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velveteenau-blog1 · 7 years ago

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5 Tips To Get A Huge Kick Drum Sound

Reading Time: 15-20 minutes

Hey guys! It's Brad Simons here, and this post is all about making your kick drum sound huge. Like Donald Trump huge (sorry, yuuuge). There are few things more satisfying in the studio than getting that kick sound just right. As always, I'm going to talk about how I go about it, rather than describing all possible ways that it's done. We're going to talk about the process from tracking, all the way to mixing, so we can make sure the final mix has that much-needed kick drum sound. Here we go!

1) Get It Right In The Room

This is a cardinal rule in the studio. How many times have you heard someone say, "you can't polish a turd"? It's true, you can't. No matter what you do, if you don't get the sound right in the room, you're not going to get it right in the mix. Don't take shortcuts.

Now in terms of the kick drum, what exactly does that mean?

Well to start, you need to find the right spot in the room for the kit. This is often done with a tom, as they resonate and reveal more about the room than the kick and snare do. So grab a tom, and walk around the room while hitting it. See how it responds to each area of the room. Look for something that resonates, but is not muddy.

Secondly, work on the tuning of the drum. What a difference a great tuning can make to the sound of any drums. You should have a good idea of the pitch you want it to be at and how resonant you want it to sound. Now, I'm not going to talk about drum tuning techniques in this post, but it will definitely worth either hiring a professional or at least educating yourself with a few YouTube videos. Alternatively, you can use get yourself a Tune-Bot Drum Tuner to get the tuning you're looking for. This thing even has a chart with preset tuning frequencies based on size of drums and sound you're looking for. Definitely worth looking into.

Third, try different kick drums, beaters, and heads. Now some of that is easier said than done, not all of us have 5 different kick drum options laying around. Fair enough! But the least you could do is try out a few different kick drum heads, and a few different beaters. If you want a lot of attack, look for a hard beater than adds some of the click sound to the drum. If you're going for more of a soft pillow-y sound, then grab a felt beater to minimize the attack.

Either way, you need to get the drum sounding the way you want it before you even put a mic up to it.

2) Choose The Right Mics

This can be pretty subjective, I'm not going to lie. But there are a set of standard practices that can get you to that great kick drum sound. Here are a few options that I like to go with:

Inside Mic

I typically aim for attack with this mic. I want to get the hard transient here, not necessarily as concerned with the subby thump frequencies. Typically, I'll use an Audix D6, an AKDG D112, Sennheiser MD421, or even just a Shure SM57. As expected, you're going to get more "slap" of the front batter head when you move the mic further inside. If you need a lot of attack, for say rock or metal, this is essential to get it to cut through your mix. If you want a bit more tone off the inside mic, don't put it quite as far in. It's a good idea to have some scratch tracks cue'd up in your session, then see how it fits in the mix. Play with moving the mic forward and back until its working.

Outside Mic

This is where I get my bottom end information from. I typically place the mic a close as I can to the kick drum, without it touching the head. Give yourself a couple inches of room, as the outer head will move slightly when played. Some guys will put this at the sound hole of the kick, I prefer it directly over the rest of the drum head.

Some go to mics for me include an AKG D112, Rode K2, Neumann U87 (padded down), Neumann M147. It seems tube condensers get a cool thump to the sound. Blends well with what we have on the inside

Front Mic

Let me explain exactly what I mean for front mic. I don't mean putting a mic on the beater side of the kick drum, I mean a microphone in front of the whole kit at kick drum height. Let's call it, the "audience" side of the drum kit. But if you want a bit of space and air to the sound, you should try adding another mic that's about 1-2 feet in front of the kick drum. Try using a microphone that you would typically use for room mics. We might use the Neumann U87, AKG C12, or even a Shure SM7b. You'll have to check the phase on this mic, as there is a potential for alot of issues. Experiment with moving it forward and backward while flipping the phase until the bottom end is right. You'll also have to check this again once the rest of the room mics and the overheads are up and running.

Other Mics

I want to quickly note that there are also other mics at play here, but for the sake of brevity, I'm going to leave them out of this post. Room mics can capture the kick drum, but that's another post altogether. Also, sometimes engineers will put a dynamic or a pencil condenser on the beater side of the kick drum for more attack, but in my experience and opinion, it sounds pretty bad. Maybe I haven't figured out how to do it properly yet. Who knows! So we're going to leave it at that.

