Hi all.
I possess some form of relative pitch, but not perfect pitch.
Is there a better/simpler/quicker way than playing a sine tone in the base key of the scale I want and monitoring the frequency spectrum for getting my Machinedrum tuned to the rest of my instruments?
I like making basslines on the Machinedrum, but when I come to play a VSTi over the top I find I’ve tuned the Machinedrum incorrectly.
Cheers.
-MI
There’s no global tuning page on the MD that I’m aware of – just Pitch knob tuning for the individual machines. Among the internal synths, some EFM and TRX machines are easily tunable to concert pitch. The rest aren’t, though there are tricks to get around this that require LFOs (and patience).
Have a look here for the internals.
ROM machines are 36 ticks per octave, but be aware there’s a spot in there where one of the half steps is only two ticks more rather than three. Can’t remember where exactly but it’s more than an octave away from zero, in both directions.
Gnd-Sin can’t be tuned to all pitches but it’s 16 ticks per octave, with each 4 ticks equalling a minor third. IIRC pitch = 10 corresponds to a low D, so go nuts with D dim 
Hope that helps.
I know this may not be what you are looking for but personally i run a Spectrum Analyzer and tune it that way if i’m just not sure.
Rule of thumb I’ve been told by professional audio mixers is that the bass drum is set 2 octaves below the root note of the used scale. Thus using this as a reference you would in turn tune the other instruments of a drum kit accordingly - melodic intervals of perhaps an octave or more complex intervals. Use a piano as reference if you have one available.
Thanks, that image will be very helpful.
Thanks also for the tip on the GND Sine. I will give that a go as well.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I do this too, but sometimes it is difficult for me to tell where the fundamental is, especially with percussive sounds that pitch bend.
Rule of thumb I’ve been told by professional audio mixers is that the bass drum is set 2 octaves below the root note of the used scale. Thus using this as a reference you would in turn tune the other instruments of a drum kit accordingly - melodic intervals of perhaps an octave or more complex intervals. Use a piano as reference if you have one available. [/quote]
Hey there.
I’m not sure I understand completely what it is you are saying.
How do I know which octave the scale is in to begin with? Should it always start at the third octave? For example, C Minor scale having C3 as the root note, therefore the kick should be tuned to C1?
Cheers.
-MI
That is correct, so if your scale starts at C3 then your bass drum pitch will be C1.
Also check out this transpose chart from an old thread … helped me tremendously for quick reference. It is the last post where you can download the chart, as well attached but all the credit to the original poster ordlan.
cheers, bo
http://elektron-users.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=2&func=view&id=67649&catid=9
