Big fat punchy kicks.

philmb · Post by **philmb** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:19 am

Just wandering what (if any) processing you guys put on your kicks. I'm doing dnb n think my kicks could sound a lot "fatter". I'm layering a couple up eq-ing them a bit.. Is there ways of getting them sounding better or is it just a case of keep tryin till i get it rite? (new to producing). If compression, what kind of setting? Tryed it n didnt really make much difference.

Thanks.

BassTooth · Post by **BassTooth** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:17 am

you shouldn't really ever have to compress kick drums. i don't.

are you using samples or creating a kick drum from scratch using synthesis?

i assume you're using samples. maybe your samples just aren't very good. maybe you need different samples or new samples. its all about the source material. use high quality samples that sound good from the very beginning. there are plenty of resources for samples on the interwebs.

making a kick drum from scratch using synthesis can be very rewarding.

get Operator.

philmb · Post by **philmb** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:39 am

CHeers mate. Thought that was gonna be the case. Using samples, suppose theres a bit of a skill to picking the rite sample to start with. something thats gonna be heard after you've put in your breaks n all the rest of the elements that make up your drums.
I may delete my kicks, keep everything else in and pick something that stands out when everything else is playing. Be a good way to learn what kicks to use i suppose.
Hm, i have operator and massive, may try making my own kicks. Any tips on that?

BassTooth · Post by **BassTooth** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:57 am

search youtube/google.

starting off point for making blippy very electronic sounding kicks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFiuKTOCdFk

got to experiment. sometimes just turning knobs and flipping buttons(=the rewarding part) is the best way to find out.

i've had Synthetic Drums2 for awhile now, and i can definitely recommend it:
http://www.native-instruments.com/index ... eticdrums2
great samples, tons of any kind of kick drum.

supamonsta · Post by **supamonsta** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:25 am

For great sample library:

Vengeance Electro essentials, or Vengeance Ultimate Beats vol 1. (80€ but you get what you pay for with this CD !)

I was working on my kicks sounds since 1 year whith layering, EQ, Saturation, compression... I've managed to create one or two great kicks, yes. But it took me one year and now that I bought Ultimate beats... I realise that I've lost so much time with this!!!! (but anyway that's always good to learn how to do something, even if you can have the thing already done buy a pro for $$$...)

2 choices are possible:

- you want to CREATE your great kicks : possible but takes time and practice

- you want to GET great kicks to make great music : a bit $, but you've got all your time to focus on the music, not on the kick !!!

cheers

BassTooth · Post by **BassTooth** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:46 am

word.

or just steal someone else kick drums

rip 'em off your Daft Punk CD/MP3

philmb · Post by **philmb** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:51 am

Ah yes... the vengance packs. heard a lot of good stuff about those. May have to look into that. thanks.

xherv · Post by **xherv** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:14 am

Giving the kick some spots in the mix where it's alone can help, as in below 80hz maybe and another bump or two up in higher frequencies. Sometimes I have to force myself to do that, even though it's always better in the end . . .

KyleCross · Post by **KyleCross** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:28 pm

Hey Phil

If your working on a DnB track why not learn kicks from probably the hottest name running right now.

Goto google or youtube and search for Chase & Status Computer Music

Chase and Status do a whole interview on how they make their drum loops quite a bunch of wicked info in there that should help you out!!!

Sub Focus and Logisitics also do a similar interview on making patches and Danny Bird on arrangment.

Should help you out a whole ton if your just starting out!

The whole series is called: The Ulitimate Guide to Drum n Bass, you should be able to find a copy of the DVD if you search as well.

Cheers
Kyle

Undercover Soul · Post by **Undercover Soul** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:12 pm

Good kicks, pratice good eq job done

djchima · Post by **djchima** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:24 pm

A big part of making the kick as punchy as possible is compressing the entire track minus the kick, and sidechaining that comp to the kick. That way, every time the kick hits the rest of the track lowers in volume. This allows you to turn the kick up way louder without clipping than you would be able to normally. Obviously you need to mess with the settings (threshold, compression, type) to get it sounding how you want. It's a pretty standard trick in hip hop and electronic music.

Nick the Zombie · Post by **Nick the Zombie** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 4:09 am

The first place I always go to for making my kicks punchier is the filter envelope. Turn your filter frequency down a bit on a lowpass filter, and then experiment with the attack and decay settings on the filter envelope. Making your kicks beefier generally involves improving the attack transients, which can be altered dramatically with a few simple envelope tweaks.

I have some free vids on drum design here: http://www.youtube.com/oubliettezombie

966sf · Post by **966sf** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:13 am

Once you have an appropriate sample, the sky's the limit.

Some processing I use when I feel like it:
SPL Transient Designer
1176 or LA-2 style compression (can do this with Abe's Compressor in Live 7)
Run it through analog gear
Run it through shit that wants to be analog gear (plugs for Neve 1073, Pultec EQ, TUBETech EQ)
CamelPhat, son.
Saturator
Layer a sub bass under it that kicks in with the kick.

stonee · Post by **stonee** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 3:11 pm

try a chord plug in set in octaves or 5ths above and below the original sample

blitit · Post by **blitit** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 4:20 pm

which one is a good chord plug in? cheers