would anyone like to share a great method of tuning 808 bass and other low boomy stuff to sound gooder, with random kicks snares ect ect ...

 

hey man,
I'm not really sure what you mean by "random kicks snares etc". Do you mean you want learn how to tune drums in general?
Anyhow, the easiest method I can think of is the following:

1. Grab an EQ plugin which has a visual analyzer + the possibility to show a keyboard. Both Equilibrium and Pro-Q2 are able to do this, but I'm sure there are other plugs out there with the same features.

2. Enable the visualiser and find the lowest peak. This will (most likely) be the fundamental frequency. Adjust the pitch/tune in your sampler to the key of your song, check within the EQ plug and by ear and bam - tuned drums.
-> in the screenshot, you can see an example of this "method" using equilibrium. as you can see, the sample I used has "G" as its fundamental frequency (I think that's the 808s default pitch, but not sure)

Keep in mind that you don't always have to tune drums to the tonic of your song or, for that matter, tune them at all.
The method described above will also only get you so far, as it's better suited to monophonic content. There are lots of samples with complex harmonic content where it's hard to identify the relevant peak without boosting frequencies and listening closely.

So, if you want to do yourself a favor, start doing ear training. This is a good starting point, but obviously there are many offerings out there.
Hope this helped and good luck!

 

Load them in a sampler. Pitch them up an octave or two (to better hear the pitch). If they for some reason are out of tune, fine-tune them (cents) to reference tone (VSTi synth). You can do this by ear (if you have a decent ear that is). If not it's good training.
Pitch down to original pitch/octave. Label what note/key it is.
Layer with your "random kicks", etc.

 

Last edited: Aug 25, 2016

If you use the stock spectrum analyzer in Live and mouse over a peak it labels the tone.

 

Last edited: Aug 26, 2016