Step 1: Play your sample & freeze the spectrum analyzer.

It helps to have your drum pad or keyboard next you to so you can trigger the sample. Simply trigger the sample & press “hold” on your SPAN EQ. This will now freeze the frequency shape on your screen.

Step 2: Figure out what the fundamental frequency is.

Figuring out what the fundamental frequency is a fairly easy process. It’s the highest & roundest peak your drum sample is creating inside of the spectrum analyzer. Pictured above is a kick drum. When you hover over the fundamental area, the note value of that frequency will appear on top of the plugin screen. In this case, the sample is currently a “C natural”. If your song is in the key of CMaj, Cmin, or one of the important notes of the scale is a C natural, then there is nothing left to do.

For the sake of learning the process, we will say the key of our song is “B Min”, so we will need to tune this sample to a different note. Usually the go to pitches to tune to are the root, the 3rd, or the 5th of the scale. You can tune up or down to get to the note you need & it’s best practice to tune to the closet note. This will avoid things sounding stretched out, warped, sounding too “woofy”, or sounding too “pingy”.

Since this sample is currently a “C natural”, a “B natural” will make the most sense for tuning to the key of Bmin. We’re only a half-step away! 

Step 3: Tune your sample to the new note.

Locate your “tuning knob” on your drum sequencer. It may be called tune, detune, tone, or pitch.

Next you will want to turn this knob either up or down to the note you want it to be at. For the example we are using - tuning to a B natural - we will want to tune down one note.

Step 4: Check your sample in the spectrum analyzer.

Now that we have tuned the drum sample down, we will want to just double check to make sure that the fundamental frequency is a “B natural”. Just like before, we will want to open the SPAN plugin & hover over the highest & roundest part of the frequency shape.

There may be cases where you need to adjust the tuning knob one more time, but that’s the whole process! Just repeat these steps for your snares, claps, hi hats, cymbals, & percs! Once all your drums are tuned to the key of your song, you will notice how everything sounds more cohesive & the whole track gels together much better!