3) Get The EQ Right

I don't have an extravagant method for EQ, but I think what I'm doing works? My first step is to cut mids. Depending on the genre, I will typically cut anywhere from 10 to 15 dB from 300-700 Hz. There are a couple ways to get this right. You can start by boosting 15 dB, and sweep that frequency range to find the nasty frequencies, then cut them. Or you can start with a cut and just sweep until it feels right. Honestly, I'm just looking for the tone here. So I usually cut first, then sweep until it "sounds right".

If I want more thump, I'm going to go in and use a bell EQ to boost somewhere around 65 Hz. However, this is a fast way to make your kick subby and muddy in your mix. So I counter that by also engaging a hi-pass filter, and I then use that to decide how much low end I need. It may seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes my kick drum will have an 8 dB boost at 65 Hz, and then it will be hi-passed at about 80 Hz. I know what you're thinking, that doesn't make any sense. But I'm serious, try it out!

I do basically the same thing on the top end, just in reverse. So I'll usually have to do a bit more sweeping to find the frequency I like. If it's a really dense and loud mix, say a metal band, the frequency usually ends up higher. For a softer sound, it'll end up lower. So I may boost anywhere from 2 kHz up to 9 or 10 kHz. That's a decision you'll have to make per track. I then use the lo-pass filter to get rid of any nasty highs and make room for things like cymbals. Usually hit this around 9 or 10 kHz.

I don't really have a set method for where to apply this EQ. I usually have the two tracks above I mentioned (kick in and kick out), and then I bus them together into an aux in Pro Tools. Sometimes I will apply this EQ to each track, sometimes to just the bus, but most of the time, a combination of both. It simply takes experimenting until it's sitting in the mix properly.

4) Work It With Compression

I like this stage, as this is where the kick drum starts to come alive. A kick drum is a very dynamic instrument, so depending on the context, sometimes alot of compression is needed to get every hit to be heard. This also depends on the consistency of the drummer, as well as the genre.

So for instance, a folk record probably doesn't need a whole lot of compression, as the kick is not as prominent in this genre. You actually want it to breathe a little and have more movement. So if it's needed, I try to stay within the 2 - 4 dB of gain reduction. Try a slower attack and release and a lower ratio to keep it nice and gentle. I will sometimes use the UAD LA2A Silver plugin for this, adjusting the emphasis knob to sidechain out some of the low frequencies. Alternatively, if it's a dense mix, I'm typically hitting that thing much harder. If I'm mixing a rock or metal record, my go-to is the blue stripe UAD 1176 Rev E, as it's punchy and fast. I still keep the attack time slow to let the transient breathe, but I make the release time quick. Gives it a bit of pump. As for gain reduction, anywhere from 5-10 dB is fine. However, you'll want to make sure that you're not increasing the bleed from other mics too much, as this can end up causing phase issues in your entire drum sound. So be careful of that.

You can also try using parallel compression to keep the original uncompressed sound and supplement it with a punchy and dynamically consistent copy. I usually have my kick bus duplicated for a parallel comp. For some reason, I like the UAD 1176 AE plugin for this one, slow attack, quick release, and gain reduction of about 7-9 dB. Start the fader around -10 dB and move up to taste. Don't overdo it!

5) Give It Space In Your Mix

This is an absolutely crucial step to getting your kick to sound right. No matter how great your kick sounds on its own, if it's not sitting in the mix properly, it's never going to sound as good as it should. Plain and simple. Now let's be clear, this is a fundamental principle of mixing, this doesn't just apply to the kick drum. Mixing is a relationship, not an individual effort.

So how do we achieve that with the kick? Well, there are a few things you can do. First off, whip out that hi-pass filter and apply it to everything in your session except the kick! Ok, it's not a hard fast rule, there are other things that you want to have some low end. But for the most part, you gotta make room. I typically hi-pass guitars anywhere from 100 Hz, sometimes up to even 250 Hz. Vocals usually start around 150 Hz up, keys 120 Hz and up, etc. Clear out that low end for the kick. Sometimes, mixers will hi-pass the kick drum up higher and let the bass guitar or bass synth sit way down low. That's an approach, but I prefer to let my kick own the low sub frequencies.

Second, get your stereo image right. Try to get your guitars, keys, synths, shakers, as many things as you can off to the sides. This can clear up room in the centre to allow the attack and thump of the kick to come through without fighting for it. Now I will say, it's probably still a good idea to check your mix in mono, and use EQ to carve out some space for the kick. I would argue that the majority of listeners are doing so in stereo, but places such as Instagram, convert audio to mono. Also, most phone speakers are mono, so you'll have to account for that as well.

