What is the fundamental frequency of a drum?

It is the lowest, strongest pitch the drum produces when struck, which the ear hears as the drum's overall note. Tuning sets this fundamental; the higher overtones from the shell and heads colour the tone around it.

What frequency should a kick drum be tuned to?

It depends on style. Hip-hop and metal kicks sit low, around 40 to 70 Hz for weight, while jazz kicks ring higher at 80 to 110 Hz. Pop and rock land in between. The table gives a range per genre as a starting point.

How do I tune drums to a key?

Read each drum's fundamental with a tuner or spectrum app, then adjust lug tension until the note matches a chord tone of the song's key. The Hz-to-note identifier in this tool tells you the note and how many cents off you are.

Why do batter and resonant heads get tuned differently?

Tuning the resonant head slightly higher or lower than the batter lengthens sustain and adds a pitch glide. Matching them tightens the pitch and shortens decay. Both heads still contribute to the single fundamental you tune toward.

Are these frequencies exact targets?

No, they are practical ranges. Drum size, head choice, depth, and room all move the achievable pitch. Use the ranges to get into the right territory, then fine-tune by ear so each drum sits clearly in the mix.

Drum Tuning Frequency Calculator

Tuned drums sit in a track; mistuned ones fight it. This reference gives target fundamental-frequency windows for the kick, snare, and toms in five common genres, and includes a frequency-to-note identifier so you can tune a kit into the key of a song.

How it works

Each drum has a fundamental pitch you set with lug tension. The genre presets are practical ranges drawn from common studio practice — for example a rock kick around 55 to 75 Hz and a rock snare around 150 to 220 Hz. To map a measured pitch to a note the tool uses equal temperament with A4 = 440 Hz:

semitones from A4 = round(12 × log2(f / 440))
nearest note      = name + octave of that semitone
cents off         = 1200 × log2(f / exact note frequency)

The cents figure tells you how far the drum sits from the nearest tempered note, so you can tune it onto a chord tone if you want pitched drums.

Tips and example

To pitch a tom to a song in A minor, tune its fundamental to A, C, or E in the right octave; a 12-inch rack tom centred near 140 Hz lands close to C#3, so a small tension change moves it onto C3 or D3. Read pitch from the centre of the head after a single clean stroke, with the other drums damped so their sympathetic ringing does not confuse the reading. Treat the ranges as a launch point and finish by ear.