From my years of recording kick drums, I've played with many gates, EQs, and other utility plugins from Waves, but I really still don't know how to treat acoustic kick drums. Do I use the SSL, API, VSeries, or others? What will get me that hearty bass drum sound (a bit of the click, a nice bit of tone, and a nice tail to finish it up...)?

 

Last edited: Dec 25, 2019

DBX Compressor OR Puigchild 660 Mono Compressor.

 

Where do you place your mic

?
That would be the first port of call.

 

i uses MatchEQ from Logic Pro X to get my kick sound properly

 

do you happen to know why the waves complete offline install version got deleted on the sister site after just a few minutes on monday.
was something wrong with it, should i delete it. or was i just lucky checking at just the right time?

 

Lucky timing.

 

Btw, Waves supplies manuals for:

, explaining what they are good for, including the 1176!
So maybe rtfm. lol.
Either way, I'd say mic placement and EQ are your best friends.
More so than just using a compressor, as another has initially suggested.

 

Last edited: Dec 26, 2019

EQs Options (not a chain):
API 560: for shaping/tightening the sub and accentuating the click. This is a pretty powerful shaping tool for bass drums in general.
Scheps 73/V EQ: Boost @60 Hz for nice round low end
SSL G Channel: Blue Knob, LMF:3 Button pressed, lowest frequency for low end. Green Knob for highs/click

Comps:
I don't work much with live drums and I rarely compress them on the track level. I usually just pick the right kick sample get the volume balance correct and then compress the drumbus. But if I had to compress the kick, my first choice would probably be the dbx160.

 

Last edited: Dec 25, 2019

Those plugins are just tools. You need to learn how to work with EQ and compression. Then any of them will do.

 

@Robertjackson I reckon the comp we've heard the most on acoustic kicks over the last several decades is the 1176, as I implied above.
ie. that would be the CLA76 that Waves has. The blue version.
But that's just my opinion.
Any compressor should be able to shape the sound, anyway.

 

Not according to Gearslutz tho.

 

is it a live performance? Are you concerned about microphone bleed?
In the mixing department, I like the end-all ns-1 noise gate.
With a decent 76 comp of which one can switch out many different plugin brands these days.

 

I record with multiple mics on a real kickdrum, make sure they are in phase (aligned) and then process them (EQ, saturation, parallel compression, compressor, transient shaper, etc). Batter head for transient, in-mic for body and out-mic for lows and tail (simplified). Subkick if needed, for that sub lows.

The better the mic'ing (angle, proximity, distance, axis/off-axis), mic choice, etc the less you usually need to add in post. If I add EQ, compression and saturation - less is usually needed when everything is sounding right from the source. It's also relative to what else I have in the mix.
I rarely use gates (probably hence to what I wrte above).

When designing and synthesizing kicks I go about the same process when layering (the X- and Y approach regarding time and frequency content). Transient, pitch envelope umph, body harmonics, rest sine frequency, noise and room tail, etc.

Edit: If I understand you correctly, if you want an "acoustic" kick you might want to have some bleed from the other mics, or bleed from the toms, snare, cymbals, room, etc into your kick mics.

 

Last edited: Dec 26, 2019

what I like to do and it makes it pretty easy to get the sound you want from your Kick

I use SD3 and do my general mix in this and then create an fx channel with BX Console SSL 4000 G (The waves version will work too i imagine) and send the dry kick signal to this. then just mix the 2 bringing in more or less of the effect until I get it sounding the way I want. initial tweaking of the SSL can be time-consuming but once you get your sweet spot from then on its really easy to just adjust more or less fader on the channel

 

Jeez. If one wants an acoustic drum then one records an acoustic drum (and process it with any Waves plugin that is required).

 

Which is of course the VEQ-4 because of it's warmff.

And after his analogue mixing technique he uses the maag 40k band to brighten all the dullness up again.

 

OK let me just give one advice: don't do anything unless you actually know the reason you're doing it.

Most of the time when I mix acoustic drums I don't even compress the different drums individually, just use a parallel comp aux on the whole kit. Don't start piling up compressors and transient shapers and saturators just because someone else does. It's more likely to fuck up the sound than help.

If you don't "hear" the kick enough, try boosting a bell somewhere between 4khz-10khz. If the low end is too overwhelming, use a high pass filter around 40-60hz. If you need more impact, boost somewhere between 50hz-150hz. If it's too boomy, cut around 200hz-300hz. If it's too muddy, cut around 400hz-600hz. If it's kinda "nasally" or basketballish cut around 700-1000hz. But if the acoustic kick drum sounds good on its own, don't just process it for the sake of it. A lot of pros don't.

The SSL, V, API, and R eqs are all great for the job.

 

if you want it I can find links for you. I think I have leeched it on my account.