that 'fat' kickdrum sound

[seedsofvengeance]

hey im having trouble getting the kind of kick drum im looking for. the sound that im getting is loud and booming with lots of presence but its lacking the kind of pitter-patter sound. it seems as if there isnt enough "thwap" to the sound. maybe im speaking complete gibberish but if you listen to a song here: www.soundclick.com/kristrindl as opposed to something better produced, for example the black dahlia murders kick drum on their new album miasma you would know what i am talking about. i think it might be an issue of compression but it could also be equalization or just the way its being recorded.

 

[Keessi]

The only way to have the bassdrum sounding like bdm, is to trigger it.

Take a good bassdrum mic(D6/d112 or something similar), stick it in your bassdrum(like 10-15cm away from the batter head, pointing at the beater.) Get a wooden beater(or plastic), tune the drum well, USE A PILLOW FOR DAMPENING(!!), hit the fucker as hard as you can.

That's how I do a sample.

What I do afterwards is:

I cut off the lowest lows(20hz-50hz) and have it to peak at about 80hz. I cut from 200-1,5khz everything. The more, the merrier . Then I take a highshelf eq from about 2khz and boost it enough to bring the attack in your face. When I hear enough slap vs. oomph, I get a limiter to smash the sample about attenuating at 6-10db. The sound, I'm gettin here is kicking arse!

If you've got an alesis dm5, Try the 008 spdmtl sample. blend that with the sample you've done.

hope this helps!

 

[musickey]

if you've got an alesis dm5, Try the 008 spdmtl sample. blend that with the sample you've done.

hope this helps!

LOL Thats the sample my drummer uses live.

 

[Keessi]

that's the sample, thousands of death metal drummers use live

 

[Vuts]

it seems to be a problem with the link
can you pls repost some of these samples!

i believe my drummer will be very happy!

thanks

 

[James Murphy]

that speedmetal sample is one of the worst ones in that box for any kind of metal (or music, lol) at all.... there's a few in there that are decent, but they need EQing.... and if you turn off the velocity based multi-sampling then there's no reason to use a compressor at all.

 

[Matt Crooks]

James - on the triggered samples, even without velocity mapping, can you not still use the compressor to help shape the sound of the drum? Meaning with certain compressor settings different aspects of the sample will be accentuated, even if they're the same everytime.

For example, a slow attack/release, high threshold, high ratio will make the drum "thinner" because it will compress the sustain of the tone.

 

[Keessi]

I mean, I limit the sample I made. for the sound. It has a more defined attack

 

[James Murphy]

you can do anything you want but you don't need to do it as a matter of course

 

[Ermz]

I mean, I limit the sample I made. for the sound. It has a more defined attack

That's really strange. Logic, and experience tells me that limiting a kick sample would kill the attack, if anything, and bring out more of the tone of the drum.

I mean that's certainly how I've achieved hip-hop kick sounds in the past. Limiting a metal bass drum sample is usually one of the last things on my mind.

But if it works for you, that's great, and I guess another thing to wrap my head around.

 

[RootBoundApollo]

here's some trigger samples of Andy's (as far as I've been told) that somone posted a while back. Personally I don't use them because they're his work (no offense to Andy, they sound phenomenal) and I like to make my own stuff but if you wanna take a look I don't see any reason not to help you out

http://andysneap.com/media/drum samples/

 

[006]

Moonlapse - he might be using it very lightly just to get as much volume as possible. Basically maxing it out but not actually limiting it to the point where the attack is gone, like you mentioned and I feel the same way about (the loss of attack). While some things may sound retarded, what everyone has to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to do anything in recording. Only efficient or retarded ways. So if it works, but seems like it's a dumb way to do something, whateva.

~e.a

 

[James Murphy]

Keessi you should look into the SPL Transient Designer. a limiter is the best way to lose your attack, not shape it. whatever works for you though.

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Ill agree with James, the transient designers are really useful for shaping drums

 

[Ermz]

I'm not sure if it qualifies as a 'transient designer', but digitalfishphones dominion is a free tool that can shape drum sounds adequately.

 

[James Murphy]

click pic for details.

 

[seedsofvengeance]

thanks for the replies/help! i ended up using andy's sample and just changing it a little; its the exact sound i was looking for, obviously...im too lazy to redo the drums on those tracks i posted haha and my drumagog trial is over so ill post some once i write new ones. thanks again!

 

[CJWall]

I'm not sure if it qualifies as a 'transient designer', but digitalfishphones dominion is a free tool that can shape drum sounds adequately.

+1, I love what that little plug can do. I believe it involves the same idea... and damn, it's free!