Raising the pitch of a synthesized kick drum patch turns it into a tom sound

A kick drum and a tom are fundamentally the same synthesis recipe — a pitched transient or sine-pitch-drop — differentiated primarily by starting pitch and decay duration. A kick sits in the sub-bass range (50–80 Hz pitch drop); a tom sits higher (100–300 Hz). In a modular or synthesis context this means one patch covers both sounds: increase the initial pitch or reduce the pitch drop range and the kick becomes a tom. This is both a time-saving insight and a reminder that percussion families share synthesis structure.

Examples

Kick patch: sine oscillator with fast pitch drop from 200 Hz to 50 Hz, short amplitude envelope. Tom: same patch, raise starting pitch to 300 Hz, set a less dramatic drop (to 150 Hz). Higher pitch and/or shorter drop = higher tom. Floor tom: intermediate pitch.

Assessment

Given a kick drum patch defined by its initial pitch and decay envelope, what single parameter change converts it into a floor tom? How would you then create a rack tom from the same patch?