There are a few ways that you can make your kick drum sound good, and with minimal effort on your part too! Start by getting the positioning right in the room. Use a tom to find what position in the room sounds best.
Ideally, you want a space that resonates without the sound being too muddy. The best sound you can get in the studio, the better your kick drum will sound on the finished track!
Next, tune your drum to the pitch you want and the correct resonant. You can enlist the help of a professional here if you aren’t sure how to tune your drums.
We’ve got an entire article dedicated to tuning your drums and the best apps you can use; give that a read here if you aren’t sure!
Tuning them ensures you get an accurate and clear sound, which is what we all want from our kick drums!
Selecting the right mics will also help your kick drum sound better. Select the mics that will pick up the sound and transfer it with little distortion for a clear sound that's free of any static.
You must place your mics in the correct place, ensuring that mics surrounding the drum will pick up the sound and deliver that clear kick drum.
Playing with the EQ and compression will also help to make your kick drum sound better.
You need to allow space for it in the mix so that other sounds don’t drown it out. Apply a hi-pass filter to everything except the kick, and you should notice a difference.
Now, this won’t be best for every mix! Allow yourself plenty of time to get to grips with your kick drum and find what works for you and your mix.
You can find out more about creating the perfect kick drum here!
How do you get punchy drums?
There are a few methods you can try to get punchy drums onto your mix! One of these is to use your EQ (more on this later).
You can also use compression, transient designers, and volume automation. It also helps to record your drum sound as best and clear as possible using some of the tips we suggested earlier. Preparation is often key to punchy drums.
Voice automation isn’t the most common method, but there are fantastic levels of customization and control that allow you to enhance your drum kick.
You can use the settings on your mixing software or EQ systems to layer compressed and uncompressed mixes with each other for a punchy drum sound.
It's a fantastic method for enhancing the position of the drums and can work well for acoustic drums and kick drums.
You can also use compression to deliver punchy drums. Any compressor will work, and it's fairly easy to do!
Simply set the release to automatic, ratio to four, and bring The threshold down to roughly two dB of gain reduction. You can adjust this if needs be to find the level that suits you best.
This method works great on EDM tracks to feel the kick drum and have a good punch.
Finally, transient designers can be used to deliver punchy drums. It works similarly to compression, but transient designers don’t have a fixed threshold, and you can offer level-independent dynamic processing of transients.
There're fantastic designer tools on the market that allow you to manipulate the attack and sustain it for microscopic control. It means you can tailor every part of the kick as you see fit!
You can increase the drum attack without making the lows sound too overwhelming or boomy, which, as we know, can ruin a track in some cases.
The punchy drum gods over at Pro Audio Files go into far more detail about all the points we have mentioned, be sure to give them a read if you want some more advice!
How do I make my kick hit harder?
To make your kick harder, you can use some of the suggestions we mentioned above. When making your drums punchier, you often get the kick to hit harder without realizing it!
You can also adjust the saturation, layering, EQ, and sidechain compression to deliver hard-kicking drums!
Saturation works to enhance the frequencies that your kick drum already has!
You can use free plugins to achieve this, and turning down the gain allows you to hear the coloration of the sound rather than simply increasing the volume. Here you can deliver some hard-hitting kicks from your drum!
Layering your kicks isn’t always essential, but it can help your kick drum. Sound selection is vital when using layering to avoid any uneven volume levels in your track.
You can also bring in the EQ here and create space for other elements of your track. We have a whole section on using EQ to deliver hard and punchy kicks, so be sure to check that out!
We recommend knocking your dB down a few times when using your EQ; it can help your kick punch through the mix more for those hard-hitting kicks!
There are plenty of sidechain compressors you can use, and they are usually built into mixing software. Take the audio from your sidechain trigger that plays the same pattern as the kick.
You can then take it from the kick and hear it during the bassline instead! This allows the kick to pop through the entire mix more and seem harder than it previously did!
We have used all of these methods to make our kicks harder and picked these tips up (and more) from the legends at EDM tips. If you want more information or just to see where we learned our best tricks, give them a read here.
For all these plugins and add ons in mixing software, there is a wealth of online tutorials and videos that can help beginners navigate the mixing world with ease!
Will’s video detailing the best free plugins is a fantastic starting point and one we revisit from time to time too! Check it out here!
How do you EQ a punchy kick?
Using the high/high-mid EQ boosts can help to deliver a punchy kick! Boosting up to 8kHz can provide a musical sound that makes your kick drum sound more punchy than before. We see many mixers create the perfect, punchy kick, and it can be done easily!
Using an SSL Channel Strip, you can track the volume and crank 8kHz until you get the desired amount of kick you want, set it, and then forget about it!
When looking at other music samples with a punchy kick, we can see that the drum starts around 1kHz and works up to 14-15kHz!
Take a look at some more information about SSL Channel Strips; here, it's super helpful and packed with tips for creating punchy and deep kicks!
Now, you might be wondering, how high should I go? Unfortunately, there isn't one answer that fits all! How much you should boost your sound with an EQ will depend on the source signal and genre you are mixing.
The best advice we can give you is to go for it! Don’t be afraid to push it! Some of the best drum tones have been pushed hard with an SSL EQ. Crank it to 8kHz, and why not keep going until you hit the perfect and punchy kick!
Head to Section 2 here to find out more about using EQ to deliver those punchy kicks!
Should you put reverb on a kick?
Putting reverb on a kick drum can be done, but you should consider it carefully when using it. More often than not, it’s best to leave your drum kick clean and dry, especially if you are making dance mixes.
The same goes for hip-hop and punk; it’s best to avoid placing a reverb on all drums, not just your kick. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use reverb on a kick though, in some cases, it can add depth to your track.
For example, adding reverb to your kickdrums when creating stadium rock tracks will add to the sound and work well.
There are no hard and fast rules here, though; putting reverb on a kick drum is your choice, and whether or not you should depend on the track you are making as well as your personal preference.
When deciding whether to put reverb on your kick or not, consider where else you have used it on the track. If you have used it on everything, then the sounds can all blur together and offer no contrast, leaving you with sometimes a muddy track.
If you decide to put reverb on your kick, we recommend using a send level of -10db to -20db. Anywhere in this range will create a sense of depth to your track; why not play around with it and find the right level for you.
Heading closer towards the -10db range will push your kick further back into the mix; you can even go higher if you feel!
Opting for the lower send level will bring your drums closer and can emphasize them, especially if they are currently getting lost in the track!
Using reverb can do wonders for your kick drum in your tracks and is worth experimenting with, especially if you want your drums to be pushed further into the track or brought forward.
It's down to personal preference, but we would avoid using too much reverb in your track, as it can impact the track’s clarity.
Again, the legends at Pro Audio Files have some excellent tips about putting reverb on kick; give them a quick read here if you want some more information!