Kick sub and top Kick?

[justkid700]

Hi

I am reading a lot that to make kicks sound better you need to have a punchy top end kick and a low end subby kick mixed together...

I make pop music on ableton and usually im just finding kick samples (on ableton browser or on splice) that i think sound good and dragging them in, do u guys think this method works? or is there another way to create better kick sounds and if so how?

i have no clue how to even go about creating a punchy top end kick and sub low end kick..

(sorry for the noob question)

[Tarekith]

A lot of kicks in sample packs have already been treated, so if it sounds good to you as is, by all means use it that way.

[miyaru]

I often found myself using a low freq. sine wave under the kick for extra oohmphhh. Of course in the right pitch and tempo of the song/part of the song.

But if it allready sounds good, don't change it at all!!!

There are also max for live devices for it, just look around and enjoy!

[tedlogan]

I also like using Live's Drum Buss device, tuned to the correct frequency and just a quick decay sub amount dialed in, the rest matched to taste/context. Usually sounds great on all sorts of kickdrums that already have the top end pop but could do with some meat.

[jestermgee]

As mentioned, most kicks in sample packs have been designed to work already. You can then add to it or change its properties through EQ, Attack/Release and tuning.

A kick is typically 2 components, the attack (punch) and the low end. In some EDM music the kick is simply the attack component while the low end is a sub bass line instead of part of the kick. This is where it pays to know a little as it can be the difference between a kick that really punches and one that sounds muddied if you have a strong bassline already.