Kick layering techniques

Discussion in 'how to make "that" sound' started by monochrom3, Nov 21, 2015.

  1. monochrom3

    monochrom3 Ultrasonic

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    Hey guys,

    Just wondering what kinda technique you're using to get a decent kick drum?
    I've seen different techniques over the years. Some guys prefer 2 samples, one with a nice body and a rolled-off top end and the other with a hard-hitting "thump" or "click" and a rolled-off bottom end. This is probably the most-used technique for layering a kick.

    However, recently I've seen guys using 3 different samples - one for the body (frequencies from 30 to, let's say, 500Hz), one for the "thump" (500 to 2kHz) and one for the click (2 to 19kHz). It seems logical that using 3 different samples in 3 different frequency ranges should give you even more control over the tonal characteristics of your kick. But is it a better technique overall?

    I'm excited to hear your opinions :)
     
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  3. Mr_Amine

    Mr_Amine Rock Star

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  4. Baxter

    Baxter Audiosexual

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    I generally use 3-5 layers (sub/bottom, body, knack, transient/click/noise, reverb/noise reverb, etc). Each layer is processed individually, to make each sound sit well together and compensate each other. Then the summed group gets processed as a whole to finish it off.
     
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  5. xbitz

    xbitz Rock Star

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  6. JoeR.

    JoeR. Member

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    use Your ears! your creativity! be orginal! try make your kicks the way you like! Dont look on some stupid techniques! if You want make a kick with 100 layers! if sound good?? why not??? bests.try try try….
     
  7. Willum

    Willum Rock Star

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    Rather than trying to make someone else's kick samples fit into your track why not make your own kicks. All you need is a drum synth and some knowledge of how to make kicks.

    Take a look at this,
    its a sample from the Dance Music Productions video http://www.dancemusicproduction.com/index.php/tutorials/fundamentals/fundamental-1-drums-programming .

    Grab yourself a copy of this and the Waldorf Attack drum synth and make all the kicks you will ever need. Its much easier to adjust the settings for a kick you made, to fit it into a track, than it is to try and fix a sample to fit in your track.
     
  8. BumBcL0t

    BumBcL0t Producer

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    zoom really close into the waveforms when you're layering kicks to check the phase
     
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