4 Types of Kick Drums and How to Mix Them

If the two elements do occupy the same frequency space, it might be worth picking a different kick or bass sound. Short bass kicks should have a similar audio aesthetic to acoustic kicks, but I find that a lot of kicks in hip hop and trap have a grittier, more low-end sound. When mixing these kicks I tend to pull my low pass filter down to around 12 – 10 kHz to give it a slightly warmer sound and to remove any redundant brightness.

Compression, on the other hand, is about controlling the kick drum’s dynamics. Now, let’s transition into perfecting that kick sound and understanding its relationship with the bass. Moreover, digital platforms like DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) gave producers an in-depth visual of the kick’s waveform.

How to mix a neo-soul kick

As a rule of thumb I like to leave a bit of headroom between 0 dB and -6 dB with the kick never reaching beyond -3db. Make sure that your kick isn’t taking up too much volume in this region for a more fluid mixing process. Every kick drum is different, so try to use your ear as much as possible when doing volume adjustments. The click is responsible for a lot of the attack on these drums, and the lack of sub to mid frequencies gives the kick a unique dynamic and character.

Even though these kicks aren’t anywhere near as boomy or weighty as other kicks, they can be equally effective and punchy when mixed and used correctly. It’s easy to spot an acoustic kick by listening for the amount of presence in the skin on the drum during playback. Acoustic kicks tend to have a higher amount of slap and click than most other kick drum types and aren’t significantly boomy in the low to the mid-end range.

This can either come from a bass element, or from a bass-heavy kick drum, as is the case in this example. I generally find that trap and hip hop kick drums have a decent amount of grit, color, and body in the low to mid-range. These types of kicks are usually very full and have a well-rounded low and top-end. A lot of techno songs feature a loud, thudding kick drum that is usually paired with an overdriven bassline and minimal top-end instrumentation. As such, the kick drum is more apparent in these tracks than in busier styles of music such as jazz, trance, or even hip hop. Whether you’re synthesizing a bass using a plugin like Element 2.0 or working with a bass sample dropped into a sampler, you can modify the volume envelope of the sound to make room for your kick.

It’s a dynamic force 一 setting the rhythm and the overall mood, carving out its own space in the mix. Whether you prefer a punchy attack or a mellow thud, adjusting the pedal’s tension and angle can help achieve your desired sound. To truly master drums, one must understand the unique sonic characteristics and roles of each component. They offer endless creative possibilities, letting you mold and craft the kick sound in unique ways. To master this technique, pay attention to the tonal characteristics of each sample, and make sure they complement each other and the overall vibe of the track.

Compression is your other best friend

Let’s take this recording, which I’ve shown you before—it comes from my “demoing plug-ins” session. Here is a static mix with minimal processing (like, one EQ on the snare, one on the room mics), and some sample augmentation (on the snare). It’s a high class sound, and it definitely cuts through inferior speakers, but I’ve purposely made things hard on myself in this example with multiple deep kicks and a deep growling bass. Once you get going on a mix, a specific reference track can be extremely helpful. At the beginning part of the song, I’ll often hear the static mix and think of an appropriate reference tune. I recommend you give this—or a similar technique—a try and see how it influences your production.

One of the foundational techniques to achieve a deeper kick is by layering multiple samples. Sidechain compression is a popular technique (where the bass ducks every time the kick hits) that lets the kick shine through. A well-balanced kick drum (and percussion section) is the result of careful EQing and thoughtful compression.

• One of house music’s key characteristics is its constant four-on-the-floor pattern.
• On the flip side, a slight boost around the punchy mid frequencies can make your kick more present in the mix.
• In contrast, additive EQ involves boosting the level of frequency content to enhance desirable characteristics.
• Removing these low-end frequencies makes it much easier to mix these kicks when played in quick successions, and will allow them to cut through complex parts of your arrangements.
• Some music producers also employ a secondary microphone inside the drum or at the resonant head.

Now let’s take a look at how we can EQ each one of these 4 types of kick drums correctly, and go over some necessary really helpful tips that will help you do that. This conflict can cause your mix to sound muddy and can detract from the bounce or dynamic of your track’s groove. These instances happen a lot when producers layer kicks with an 808, which has an equally strong low end, but with a much longer tail. Because these kicks have a lot of information in their low to mid-range, they can often clash with other instruments in this frequency range in your mix. A lot of boom-bap and trap is created using sampled kicks from live recordings of older music.

percussion instruments, rhythm and music theory.

There’s no shortage of kick samples available online, and with a virtual fingerstyle bass instrument like Bass Fingers, you have access to a playable library of 15.5 GB of hand-crafted bass samples. Both basslines you heard in the previous audio example were created using Bass Fingers. But a sub bass is usually not enough to get that solid sound that has the punch and lushness to it. A combination of one sub bass and 2-3 additional bass layers is what I usually go for to make up a good bass.

The kick drum is often considered the backbone of a musical track, setting its pace and driving its rhythm. This guide will show you the essential steps for how to EQ drums, outlining the key frequencies for each sound in your drum kit, both electronic drums and anstam acoustic kits. A kick isn’t just low-end information; the attack happens in the midrange, where lots of other instruments and vocals live.