Well, that's it for now! I hope that helps you get yourself an awesome kick drum sound :) Feel free to comment below and provide any other tips you have for making the kick drum sound huge. And follow us on social and sign up for our mailing list to get more updates from Velveteen!

Cheers, Brad Simons Velveteen Audio

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Brad is the owner/founder of Velveteen Audio. He engineers, produces, and plays in his own project called Optics.

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werkcamp · 7 years ago

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Osm dní. Tajný studio. 5 členů The Prostitutes a Honza Brambůrek. 3 hodinový opušťáky mimo prostor studia. Hodně intenzivní, mnohdy ponorková atmosféra. Nervózní chvíle způsobený tím, že to nejde, se střídaj s euforií, že to jde nad očekávání dobře. Přes všechnu únavu a konstantní kocovinu jsme si ale užívali atmosféru dobrý spolupráce. Honza jako šestej element vyrovnával naše energie a byl v tom vynikající. Kapela, která si vyzkoušela všechno: debut ve vlastní produkci, následný “opus” v produkci Dušana Neuwertha, živá deska zaznamenávající koncertní energii v klubu, spolupráci s Youthem na třetí studiový desce se vším světovým, co k tomu patří, až konečně site-specific experiment Zum Passer, opět ve vlastní produkci a s minimem předvídatelnýho. Tohle nový album bychom chtěli udělat jako syntézu mnoha předešlých přístupů. Přišli jsme téměř nepřipravení, sice desítky demáčů, ale nakonec jsme z nich použili asi polovinu. Druhá polovina vznikla, pro nás už trochu trochu klasicky, na místě. Produkujeme album sami, ale na pomoc jsme si vzali Honzu Brambůrka. Ten desku nahrával a bude ji i míchat. A dělá externího poradce, facilitátora a mediátora. Takový McKenzie v The Prostitutes.

Tohle je technickej report z nahrávání v jednom z nejhezčích ošklivých studií na světě. S krásnou akustikou a okolím vybízejícím k tomu zůstat ve studiu, nevylejzat a makat.

Room

S/M – Brauner VM1 (omni), Neumann U87Ai (kardioda) -> Amek M2500

Close: 2x Neumann M149 (omni) -> Amek M2500

Far: 2x AKG C414 (omni) -> Amek M2500

WC mono room: U87-> Amek M2500

Bicí

Luk hrál na svoje bicí Ludwig a k nim použil činely Zildjan Avedis Sweet Ride 53cm, Zildjan Avedis Custom Projection Crash 48 cm, Zildjan K 35cm, Paiste Heavy Full Crash ve dvou velikostech, windchimes, bonga a možná ještě něco, co si teď nepamatuju a dalo se do toho nebo o to mlátit (asi minimálně nějakej shaker tam byl).

Ten Heavy full je 2x ruzne velky

Kick In: Shure Beta 52a -> Studer 169m

Kick Out: Neumann M147 -> Neve 1073

Kick PZM: Beyerdynamic TG D71c -> Studer 169m

Snare Top: Shure SM57 (modifikovaná) -> Neve 1073

Snare Bottom: Telefunken M80 -> Studer 169m

HH: Neumann KM184 -> Studer 169m

Tom: Beyerdynamic TG D57 -> Studer 169m

Floor: Beyerdynamic TG D57 -> Studer 169m

OHs: 2x Coles 4038 -> Chandler TG

Percussions (chimes, bongo) – SE sE8 -> Neve 1073

Kytary

GTR 1 A: Hiwatt Custom 100 -> Hiwatt Custom 4×12 Fane box – CAD e100 -> TwinFinity [50:50] ->RME Fireface 800

GTR 1 B: Hiwatt Custom 100 -> Hiwatt Custom 4×12 Fane box – Sennheiser e906 -> Amek M2500

GTR 2 A: Fender Deluxe Reverb – sE VR1 Voodoo-> Amek M2500

GTR 2 B: Fender Deluxe Reverb – Shure SM57 -> Amek M2500

GTR 2 Recording Chain: Focusrite ISA110 -> Cuniberti Reamp -> Fender Deluxe Reverb

GTR 3: Marble Bluebird – Neuman U89 -> UAD DCS -> RME Fireface 800

Acoustic GTR A: sE-8 -> Neve 1073

Acoustic GTR B: Lineaudio CM3 -> Neve 1073

Basa

Vegy hrál na svoje precižny, vše přes Sans Amp a UA 6176. Možná někde použil Rippera a určitě použil Bass VI.

