IFX to make a kick drum sample sound more rounded and punchy

elvisjohndowson · Post by **elvisjohndowson** » Sun May 11, 2008 8:31 pm

Hi,
I'm trying to figure out how to make a kick drum sample sound more rounded and punchy.

FYI, I am not using the default OASYS ROM samples for the kick drum. I am using a BFD2 Rogers XP8 kick drum. The BFD2 drum samples have a more low freq content and recorded at a high resolution. However, the drum samples are all natural sounding, unprocessed acoustic samples.

So I have a situation where I have really detailed kick drum samples, but it's all acoustic.

I want to try to make the kick drum sound more rounded and punchy. The only IFX (on the OASYS) that I have applied is a stereo compressor. (BTW, I don't know how to use a stereo compressor properly to get a punchy kick effect. If someone could help me out it will be great.)

The next question, is there any other IFX that I could chain the stereo compressor to, to get a more rounded and punch kick drum sound?

Best regards,

Elvis Dowson

Daz · Post by **Daz** » Sun May 11, 2008 9:04 pm

Round and punchy ... those are two quite different things, to expect from the same sample possibly. Maybe the answer is to layer up a couple of samples that have those characteristics between them. A compressor could take things either way depending on how you setup the Attack, so maybe you're better off playing with layering a couple of samples and playing with their tuning too to get the right sound. For punchy maybe you want the attack of one sample and for the roundness the post attack part of another sample that is fuller. A kick is really two sounds, the snap of the skin as it's hit and then the resonance of the shell.

Is this in a mix or just something you're creating prior to recording ?

Daz.

EJ2 · Post by **EJ2** » Sun May 11, 2008 11:31 pm

In combi mode, I usually play around with mix and EQ settings, then chain Stereo Chorus to Stereo Dyna Compressor or Limiter or all three.

elvisjohndowson · Post by **elvisjohndowson** » Mon May 12, 2008 12:58 am

Daz wrote:
Is this in a mix or just something you're creating prior to recording ?

Daz.

It's something that I am trying to create standalone, prior to recording.

Daz · Post by **Daz** » Tue May 13, 2008 12:12 am

I've a confession to make

LOL, once when in a really hurry to complete a song I took on of the Oasys that I thought was nicely balanced, and turned off the Dkit IFX option and just routed the whole thing through a single IFX, namely the Tube PreAmp Modelling. A gross hack but it actually sounded pretty good. Ever since then I've been using that IFX (more judiciously!) for all kinds of things and I highly recommend exploring that. Try punting your kick through one too, maybe it will give it the oomph you desire.

Daz.

jg:: · Post by **jg::** » Tue May 13, 2008 1:28 am

Confession time, Daz?

The Tube Preamp Modelling is a good effect to try out, yes.

And note that several of the factory Combis use just a single effect or effect chain for the whole drumkit, and they sound great! One of my favourites - I've forgotten which one at the moment - puts the whole kit through a Rotary Speaker, even. There's no rules.

jg::

elvisjohndowson · Post by **elvisjohndowson** » Tue May 13, 2008 6:59 pm

How can I just try to get a punchy sound? Forget about it being rounded, 'cos in the original song drum track that I am analyzing, I don't think that the drum sounds are layered.

Daz · Post by **Daz** » Tue May 13, 2008 8:01 pm

See the posts above re compression etc.

You'd be surprised regarding the layering ... you might not hear it, but that doesn't mean it isn't being used to get punch, roundness or anything else. The better it is done the LESS likely you are to be able to discern the two parts. In fact unless this is straight rock or something I strongly suspect layering.

Plug the compressor into the sequencer and play your kick sample through it. Experiment with the settings, there's only 3 or 4 in any compressor, so you'll soon become familiar with what actually happens. The settings will vary according to the sample there are no prescribe values.

Did you try layering or using the compressor or the tube preamp or some combination of all three ?

With your sample try pushing the start offset forwards a little too. Maybe the punch you want isn't there because the sample is taking it's time to hit that peak. If you can tie that to velocity.

Without having the benefit of having the sample in question here or knowing the track you're talking about (Timbaland/Republic ?) it's all a little abstract.

What have you been trying yourself ?

Are you having fun ?

Daz.

kenackr · Post by **kenackr** » Tue May 13, 2008 8:02 pm

Elvis,

You're on the right track but a multi band compressor will give you much more of what you're looking for in the area of punch. Listen to the kick unaffected and see if you hear beater slap somewhere in the 1 to 2 khz area. If it's there, you can also compress that range too.

Ken

Daz · Post by **Daz** » Wed May 14, 2008 2:50 am

http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/ ... ips-154042

elvisjohndowson · Post by **elvisjohndowson** » Wed May 14, 2008 6:41 pm

Nice tutorial, Daz!

Kicks and snares require punch so compress, compress, compress. The way to achieve that distinctive crack is to set your attack time to 3-6ms, allowing the sharp transient through before the signal gets attenuated. Then, raising the ratio and lowering the threshold will further accentuate the crack in relation to the rest of the kick.