finding out if a kick is a 808 or 909

[DennisJ]

heya!

so i wanted to eq my new track to this map here:



it sounds wonderful at the moment, very much air. : )
however, i don't know if my kick is a 808 or 909.. where is the difference?

greets

[K.T.I.T.]

I am using that very same diagram and usually prefer the "909" EQ.
Those numbers refer to the 80's drum machines by Roland: TR-808 and TR-909.

You might not use the exact samples from those machines so I would use the 909 as a reference to start out your EQ and then just adjust it till it sounds right for you.

[sj03w4t]

Well the 808 and 909 refer to the Roland drum machines called TR-808 and TR-909. You can check out the kicks here (808) and here (909) @ ~2:25
These drum machines are very popular and expensive and have been imitated and sampled countless times.
Deciding if a kick is 808 or 909 ?? don't know I think it's like saying if a random tree is an oak or a birch: it could be one of them, but also one of many others.

[DennisJ]

yeah i also think its great!

i don't know what pads are though.. =D

will try it with the 909. : ) thanks!

[sine143]

Him, quick question to all you producer sorts out there. if you've got a synthesized kick sample , how do you find out what its tuned to? I know there is a lot of talk about tuning kick drums when you are throwing them together with a synth, but I dont know how to recognize the key of a sample (which I would use for convience sake during drafting).

[chaoscollapse]

Him, quick question to all you producer sorts out there. if you've got a synthesized kick sample , how do you find out what its tuned to? I know there is a lot of talk about tuning kick drums when you are throwing them together with a synth, but I dont know how to recognize the key of a sample (which I would use for convience sake during drafting).

For example you can mute everything except for kick and the bass line, press play and adjust tuning of the kick drum until it sounds right.

[djhipnotikk]

really, use whatever EQ *sounds* right. sweep the EQ around until you find the most resonant freq. (which is the loudest), that's the band you want to be boosting.

[K.T.I.T.]

i don't know what pads are though.. =D

Pads are usually synthesizer sounds with a long smooth sound; like strings.
That's at least how I roughly define them.

[sj03w4t]

Yeah i'd say kreativtit is right about pads. However, it doesn't actually have to be an instrument, it could also be a whale noise (heard this in refx nexus) as long as its got a large 'hold'.

[djalexlaine]

dont let this be the hard and fast thing. its a guide. there are alot of times where you need to EQ something in order to slot its frequency properly. i just finished a remix with a friend and the kicker has a fairly small frequency slot, just enough to sort of punch through the bassline. use eq to shape the sound to the needed/wanted sound.