Bass DI: Passive -> Universal Audio 6176 (1176 in)

Bass Amp: SansAmp -> Amek M2500

Klavesy

9xDI active -> Amek M2500

iPad: RME Fireface 800

Korg Poly6 – nekolik desitek minut nabijeni kondenzatoru, smazany presety, rozladeni mizici asi po pul hodine. Ale pak jsme meli zvuk, kterymu se emulace jakyhokoliv sw neblizi ani z dalky. Castecne to dela šum stroje, ale hlavně je to krásnej širokej hlubokej zvuk v unisono módu. Samotna emulace od Korga v iPadu je jen stín – sterilní věc. Jednou budu brečet, až se definitivně rozloučí. Asi mu koupim bratříčka – donora, abychom to dokázali řešit. Druhý omezení je absence MIDI, tekže arpeggia jsme hráli ručně – a to je ve výsledku zase jen výhoda.

Moog Little Phatty – když jsem si koupil Voyagera, LP šel stranou, ale teď ve studiu jsem docenil, jak odlišný jsou to bestie a jak pětinásobně levnější LP obstojí v konkurenci. Je především rychlejší, uživatelsky nekomplikovanej, otočíš – hraješ.

Mininova – vypnout onboard efekty, to je první věc vedoucí k úspěchu. Pak se otevře paleta veskrze použitelnejch klasickejch synth zvuků, podobně jako u microkorga, s důrazem na různý wobbly z dubstepu. Už jsem to někde psal – arpeggiator je name of the game na tomhle kusu plastu. Je stvořenej pro hraní si a hledání neobvyklejch rytmů. Pomůže, když je inspirace na výletě mimo studio.

Moog Voyager společne s Phophet8 tvori takové šodó celé session: signifikantní zvukovou polevu, kterou jsme pojili zdánlivě nesourodé skladby. Not like from the same record? Lets use šodó! Nejlepší glides a noises, wobbles a vibrata na tomhle albu jsou z Voyagera.

Nord Lead2 – nikdy jsem se s nim neseznamil a nějak mi k němu vázne cesta. Martin si k němu ale stoupá nejčastěji a je to pro něj jeho výchozí nástroj.

Prophet08 – na Zum Passer ty nejdivočejší zvuky, tentokrát hlavně měký analogový arpy.

MIDI jelo pres Fireface. Někdy fungovalo, jindy ne. Někdy se prostě nedařilo přimět pět nástrojů ke spolupráci. Z virtualnich nastroju stoji za zmínku M-Tron Pro a Arturia Solina v Macu a Tenori-on v iPadu.

Zpěv

Pro společný hraní ve zkušebnovym módu jsme používali Shure SM58. Pro společný nahrávání, kdy byl Adrian izolovanej paravany, jsme používali Neumann U89. Izolovali jsme spíš Adriana od roomů, než obráceně – texty nebyli nikdy finální a nechtěli jsme mít bleed karibský angličtiny ve všech mikrofonech v místnosti.

Pro finální zpěvy jsme chtěli použít vyzkoušené německé derby Brauner VM1 a Neumann U87Ai, ale Honza se nakonec rozhodl prohodit Neumanny za U89 – kvůli charakteru Adrianova hlasu.

Vocals (Recording) A: U89 -> LA610 MkII Compressor In

Vocals (Recording) B: Brauner -> Neve 1073

Vocals (Rehearsal): Shure SM58 -> Amek M2500

Akustická zkouška nápadu, ze kterýho se poskládalo Cause Of You Smile.

Nahrávání loopu na dva aparáty v dvou různých místnostech (i na všechny room mikrofony) poskytlo dost prostoru a času na prohlídku celého studia:

Obsluha soliny ve dvou (promile):

The Prostitutes in the ghetto Osm dní. Tajný studio. 5 členů The Prostitutes a Honza Brambůrek. 3 hodinový opušťáky mimo prostor studia.

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velveteenau-blog1 · 8 years ago

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Miking A Guitar Amp

Oh how I love miking guitar amps and getting a great guitar sound. It's one of the most satisfying things to do in the studio. As a guitar player, I'm probably biased, but for me it's also one of the most important techniques to know. I'm not going to try to cover every way of doing it, I'm just going to discuss my approach. Hopefully it can help you!

