[GUIDE]-Kick Drums: Secrets behind a Professional bottom-end

[size size=150:19k3bq3s]Kick Drums: Secrets behind a Professional bottom-end. by Tim Gosden Dec. ’07.[/size:19k3bq3s]

This tutorial is not specifically aimed at FL studio users or House music producers, it is a tutorial that should be helpful to all those producing music that needs an upfront kick drum with a good low end that will carry on a decent club system.

Firstly we start with a single kick drum sample, mine is taken from a Vengeance sample CD, however other samples can be used, for example an 808 sub bass [for hip hop].

Throughout, audio examples are available to demonstrate the effect that each processor has and helping you to determine if you’ve used a suitable amount of processing at each stage.

Please remember – this is not the bible of kick drums and sometimes settings must be tweaked to get the right sound, this is purely a good starting point.

Step 1: Choose an appropriate sample, often one with a good click is best. Here, the low end of the sample is less important than the click. Choose carefully, but remember you can always change your sample later on.

Here’s the sample I choose to use:

Step 2: Using an audio editor, such as Wavelab or the editor built into FL, trim the kick drum to have a shorter tale. This is a simple way to add more punch to the sample and remove the unwanted noise that makes the bass end muddy. At this point, it is important that the sample is also Normalized and the DC offset is removed. Remember so save the edited sample as a copy.

Here’s my sample after it’s been edited:

Step 3: Now that you’ve chosen and edited your sample you must route this to a mixer channel in your DAW. This is done automatically in programs such as Cubase and Logic, but must be done manually in FL. This will now allow you to add FX to the sample.

Step 4: Open a parametric EQ. I’ve chosen to use Waves’ Renaissance EQ but any parametric will do the job. In drums, around 250hz is responsible for allot of mud and boxiness. Reducing this is very simple, do a small cut at around this frequency, this will usually remove the worst of the muddy low end and give a much clearer and smooth mix. At this point I also added a small amount of top to my sample, just to add click and help it cut through. This is often dependent on the sample however typically around 5000hz is a good place to start. Just sweep the frequency until it sounds right.

Here’s my sample after it’s been EQ’d

Step 5: This is now what I refer to as the "Secret that no-one wants to share!" I used Waves’ Renaissance Bass plugin, know as RBass however many other suboctave/sub bass generators will work, such as Logic’s Sub Bass. Open the plugin after the EQ and select around 40hz. This adds a big low end and enables you to have full control over the bass in your track. A word of warning, it is possible to destroy your monitoring system with low frequencies. You should monitor at a sensible volume and make sure that you don’t change any settings drastically. However, done sensibly, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Heres my sample after using RBass:

Step 6: Limiting is the final step in the chain. I choose to use the Waves L1 for this purpose however any other standard limiter should work [for example, a limiter build into a compressor, just make sure you disable the compressor] A limiter will not only enhance the loudness of the sound but it also adds definition and warmth to the sample. Go easy here to avoid adding unwanted distortion and if in doubt, go for a slightly longer release time. I used 5.5db of gain reduction.

Step 7: Now you’ve done all your processing you may want to trim your kick drum once again, maybe to add a longer tail or to shorten it a little. For my sample, I felt it was a little short and therefore lengthened it slightly.

Step 8: Thats it, you should now have the perfect kick drum for your track. Once again, remember that this is only a guideline. Hopefully this is a real hope to professional producers and amateurs also. If you have any questions please feel free to post them here, lets keep this thread spam free though!

Here’s my final kick drum sample:

So, there it is, I hope you’ve found this tutorial useful!! I’m sure the missus will be pleased to hear that you’ve now got THE best bottom end!

Tim

Thanks!

I’d love to hear some of the tracks you’ve made, using this technique. Maybe we could post a few links here [please keep it sensible] and spam free. !

Cheers.