Dance Music. One Kick or Kick Layers?

H

HarHar

New member
Hi,:angel:
In dance music, would I always need to layer kicks to get a nice one or one great kick could already be good enough to generate a good powerful sound?

I'm a bit confused about this, I heard other producers saying that usually a kick in a dance song is the combination of other kicks, is this always the case?:hello:

Is one kick enough to generate enough power or is the layering only sound and melody related?
:victory:

Also how do Logic Pro X drum kits sound compare to professional kit samples? I think they sound really pro but wonder what you think and if anyone has ever used them for professional purposes.:cheers:
 
I would be VERY careful when layering kicks. I did this for a long time & ended up with a mess a lot of the time (sometimes layering like 5 kicks) It's doable if you want a specific sound and have that in mind (e.g I like the low end punch of my kick but I want to layer something so I can hear it up top too that isn't so punchy).

When layering drums you have to be careful for a few main things:-

Number 1 is phase, this is especially important with kick drums, If you take a kick with loads of sub, layer a second kick that's at the same pitch & slightly out of phase then you are now losing punch down there thanks to phase cancellation, obviously not great if power is your goal!

Number 2 is timing, you have to be careful for flam'ing where the transients hit slightly before or after each other. This can be corrected by using a delay (with no feedback and only send the wet signal!) or dragging the audio so it lines up the transients correctly

Number 3 is Frequency balance. You need to make sure that your samples complement each other and be wary of any frequency clashes that can cause so EQ may be needed if it's problematic.

All that being said, I layer kicks less than I used to (in an album I'm currently writing I've layered a kick maybe once or twice out of ten songs) but it still can be beneficial when you have an end goal in mind and not just "I will now layer the kicks to make it sound more epic" :)
 
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In other words, no, it's not imperative (as is nothing in music) - use your ears and do what you want.
 
Thank you. If I need to I will get some already layered kicks from Loopmaster or something. In short it doesn't seem to be a requirement, I thought that it would, getting played in clubs, for kick definition, power etc, but I guess a good kick sample could be an already layered one and combined in one...
 
I think a lot of it can be just mental masturbation "omg I layered my kick up so it's super beefy overdrive mode now"

But once you've adjusted the gain so your new layered sample is the same level as your original, the only thing that's changed is the tone and dynamics. Then you ask the question, does this suit what I'm trying to achieve better than what I originally had?

It doesn't matter if it's one sample or a 100. if it works it works. Also bear in mind that if I take 3 kicks, layer them and bounce that sample and give it to you. You now have x1 sample, does that need layering? I ask this because you also need to bear in mind that a lot of sample packs out there have layered kicks already so yeah just whatever sounds good :)
 
Guys just bumped into Sonic Academy Kick 2, it's what I was looking for. Sounds amazing. Problem solved.
 
wait also Vengeance Sound Metrum looks pretty impressive with three kick layering capabilities... might get this one... as well :)
 
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