Getting "Bigger" Kicks

G

ghosthost

New member
Hello, Futureproducers. Been producing for a few years now but one thing that I've always wanted in my mixes, that I've never been able to do (purposely), is the presence of Bigger kicks. Not louder kicks that sound like farts. Here's a few reference tracks I can think of off the top of my head so you'll get an idea of what I mean


You can really hear the kicks I'm talking about clearly at 2:10



I really like the huge kicks in this song as well

would love to hear some suggestions on how to achieve these big airy kicks without having them be so loud. thanks
 
In depth EQ and boosting that part of the kick/sound you're liking so much - sounds like boosted low mid and even more important cutting out the muddy frequencies and then add a touch of saturation or whatever extra to polish
 
WALOOP said:
In depth EQ and boosting that part of the kick/sound you're liking so much - sounds like boosted low mid and even more important cutting out the muddy frequencies and then add a touch of saturation or whatever extra to polish
Click to expand...

Great Post! I would also add that the first example did have reverb on the kick. You hear it most at 2:10 because the bass instrument is no longer playing therefore, the reverb on the kick can present itself without any fighting frequencies.

I hope this helps!
 
the answer is simple - make the kick the loudest part of your beat by starting with the kick at -6db for example, than bring up the other faders while keeping the kick as a reference
 
To get bigger kicks... Make everything else smaller. It's all relative.

In the examples you gave, i'd of said those kick were tiny.
 
The kick in 'Bones - Shrimp Pizza' may consist of 2 kicks layered together. I would just focus on the mix and the mastering process will normally bring out the bigger, fatter side of your kick. That would be the job of the mastering engineer.

Allenaircraftmusic makes a valid point about ensuring the signal of your kick to be the loudest in the mix peaking at -6db.
 
Adding compression from a decent compressor can really bring your kick to the front of the mix. Also proper side chaining will help your kick cut through the mix better.
 
Boost the fundamental in the kick and takeout that same part in the bass! Will make it stand out more with no clashing
 
Gain staging, and feel free to be liberal about it. Try this, take all of your tracks and bring em down by about -18dB. Bypass any plugins on your master fader / stereo out. Raise the volume of your headphones to accommodate. Go to your kick track, and begin raising it up...you'll hear a difference. Then double check how your mix is sounding with your plugins on your master fader / stereo out.
 
Here are some other tricks:
1. compress for punch with a slow attack and relative fast release.
2. easy sidechain on things that might "swallow" the kick
3. If you're layering a few samples - check if they're "pushing" together in a good phase.
4. Use eq to help set apart other things from the snap and the low-end of the kick

hope that helps
 
EQ, Compressing, and a little saturation will more than likely get your kick to have more body. Also, consider using a gate. That way you can cut off the unnecessary tail some kicks have. Making it a little tighter.
 
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