9 Pro Tips For Mixing Kick Drum

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9 Pro Tips For Mixing Kick Drum

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Sundown Sessions (https://sundownsessionsstudio.com/author/sdsadmin/)
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The kick drum is an integral piece to master when mixing a song. It often serves as the Industry Insights
heartbeat that keeps all other elements glued together forward and creates a foundation for (Https://Sundownsessionsstudio.Com/Category/Industry-
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Mixing Tips
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Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions around properly mixing the kick drum and
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it’s not given nearly enough attention in the mix stage. So, we’ve dedicated this entire post to
helping up and coming engineers master professional tricks for getting the kick to sit in a mix. Music Business Tips
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Music Licensing
1. Remove Unnecessary With EQ (Https://Sundownsessionsstudio.Com/Category/Music-
Licensing/)
The usual approach when using EQ (https://sundownsessionsstudio.com/parametric-eq- Music Reads

plugins/) on any instrument is to start by removing unnecessary content before you add
Reads/)
anything. Things aren’t any di erent with kick but there generally shouldn’t be too much that
needs to be removed. Piano
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A common area to cause problems is the 400Hz – 500Hz Plugins And VSTs
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range. This is an area where unnecessary frequency build up
And-Vsts/)
can cause a boxy, almost cardboard sound. Cutting it out with
an EQ that has a fairly tight bandwidth can help bring out the Promotions
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more pleasing areas.
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AM.png) (Https://Sundownsessionsstudio.Com/Category/Music-
The 400Hz-500Hz is a Another area that’s up for debate between engineers is cutting Recording-Tips/)
common area to cut
out low end content with a high pass lter. Although, this may Songwriting
content.
seem surprising for a bass heavy instrument, there can still be (Https://Sundownsessionsstudio.Com/Category/Songwriting/)
unnecessary content in the extreme lows.

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Placing a high pass lter just before your kick drums rst sub-
Vocal Recording
harmonic can do a lot to tighten up the sound of it when mixing. (Https://Sundownsessionsstudio.Com/Category/Vocal-
This will usually be no higher than 55hz at the very most. In some Recording/)
situations it won’t work but it’s a useful trick when it does.
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content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-
Shot-2019-05-27-at-
2. Enhance With EQ
1.51.24-AM.png)
Using a High-Pass lter
to tighten up the kick.
Once you’ve gone through and removed content that’s hurting the
mix, it’s time to enhance the sound of your kick drum. You can shape the kick by adding EQ in
areas that are having a positive e ect on it’s sound.
Studiotemplates Privacy - Terms

@studiotemplates
The 50-60 Hz range gives thump in a kick drum and boom in

a bassline. Too little will result in less weight or depth, but too
much will result in a flabby mix
#Studiotemplates #musicproductiontips #abletonlive
#cubase #flstudio #musicproducer #musicproduction
#musicstudio #mixing
2:56 AM · Sep 19, 2018
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The rst area to boost is in the 50Hz – 80Hz range. This area is the sub-harmonics of your kick
that are often felt rather than heard. Moving up, the 100Hz-250Hz range where you’ll often
nd the fundamental frequency of the kick and body of its tone.
Finally the upperange has important content as well. Try searching in and around 3khz-8khz
for the actual attack of the beater hitting the skin. Where you boost in this area depends on
what style of kick you’re going for. It can really help de ne it in a dense mix.
The video below is a nice quick crash course in what was just talked about when it comes to
mixing kick drum with EQ.
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Mix-U - How To EQ A Kick Drum
3. Use Compression

Understanding how to use compression when mixing any instrument is di cult and a kick
drum is no exception. Your attack and release times are integral to shaping its dynamics with
this tool.
Think of each kick drum hit as two separate parts. The rst is the initial sound of the beater
hitting the skin, followed by the resonant tone of the drum.
If you want to mix the kick drum in a way that has more punch, use an attack time of 20-
40ms. This allows the initial attack of the kick to pass through and compresses the resonance.
On the other hand setting a quick attack and a release of 20-40ms will clamp down on the
beater noise and give the kick more body.
Use your threshold and ratio settings to adjust how much compression you want. A little can
go a long way however and I wouldn’t suggest more than 6db of gain reduction max. Check
out the video below for some additional tips on using compression when mixing kick drum.
Drum Compression Basics: Creating Punchy Drums with Hannes Bieger
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4. Use Triggers

