Dilemma: Kick sounds clip at low volume

Y

YYZ

New member
Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to the whole mixing and mastering process. Lately my kicks have been giving me a lot of trouble! Every time I try to master the kicks, they sound like they are clipping and distorting really badly. This is what I've tried thus far:

1) I side-chained kicks to all the sounds within similar frequencies
2) I EQ'd the sounds to make room for drums
3) I compressed the kicks using the "drums" setting on FL compressor
4) Kicks are sitting at an average of -15 dB in the mix.
5) All kicks are routed to one mixer bus for total control

Seeing as the kick drums are at a low volume & seem to have their own space in the mix, I'm stumped.

Does anyone have any ideas for what I could be doing wrong? All perspectives are appreciated.
 
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Try a mix without compressing kicks. If it's better, try adjusting the settings (attack/release) and compression ratio (don't hit them as hard)...

GJ

PS-- Also make sure that you check the "make-up gain" (output volume) in case you're over-driving at that point.
 
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Thanks for the advice but already tried mastering without compression on the kicks. After binging on youtube vids, I used them as a last resort but no luck
 
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YYZ said:
Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to the whole mixing and mastering process. Lately my kicks have been giving me a lot of trouble! Every time I try to master the kicks, they sound like they are clipping and distorting really badly. This is what I've tried thus far:

1) I side-chained kicks to all the sounds within similar frequencies
2) I EQ'd the sounds to make room for drums
3) I compressed the kicks using the "drums" setting on FL compressor
4) Kicks are sitting at an average of -15 dB in the mix.
5) All kicks are routed to one mixer bus for total control

Seeing as the kick drums are at a low volume & seem to have their own space in the mix, I'm stumped.

Does anyone have any ideas for what I could be doing wrong? All perspectives are appreciated.
Click to expand...

Kicks as in a top kick and a body or just loads of kicks put together. iIf it's the last one that's your problem also try turning up the treshold on the compressor (to soften the compession) and turn of auto makup (If that's even a thing)

One last thing could be you're not clipping but the CPU load makes it sound like it! just render the waveform and check it in audacity
 
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BRHSM said:
Kicks as in a top kick and a body or just loads of kicks put together. iIf it's the last one that's your problem also try turning up the treshold on the compressor (to soften the compession) and turn of auto makup (If that's even a thing)

One last thing could be you're not clipping but the CPU load makes it sound like it! just render the waveform and check it in audacity
Click to expand...


To be completely honest with you, I've been using random kicks haha! That could be the problem.

I'll experiment with both of your suggestions, thank you!
 
rhythmgj said:
^^^^ It's just another tool that can be used properly, or over-used.

GJ
Click to expand...

I think I may have over did it. How long did it take you to really get a hang of using compression?


EyeAmPeriod said:
Hey man... So is your kick passing the 0db limit??

If that is ur problem it is props because your kick and bass are hitting at the same time.

I know you said you've already tried side chain compression, but here's a video tutorial just in case you want to retry.


----
EyeAm.
The Masked Man.
EyeAm. The Masked Man. [Producer / Engineer] – Self Growth
Click to expand...

Sup dude,

Yes! the drums pass 0dB but the volume is still low as fuck. Doesn't make sense to me.

But even if they're hitting at the same time I believe they both have their own spaces in the mix & I think I side-chained them correctly but I'll check out that video to make sure. thanks man.
 
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BRHSM said:
Diditwork?
Click to expand...

No luck with those 2 suggestions, but I did find the problem! Turns out it had nothing to do with the instruments themselves, it was the actual mixer channels the whole time !:shame: Some of the mixer channels weren't being routed to the master channel so the volume levels were out of whack! I'm so relieved I finally figured it out, this problem's been really hindering my creative process.

But I wouldn't have gotten here without your help in terms of narrowing down the possible solutions, You're awesome man. thanks for checking in :)
 
YYZ said:
Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to the whole mixing and mastering process. Lately my kicks have been giving me a lot of trouble! Every time I try to master the kicks, they sound like they are clipping and distorting really badly. This is what I've tried thus far:

1) I side-chained kicks to all the sounds within similar frequencies
2) I EQ'd the sounds to make room for drums
3) I compressed the kicks using the "drums" setting on FL compressor
4) Kicks are sitting at an average of -15 dB in the mix.
5) All kicks are routed to one mixer bus for total control

Seeing as the kick drums are at a low volume & seem to have their own space in the mix, I'm stumped.

Does anyone have any ideas for what I could be doing wrong? All perspectives are appreciated.
Click to expand...

I hate to highlight the FL thing... haha, anyway, that aside.. setting 'pre sets' on compressors, without knowing what they are doing to the sound, is an issue... 'pre-sets' can work well, in some cases, if you know what the compressor is actually doing to the signal, and how it 'blends' with the other signals in the mix...

I rarely compress kicks at all... I saturate them bussed to the whole kit... and an issue you could be having is using a 'drums' preset, on a single kick... as in the ratio, attack and release times on the compressor would be set for the whole drum bus, not for the single kick...

Maybe try a fastish attack time with a high ratio, and relatively quick release time... then play with the dials until you get a sound your happy with...
 
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