What is your favourite technique

using VST effects

...

why not just use an 808 vst clone or an 808 sample? what effects would you put on a kick drum to make it "sound like an 808" (given that 808's can make lots of different kick sounds depending on the settings). methinks this thread needs a rethink.

  BCM said:

why not just use an 808 vst clone or an 808 sample? what effects would you put on a kick drum to make it "sound like an 808" (given that 808's can make lots of different kick sounds depending on the settings). methinks this thread needs a rethink.

I didn't explain this very well.

I have an 808 bass drum, I'm just interested in how people process their kicks (EQs/distortions/compressors etc)

I wanted to keep an 808 bass drum sounding like an 808 then I would leave it dry or perhaps with just a little compression as the real thing can subtly thwack those low end frequencies and clip a digital recording if you're not careful.

I think this would be better just to ask how folk like to process thier bass drums sounds in general.

This could get quite lengthy for Machinedrum owners. :confused:

ok right - well, i don't use VST's any more, but on my hardware stuff I tend to stay away from processing kick drums too much. often better left as they are apart from maybe a bit of eq to add some depth or volume to the bottom end. compression can also be used on kick drums to make them more "punchy"...and yeah, as you said, distortion for that gabber kick drum sound if that's what you're after.

Kjaerhus Golden Compressor or Voxengo Marquis Compressor.

It really depends on the sound you're going for.

For example, in a song with long pads, I like to cut the bass drum as low as possible, sometimes below 300Hz.

A lot of the times while I'm working on a track I'll look at each individual instrument/sound on a spectrum analyzer, and decide based on that where I want to EQ things.

Also, I generally tend to try and keep the bass drum out of the reverb, I only put the high frequency percussion through reverb.

Really it's a matter of taste, and experimentation, to see where you want your track to go.

I kind of run my entire drum machines through the same effects for the time being. usually just some reverb, some times some distortion. Usually EQ up the low and/or the high a bit.

  Glass Plate said:

I kind of run my entire drum machines through the same effects for the time being. usually just some reverb, some times some distortion. Usually EQ up the low and/or the high a bit.

definite

endorphin.

i rarely process bass drums, outside of eq/compression, typically if i want a different sound ill layer it ontop, i find that using fx on the bd itself will very often compromise the kick/punch/jab

The only thing that I usually use on the kick is EQ. A good trick is to sharply roll off any subsonics that you can't hear but can screw up your gain structure, cause compressors to over-compress, etc.

My favorite EQ is the Waves Renaissance and for subsonic rolloff I usually set the lowest band to high pass mode, as steep as the curve will go at around 30-36hz. Then I can boost in the 60-80 hz range and get the kick to be really big without totally mucking up the bottom end of a track.

I also sometimes cut a little between 150-250hz if things are getting a bit too "woofy".

parallel compression

  Tamas said:

It really depends on the sound you're going for.

 

For example, in a song with long pads, I like to cut the bass drum as low as possible, sometimes below 300Hz.

 

A lot of the times while I'm working on a track I'll look at each individual instrument/sound on a spectrum analyzer, and decide based on that where I want to EQ things.

 

Also, I generally tend to try and keep the bass drum out of the reverb, I only put the high frequency percussion through reverb.

 

Really it's a matter of taste, and experimentation, to see where you want your track to go.

I'm sorry if I reveal myself to be a noob here, but does Ableton have a spectrum analyzer or do i need a separate plugin for that? when people talk about EQing a kickdrum it sounds scientific and I don't know what they're talking about!

  Hanratty said:

  Tamas said:

It really depends on the sound you're going for.

 

For example, in a song with long pads, I like to cut the bass drum as low as possible, sometimes below 300Hz.

 

A lot of the times while I'm working on a track I'll look at each individual instrument/sound on a spectrum analyzer, and decide based on that where I want to EQ things.

 

Also, I generally tend to try and keep the bass drum out of the reverb, I only put the high frequency percussion through reverb.

 

Really it's a matter of taste, and experimentation, to see where you want your track to go.

 

 

I'm sorry if I reveal myself to be a noob here, but does Ableton have a spectrum analyzer or do i need a separate plugin for that? when people talk about EQing a kickdrum it sounds scientific and I don't know what they're talking about!

Ableton Live 7 has a spectrum analyzer called Spectrum. Find it in the audio effects.

What about layering an 808 kick with a 909 for a bit of that quicker attack/pop? What are thoughts on layering a kick with a sine wave?

an 808 kick is basically a sine wave isn't it?

  Berk said:

an 808 kick is basically a sine wave isn't it?

no

right