You read airwave's kick tutorial on trance.nu?

IMO the kick sounds weak and over powered by the bass... unless I turn my speakers up really lound.. then I can't tell. I need studio monitors =/

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you should check out the levels, make the kick and bass blend better. i'm pretty sure you can do that with this kick too, just use some eq & compression, and you'll be there.

Yeah, the kick sounds a bit weak. I'd suggest adding sidechain compression to the bassline (triggered by the kick) to get the kick to stand out more.

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The kick could be a bit snappier, I suppose, to match with the bass line. The bass line could also be a little less powerful in the midrange, with a bit more power lower down.

These are nitpicks, though. It sounds fine to me.

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To be honest with you it doesnt sound that bad at all. I think it sounds great overall. Maybe just add some compression to the kick to make it more punchy. You can also add a second kick or even third kick and layer them. I know what you mean by going insane looking for the perfect kick, but instead use what you have and layer them,EQ,Compress. I can always make you a kick and send it to you if you want, but thats no fun. on trance.nu there is a thread explaining layer kicks and eqing them i will post the link soon.


*edit* http://trance.nu/v3/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29373&sid=a4bfeb6865d832ebb52d2247369f7b84

like this one m8, hope you finish it

Hmmm I've just learned compression , so it makes things stronger. But here's my new question. I'm not sure if I should have the kick fill in the lows and the basslines the mid/lows. I have a lower bassline runnign but it just gets muddy. