ultra fast kick problems

[Mighty_Ravendark]

Hi all,
I got stuck a little bit in a project I'm mixing.

The reason are the drums. The drummer is one of this ultra fast, 250bpm blast / double kick players.

I usually don't have an issue with mixing kick drums that I like. But in this case, I don't get the things right.

Once I found the sound I wanna hear (a sound that kicks ass in slower parts), the ultra fast ones are just too boomy. At this point I get a constant "boom" sound in the low end that masks the bass guitar to much in my opinion.

If I reduce the "boom" sound in the low-end (with a high pass filter / multiband compressor below 100Hz) I get this crappy brutal death metal kick sound that sounds like every hit will pierce a needle through my eardrums.

Then I try to balance out the highs to get a warm and smooth sound again..
But I ended up with a kick sound that sounds like shit.

I did a search throughout the web (and this forum) but didn't found a way to solve this.

To give you an example what I'm trying to reach:


I'm looking for this pretty thin and smooth kick sound that don't masks the low end in fast parts, but still blends through the mix and sounds nice in slower parts.

For metal, I really like Steven Slate Drums. I use them for about two years now and I'm pretty pleased with them. But I don't get them work in that really fast parts. They sound too aggressive if I reduce the lows a bit.

While I'm looking for an answer that solves this problem, I was wondering how you guys dial with sampled double kick parts beyond 200bpm?
Do you also get this constant boom in the low end? If yes, what are you doing to solve this?

All the best,
MR

 

[amarshism]

automate and use a multiband comp

 

[Heabow]

Ultra fast kicks don't have much low-end. Maybe try with a bit less low-end and focus on a good sounding 'clicky' attack. The bass guitar can hit lower frequencies than the kick does. Side-chain comp could solve your problem. Also automation is your friend

 

[Morgan C]

Post a clipppppppppppp

 

[Mighty_Ravendark]

Thanks for the fast answers and the tips. I will continue working on this once I finished work and let you know the results

Thanks again.

 

[mickrich]

I have had this before and used a multiband compressor to sort it out.
Try setting multi band like this:
Use only the low end band and bypass the others.
Set attack time so single kicks get through but set release time so when there are fast double kicks the multiband will start working from the second kick hit on.
I hope that makes sense.

 

[Firaxis]

You could try a compressor with a slow release time so individual kicks are compressed nicely but the comp stays on through the faster kicks ducking them in volume throughout the fast sections.

 

[Darren "Jenk" Jenkins]

Automation works best.

 

[Kohugaly]

Automate Sustain on Transient designer

 

[Nimvi]

Another +1 for automation and multiband comp. If the situation is "Something sounds good in part A but doesn't sound good in part B", the answer is almost always automation imo (if it is tracked consistently). The added bonus is that your track sounds less static, and moves more with the changes in intensity.

The idea with the slow release comp works well too in my experience.

 

[amarshism]

+1 to micks tip, thats what i meant when i said use a multiband comp but he just spilt the beans

 

[Uros]

don't be lazy, automation is the best in this case IMO.