasting time synthesizing drums when there are shitloads of free ones fucking everywhere. Go make music for Christ's sake.

[Electric_Head]

Stop wasting time synthesizing drums when there are shitloads of free ones fucking everywhere. Go make music for Christ's sake.

There's nothing wrong with synthesizing your own drums.

[mromgwtf]

Stop wasting time synthesizing drums when there are shitloads of free ones fucking everywhere. Go make music for Christ's sake.

There's nothing wrong with synthesizing your own drums.

Yeah but it always goes like this:

1. Me thinking I should finally make a good track.
2. Me staring out with drums.
3. Me spending 10 hours doing drums.
4. Me finishing the drums.
5. Me realizing I just spent 10 hours doing drums.
6. Me feeling unmotivated.
7. Me trying to fit some melody to the drums.
8. Me realizing nothing fits.
9. RAGE QUIT

And it would be different if I started with actually making the melodic part of the song.

[titchbit]

Try to tune it to the perfect fourth of D, which is G and it is at 196.00 hz. It'll work too.

This is actually a very good idea, but I would go with perfect fifth as that is more "important" imo than fourth, so go with A.

On the other hand, your snare could have it's first peak down at that D you're looking for, but you could also layer a higher snare in there or some other percussive sample or a clap or use saturation or something else so that it has more high end / presence in the mix.

[ehbes]

What DAW are you in bro?

If youre using ableton i would suggest using the mix gel preset under compression, it makes things well, gel together haha it reduces a lot of that weird muddy gross sound.

Also you probably did this already but a little EQ boosting and reducing goes a long way!

Cheers

Considering Reason doesn't have a dedicated spectrum analyzer like Voxengo Span, I use FL for basically everything, then pop everything into Reason to arrange, and sometimes mix and master. And the snare has quite a bit of EQ on it, but could always use more.

check reason 7, its got a channel by channel spectrum analyzer

[Add9]

It's all personal preference of course, but I often find that in tracks that are in a minor key, the snare sounds really good tuned to the minor 3rd or minor 7th.

And in regards to sound design and arrangement, I think of it like drinking and driving. It's okay to do one or the other, but never do them both at the same time.

You should decide before you even open your DAW what your goal is, and if the goal is to compose a track, then don't fuck with sound design. Use the sounds you already have, make the track, and then later go back and do the sound design and replace them with better sounds.

[Augment]

Why don't you tune it up an octave and make the body hit at 294 hz?

[Ledger]

check reason 7, its got a channel by channel spectrum analyzer

I intend to get the upgrade in less than a month as I already have 6.5.

[Ledger]

Why don't you tune it up an octave and make the body hit at 294 hz?

I was making the drums for a drumstep track, imo, high freq drums don't sound right in some genres, unless it's dnb or neurofunk or some other genre that I haven't heard.

[twilitez]

meh screw all this tuning all ur drums to the key of the tune, unless they all sound really weird and off then just use the ones that sound good

heh

idk

agree with this.

[Augment]

Why don't you tune it up an octave and make the body hit at 294 hz?

I was making the drums for a drumstep track, imo, high freq drums don't sound right in some genres, unless it's dnb or neurofunk or some other genre that I haven't heard.

I'd say it completely depends on the sample. Check out Joe Ford or Skrillex's remix of Wild for the night. If I'm not mistaken the snare in that remix is at about 300hz, but it sounds pretty good imo

[Sure_Fire]

Stop wasting time synthesizing drums when there are shitloads of free ones fucking everywhere. Go make music for Christ's sake.

There's nothing wrong with synthesizing your own drums.

True, but I'm not sure that making sure your snare is the perfect pitch for the key of your song should be an issue, how about focusing on the composition and arrangement? Some of the greatest songs ever written sound terrible from a mixing perspective, yet they still trump most perfectly mixed/mastered modern tracks because the music is so fantastic.

Point I'm trying to make is that music should be the focus, not how amazing everything sounds on a technical level. But I suppose that's the fun in it for some people, to each their own.