THE AMP

I find that the biggest reason for failure in miking a guitar amp is because of the amp itself. We've all heard the phrase, "you can't polish a turd," and that's because it's true! Get yourself a dang good amp, or don't even bother. I find a lot of engineers resort to digital sources such as Kemper profiling amps, AxeFX, BIAS, etc. While these approaches are making significant leaps, to my ears they're just not there (just my opinion!). I think they will be there soon though. But for now, get yourself a killer amp! Here's a few amps I like:

65 Amps Soho

Framus Cobra

Bogner XTC

Mesa Dual Rectifier (Revision F)

Vox AC30 HW

Fender DeVille

BadCat HotCat

Matchless DC30

Yikes I have expensive taste! It's gotta be done though.

MICROPHONES

So my typical arrangement is 4 microphones. I'll start with my go to setup:

Shure sm57 (against amp mesh)

Shure sm7b (against amp mesh)

Sennheiser md421 (against amp mesh)

Neumann u87 (room mic, usually behind and in omni-directional)

This is my go to. I use my phone flashlight to get all the mic's positioned on the speaker. I always start with the mics pointed at the edge of the dustcap (round center part of the speaker). In general, the closer to the center of the dustcap, the brightert the sound is, and the further out on the speaker, the darker the sound is. I like the edge of the dust cap as good balance point.

Make sure that you align for phase while miking. For instance, the capsule for the sm7b is a bit further back in the microphone chassis than the sm57 and the 421, therefore you should have the 57 and 421 about a quarter inch further back than the sm7b. This will give you a great phase relationship.

For the room mic, I try to wrap the amp in baffles, and put the room mic behind the baffle. If it's an open back cabinet, I'll put the room mic right behind the amp instead. I use omnidirectional to capture the entire room, but that's a taste thing. You can put the room mic in a different room as well. Lots of room to explore here.

Some alternative mic choices I occasionally use:

Neumann m147 - sounds super warm against the grill for a light gain sound

AKG C414 - These mics work on everything. It's ridiculous. Rooms or close up work great.

Sennheiser e609 - Not my favorite, but sometimes they work great.

Royer r121 - This will probably be the next mic I buy, as I don't yet have one. Super creamy delicious warm goodness :)

SUMMING AND PROCESSING

Once the mic's are set, it's time to get into the control room and tweak. First, I'll check all the phase. I'm not doing anything crazy like null testing, simply checking to see that all mic's are pretty well in phase by solo'ing two channels, flipping the phase on one of those channels, and seeing how well the signal drops (because I put them 180 degrees out of phase). If the phase looks good, I start playing with the level of each mic on the faders. This is because before we grab an EQ, I can balance the level of each mic to tailor the sound to the song, a natural way of EQ'ing. If that just isn't working, I'll go adjust a mic or two.

Once we've got a balance for the mics, I then immediately sum it through the mix bus on our SSL Matrix 2. This can be done on any summing box, or in the box...you know, the computer one. I typically drive the SSL a bit more, pulling back the master fader to make sure the level coming back through the converters is appropriate.

Once the summing balance is set, I have a go to set of UAD plugins for finishing the sound. I use a UAD SSL EQ to high-pass some of the low frequencies (typically 80 - 120 Hz), lo-pass some of the top (usually about 10k), and maybe work on the mid range. Next, I use a UAD Pultec EQP-1A for some high end at 8-10k (Pultec's are the best thing ever on guitars). This gives the guitar a TON of bite and energy. Incredible. Finally, we hit it with some compression using a UAD 1176 Rev A (blue stripe), knocking off about 3-6 dB, slow attack and quick release. Don't be afraid to smack the hell out of the signal too. Sometimes a really spanky clean sound will get 10-12 dB reduction. Trust those two things on the sides of your head...you know, your ears ;)

And that's that! My guitar process in a nutshell. It can vary depending on the song, style, genre, band preference, but that's usually where I go.

Two quick notes. First, this post was all about amps, but the guitar used is equally important in the process. Secondly, the absolute most important part of getting a great tone is the player. Hands down. In fact, take that notion and multiply it by one hundred. If you can't play your guitar, it's gonna sound terrible, no matter what. If you are a phenomenal player, it's going sound great even on poor equipment (although it will sound even better on great equipment). This is numero uno! Make sure the playing is right. I think 90% of the guitar sound comes from your fingers. My two cents!

If you got any more tips or tricks or have any questions, comment below or email me at [email protected]!

Don't forget to follow Velveteen Audio on all social media platforms :)

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Cheers guys!

Brad Velveteen

#engineering #guitars #guitar amp

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