Pitch Frequency Drum Tuning Chart

Ever wanted to know what all those pitches are on a traditional drum kit? This little widget will both display and play them back for you. To interact, you can either mouse around the widget itself, or if you’re feeling speedy, you can also control it from your computer’s keyboard.

Each drum has a row that represents its approximate tuning range and an ideal pitch on the log-frequency chart. From there, you’ll be able to try out tones right in the browser and compare various voices of the kit. The chart and tuning controls are right there on your computer keyboard. Each time you press the Up or Down arrow key, you step through the rows of drums. You play their reference tones and move the selection highlight to the next (or previous) drum. To fine tune the reference, use the Left and Right arrow keys: each one will move the fine reference slider one cent up or down. That way, if you don’t like the exact pitch that the chart suggests as a starting point, you can nudge it just a little bit flat or sharp. To play whatever tone you’ve highlighted as a brief pulse so you can compare quickly but not hold the note being played, hit Spacebar.

How to Use the Drum Tuning Widget

Below is a chart area where we have listed common drum shells ranging from the bass drum through to the snare. You can click on each row to choose which drum you want to play back and listen to the target frequency for that drum. Each row also has a dot where the chosen pitch sits for the selected kit character setting. It also highlights the rough starting range where this size of shell is considered generally usable. To the far right-hand side of each row, you’ll find the actual frequency in Hertz along with the musical note name it equals. This shows how the drums relates to each other along the frequency spectrum.

The control section has three buttons that alter the tuning characteristic of the entire kit. These presets are Bright cut, Balanced kit, and Deep pocket. These presets adjusts all the drum’s target pitches at once. Bright cut increases the target pitches for more attack; Deep Pocket decreases the target pitches to produce a heavier sound. When you choose one of these characters it immediately updates the chart and will play the new target tone on the drum you have selected. It lets you quickly try various approaches to the tuning without having to do math for each individual note.

Reference Tone Button: Click it once to start the tone and click again to stop it. Click once for the hold tone, then again to release it. If you’re comparing your drum tuning to a known reference, this can be useful. It holds the tone while you make adjustments or change the selection, which allows the held tone to update instantly to match the new selected pitch/offset. Remember that in certain audio environments, the sustained tones could trip the noise suppression, so release them after use.

Fine; This controls a small adjustment of the targeted pitch. It’s set as a negative or positive number between minus twenty-five cents to plus twenty-five cents. That offset is relative to the base pitch set by both the drum and kit character selection. Moving the slider moves the needle on the meter and changes the frequency played very slightly. This is handy when you want to simulate slight differences in pitch, like you might hear in a real-world tuned drum. You can also precisely change this using the arrow keys.

The Reference level slider lets you adjust the volume at which the tones play back. It applies to both the sustain hold tone and the shorter pulse. If you’re sensitive to sound, or your surrounding environment is fairly loud, set this down low. If you want the reference tone to cut through other noises or background music, increase it so you can hear it well. As you drag the slider, the output percentage updates so you can test the pitches comfortabley without a sudden spike in volume.

Want to see more of the chart? Clicking on the widget expands it into fullscreen mode. For printing, or when using smaller screens, this gives you a bigger view of the chart. Clicking on Fullscreen will expand the widget to fill the entire window. It will also bring it back to its previous size. To leave fullscreen, just press the Escape key (on your keyboard) or click on the Fullscreen button. It’ll adapt to whatever size it’s in so that everything remains readable.

The How to play button pops up an info panel that quickly reviews the chart’s tuning conventions, shows you the available keyboard shortcuts, and provides some practical advice (e.g., “Mute other head when measuring“). Click the button again to close the info panel. By default it is hidden so as not to distract from the chart itself.

Listen carefully as it plays through the rows and note how the melodic line goes from the bass drum at the low end, with the snare and toms stepping up in pitch. You can use the hold function to match a recorded performance of a drum against its target pitch. There are also buttons for altering the feel of the kit. You can experiment with them and listen to how changing the pitches one way or the other changes the feel. Then there is the fine reference slider which allows you to dial in exactly what pitch feels right on your particular heads and shells.

The Equal Temperament Frequency Chart is a handy guide to drum tuning frequencies. It isn’t meant to replace your ear or a physical tuner, but it can help you see how your drums relate to each other. You can use it before you sit down at the kit to plan out your tuning or after to double-check what you’ve done. The chart is based off typical tuning ranges and shell sizes. Keep in mind that this varies depending on your room acoustics and your drum gear.

To get started, click on the row of bass drums to listen to the lowest pitch first. Then use the arrow keys to move your selection through the other drum rows. Change the character of the kit to hear how this alters the frequencies. Dial in the desired pitch using the hold button and fine reference. It’s designed to be an immediate and simple tool that allows you to focus on the sound.

You should of enjoyed trying out your own virtual tuning session.