How to make kicks sound full?

[hasezwei]

a good ol' techno trick is reverbing the kick and compressing both together slightly. obviously you should highpass the verb a bit. not that suited for the typical 100Hz kicks used in dnb/dubstep though, but if you're going deeper give it a try. adds a lot of space and depth to the whole tune if done right

[jrisreal]

Sometimes, I bitcrush the crap out of my kicks and set the mix of the bitcrusher to 5-10%

Theres also the mighty eq and compressor.

[flatfaced]

why dont you try with only one kick first - boost sum frequencies and cut others for getting the whole picture

[paravrais]

Layering? Bitcrushing? Reverb?

These things are all well and good if you are doing them for 'creative' purposes but IMO they aren't techniques that should be used as a quick fix it patch for making your kicks feel bigger.

Does nobody actually spend the time to mixdown any more? Aka, just make the kick louder/everything else quieter. If it still sounds shit, you've chosen a crappy sample.

[paravrais]

Also;

[youthful_implants]

find a phat kick sample. job done.

[flatfaced]

edit

[JFK]

Layering? Bitcrushing? Reverb?

These things are all well and good if you are doing them for 'creative' purposes but IMO they aren't techniques that should be used as a quick fix it patch for making your kicks feel bigger.

Does nobody actually spend the time to mixdown any more? Aka, just make the kick louder/everything else quieter. If it still sounds shit, you've chosen a crappy sample.

This x1000 if the kick you have doesnt sound right then just change the sample. This is basic shit Chad. How are you going to be doing streaming beat making tutorials if you dont even know how to make a kick sound decent?

[Electric_Head]

levels Chad, set them correctly or find a new sample.
As JFK said, basic shit.

Don`t force a sample to fit.
If you like an element of a kick, shape it to suite.
Layer a couple samples to create sound.
EQ EQ EQ

[Electric_Head]

Your post on music theory proved that you`re not a total root.
Surely you know to google before asking these questions?

[Mysius]

for kicks i usually have two layers, one cut down too 500hz with the very low 25hz taken off. Ill have the other kick around 80hz-150hz depedning on how punchy its it then boost the high a tiny bit at 2000hz.

theres no set rule really that i stick to i go by ear a lot of the time to be honest.

[Perfecture]

Here's my two cents to help, most of what I say has probably been covered, but what the heck.

To get a kick that I found sounded full, I layered a low sub kick with a mid/high kick. I cut out frequency from the mid/high kick that the sub kick covered. I find having quite a subby kick makes a massive difference in how big it sounds. Having that low end really makes it sound huge, as well as having the top end to help it cut through the mix.

It's all about messing around with different samples and seeing which ones work well together if you're layering kicks.
I find transient shaping and compressing alone as well as rolling off eq is all that needs to be done to kicks. I never ever boost eq on a kick, all I do is roll off the low end, generally to about 80hz.

As everyone says a good source sample is very very important. You wanna find a kick that sounds good from the start before you do any processing yourself.

One last thing to reitterate what has already been said, if you want you kick to sound big, make it the loudest element in your tune.
E.g. kick -12db, Snare -13db and all other sounds, instruments etc should be peaking lower…………this isn't a rule, only a guide I find works.

[Big Freq]

its all about the mix