There’s a lot of stigma around using triggers on a drum set. However, done properly a
triggered can be extremely transparent and really help your kick drum to sit in a mix.
Using software such as Steven Slate’s Trigger is

prominent technique in contemporary music
production and nothing to be ashamed of. Try to treat
the triggered samples as an augmentation of the
original kick however and not a replacement.
(https://sundownsessionsstudio.com/wp-Don’t use just one trigger sound either. Lightly combine

content/uploads/2019/05/Steven- the sound of several distinct samples, each on their
Slate-Trigger.jpg)
Steven Slate’s Trigger is a useful own fader to allow you to blend between them. In this
tool when mixing kick drum. way they act almost as an EQ, each bringing out a
certain avour when mixing your kick drum.
5. Mix Your Bass Guitar Properly

content/uploads/2019/05/Bass-Guitar.jpeg)
Sometimes the thing that may give you the most trouble mixing
a kick has nothing to do with the drums. Because the bass and
kick operate largely in the same frequency spectrum, they can
easily contradict each other.
Always make sure you have a good dynamic balance between

the two instruments. You will also want to use EQ to shape the two around one another. If
you have a bass guitar with a big boost in the 100hz-200hz range, don’t expect your mix to
bene t from boosting the kick in the same area.
You may have to sacri ce part of one instruments frequency content for the other, but don’t
be discouraged. These types of sacri ces go unnoticed in a mix as the other instrument lls in
the empty space.
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6. Proper Mix Buss Compression

A mix buss compressor that’s used wrong can really take away from your kick drums punch
and power. Using an extremely fast attack time is often not preferred as it cuts back on the
start of any transient elements.
Instead, using an attack time of 10ms-30ms will allow for that initial attack of the kick to go
untouched. The compressor can then take care of the non-rhythmic elements and glue the
rest of the track together.
7. Properly EQ Your Overheads

A lot of people get to the overheads when mixing and go about it with the wrong approach.
Many peoples rst attempts involve, using a high pass lter that aggressively cuts out most of
the lowend content.
Although, you may not want all of the sub-frequencies, the low end content in the overheads
is still integral to the sound of your drums. Because of this I will rarely remove much from the
low end allowing for the overheads to augment the sound of the kick even more.
The same applies to room mics, where low end content o ers a di erent, more distant image
of the kick drum.
8. No (or Minimal) Reverb

A mistake many beginner engineers make is to send the kick drum through a reverb the same
way you would with the snare or overheads. This seems like a logical approach to getting it to
sit in the mix with everything else.
However, doing so can actually cause the kick to get easily lost. This is because low frequency
content builds up quickly in reverb, making the track “muddy” so to speak.
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Hi, I'm Frenzo
@manlikefrenzo
Some better way to add reverb to your kick and bass..

#mixing #mix #production #bass #kick #reverb
6:43 AM · Dec 29, 2017
1 See Hi, I'm Frenzo’s other Tweets
Any reverb that you need on the kick can instead come from the overheads. This will place the
kick through reverb along with everything else for a more controlled low end. The method
above is also an alternative for mixing reverb with your kick drum.
9. Don’t Just Focus on the Low End

We’ve already brie y touched on this in the section

about EQ but your kick is not all about what
happens in the low end. A lot of the kick drums
presence and content in a mix can be found in the
higher register.

Because of this, you don’t always want to mix your content/uploads/2019/05/NS10.png)
kick on bass heavy speakers. Referencing your Referencing your mix on less bass
heavy speakers can help you properly
mixing on monitors with more mid to upper-range Privacy - Terms
place the kick drum.
content can help you get an even balance of your

kick drums content.
Conclusion to Mixing Kick Drum

By now you’ve hopefully realized just how much goes into properly mixing kick drum. Start by
removing problem areas with EQ then enhance it. Adding e ects like compression is a great
choice when used properly but be careful with reverb.
Finally, think about the other areas of your mix that may have a bearing on the kick drum
such as the bass guitar, overhead EQ, and upper range content.
If you enjoyed these tips and are looking for more useful advice on the music production
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1/10/2021 9 Pro Tips For Mixing Kick Drum | Sundown Sessions Studio

The usual approach when using EQ (https://sundownsessionsstudio.com/parametric-eq- Music Reads

unnecessary content in the extreme lows.

Studiotemplates Privacy - Terms

The 50-60 Hz range gives thump in a kick drum and boom in

2:56 AM · Sep 19, 2018

7 See Studiotemplates’s other Tweets

Mix-U - How To EQ A Kick Drum

Drum Compression Basics: Creating Punchy Drums with Hannes Bieger

Using software such as Steven Slate’s Trigger is

(https://sundownsessionsstudio.com/wp-Don’t use just one trigger sound either. Lightly combine

5. Mix Your Bass Guitar Properly

Always make sure you have a good dynamic balance between

6. Proper Mix Buss Compression

7. Properly EQ Your Overheads

8. No (or Minimal) Reverb

Some better way to add reverb to your kick and bass..

6:43 AM · Dec 29, 2017

1 See Hi, I'm Frenzo’s other Tweets

9. Don’t Just Focus on the Low End

We’ve already brie y touched on this in the section

content can help you get an even balance of your

Conclusion to Mixing Kick Drum

 14 Tips on How To Write Song Lyrics

 10 Tips For Instagram Music Promotion

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