kick drum eq

[Sparxy]

everyone likes it different
its all about layering the right ones
personally I layer 2 kicks with different transients and harmonics, split by EQ, and route to a bus. EQ the lot, cutting low at 80, boosting at 90 and maybe eq a bit in top end. compress to taste
it depends where your other stuff sits and what type of track you're making though really, its massively subjective

[Ataxia]

I'd recommend getting new samples. Maybe vengeance ones, or the deadmau5 xfer samples, since those are free. Layer a subby kick, (but cut below 50-60hz) and layer with a more punchy kick that comes in around 100-120hz. EQ the kicks around each other so they don't muddy each other up, and, as always, it's much better to remove things from frequencies than add them. I know it sounds like it would be the opposite, but trust me, it's true. If you're worried about your kick getting in the way of your sub, just sidechain it. And layer your kick with a hat. Send all kick elements to a bus, get some light compression, bounce out, and repeat. Build your own library of custom kicks. That way, next time you want a kick, you got a whole bunch to choose from that are to your liking.

[Teknicyde]

i usually don't EQ my kicks at all. i usually use tuning, volume decay, and perhaps a single filter to get them sounding how i want

It should be mentioned you just contradicted yourself.

A filter and an EQ are the same thing.

Companies use the word filter to describe EQs with high db/octave values, but theres no clear technical separation, and the words can be used interchangeably.

So, yeah, if you filter them, you DO eq them, pretty sharply actually.

[-[2]DAY_-]

sonned

[ChadDub]

All the kicks in the folders I have that are labeled "Punchy" and "Trance" all go down to like 50hz. I thought this was how everyone kept their kicks? Hmm, I'mma look into that.

[Insahn]

Does anyone synthesize their own kick drums? 100 hz is roughly G1 and for the high end transient you could boost G3. Seems like a much easier way to get a decent hard kick that sits right where you want it. Something like Waldorf Attack would do the trick. Dunno, just my two cents. I'm still using samples, but curious if anyone does this?

[ChadDub]

I used to, but not anymore. Better and easier to just sample.

[-[2]DAY_-]

i've synthed some percs, its really fun when using arp functions or LFOs for sequences. But not really for kick drums. I mean i've made a couple, but its a ballache for me to get the right thudding sound combined with pink/white noise, and it needs to be sampled and EQed and then layered with some other sample and resampled and put in my kicks folder, and at that point its like, damn.. i had a better sample already. but i like to make dubby music and hip hop. I think the roundness and synthiness of a synth kick sounds great in trancey music. and 808 style kicks in clubby house music..

CHad, i may be wrong, but i think nearly every raw kick sample will have plenty of bottom around the 50 Hz range, it doesnt mean theyre wrong for the job, or that they ought to stay there. They just give it to you like that so its there, should you need it. If you should want less bottom, HPF. u could even automate its bypass (or cutoff frequency) so your kick has bare bottom end until your sub bass is introduced, and then you un-bypass your HPF, it removes most of that, so its crackin and cutting thru atop your sub.