Getting the Kick Right – Including When to Leave It Alone

Sometimes the best thing you can do to a kick is nothing.

I remember seeing an interview with engineer Marcella Araica where she talked about putting nothing on an 808.

That stayed with me.

It doesn’t mean you should never process an 808.

It means there are times when a kick already has everything the record needs.

Adding EQ, compression and saturation just because they’re available can take you further away from the sound.

The trick is knowing when to stop.

What Is the Track Built Around?

In a lot of club music, the kick is the key element.

It’s the thing you build the mix around.

But that isn’t always the case.

Sometimes it’s the vocal. Sometimes it’s the main synth line running through the whole track.

It could be the bass or any other sound carrying the record’s identity.

Whatever that main focus is, the rest of the mix has to make room for it.

When that element is the kick, you need to get its level, weight and relationship with the bass right.

If it isn’t hitting the way you want, there are a few techniques that can help.

Pultec and dbx 160x: Weight and Control

One combination I return to is a dbx 160x and Pultec EQP-1A.

Jaycen Joshua has described using a dbx 160x into a Pultec EQP-1A on a parallel channel.

He credited the chain to Bob Power and said it was passed on to him by Dave Pensado.

In Joshua’s chain, the compressor comes first, followed by the Pultec.

I’ll sometimes reverse the order and put the Pultec first, so the compressor reacts to the low end I’ve just shaped.

The Pultec gives you broad control over the bottom of the kick.

The classic move is to boost and attenuate the same low-frequency setting at the same time.

The two controls affect slightly different parts of the curve, so they don’t simply cancel each other out.

You can get a low-frequency lift with a dip higher up in the low-midrange.

That can add body while taking some of the boom out.

The dbx then controls how that weight hits and moves through the track.

Depending on the attack, release and amount of gain reduction, it can make the kick feel tighter, harder or more contained.

This combination often gets me most of the way there.

Parallel is where it really works for me.

Keep the original kick, push the second channel harder and blend it underneath.

You keep the original character but add the weight and control that are missing.

Placing the Kick with Filters

I’ll still high-pass the kick.

That could be anywhere from around 30 Hz to 65 Hz, depending on the kick and the track.

There isn’t a magic number.

At 30 Hz, you might only be removing rumble that isn’t helping the mix.

Moving the filter higher – sometimes even towards 65 Hz – can shift the kick out of the deepest part of the spectrum and leave that space for the bass, as long as the kick’s useful weight sits above the cutoff.

On another kick, the same setting could remove the part that makes it feel powerful.

You’re deciding which sound owns the bottom.

Move the filter until the low end opens up, then check that the kick hasn’t lost its authority.

You’ll feel it become more focused and present.

A resonant high-pass filter can preserve or emphasise energy around the cutoff, so you can remove the very bottom while keeping some body just above it.

That bump can be useful.

It can also create a new peak or ringing if you push it too far.

The top of the kick matters too.

Some kicks have a tap or click that reaches higher than you want.

It can get in the way of the snare, hi-hats and percussion, making the top of the mix feel crowded.

A low-pass filter lets you roll that back and bring the kick into line with the rest of the drums.

You can keep enough attack for it to speak without letting it take over the high end.

Between the high-pass and low-pass filters, you’re controlling exactly where the kick sits in the mix.

The Tape Bump

Then there’s the tape bump.

Some tape emulations can add a low-frequency head bump, soften an overly sharp transient and introduce harmonics through saturation.

Sometimes that’s all the kick needs.

It isn’t surgery. It’s colour.

A small amount can give the kick enough sauce to sit properly in the record.

Push it too far and the bottom can become soft, cloudy or smaller than it was before.

Adding Body with RBass

RBass is another way I get kicks to sit.

I’ll find the important low-frequency area of the kick and set RBass around there. Then I bring in enough to add warmth and body.

The added harmonics can make the kick feel fuller without relying completely on deep sub frequencies.

They can also help it translate on speakers that can’t reproduce the true fundamental.

The useful frequency is the one that reinforces the kick in this arrangement, not automatically the root note of the song.

It still needs to work with the bass.

Sometimes that will relate closely to the key. Sometimes the best setting is simply the one that sounds right.

You don’t normally need much.

A little can make the kick feel warm and fat. Too much can cloud the whole bottom of the track.

Change the Kick

There’s also the option of swapping it out altogether.

Sometimes you’re fighting the wrong sound.

You can keep adding EQ and compression, but if the source doesn’t suit the track, choosing a different kick may solve the problem in seconds.

Samples From Mars, Goldbaby and Drums That Knock all have kicks that can drop into a mix beautifully.

Some of the old Akai sample-library kicks hit really nicely too.

The slog is finding the right one.

A kick can sound massive while you’re auditioning it on its own and then disappear as soon as the bass comes in.

Another can sound unimpressive by itself but sit perfectly in the track.

That second kick is the one you want.

Reinforce Rather Than Replace

If you’re mixing a track for someone else, replacing the kick completely might take you too far away from the producer’s intention.

Backing it up with another sample can be the better move.

SPL DrumXchanger, Slate Digital Trigger 2 and similar tools can follow the original kick and layer another sound beneath it.

The new sample doesn’t have to replace the original.

Maybe the existing kick has the right character but needs more sub.

Maybe it has plenty of weight but needs a harder front edge.

Maybe it just needs to be more consistent.

Use the added sample to supply the missing part.

Check the timing and polarity as you go, and listen in the full mix rather than judging the layered kicks in isolation.

Two strong kick sounds can become weaker when they’re layered if their timing, pitch envelopes or waveforms work against each other.

Start with Nothing

All of these are options, not obligations.

Before reaching for anything, listen to the kick in the track.

What’s actually wrong with it?

Does it need more weight? More punch? A longer tail? A shorter one? Does it need to be more consistent – or does it simply need turning up?

And is the kick really the problem?

Sometimes the bass, synth or another instrument is taking up the space the kick needs.

Processing the kick won’t fix that.

Every move should answer a problem you can hear.

If the kick already sounds right, leave it alone.

Less is usually better.

Sometimes nothing is exactly enough.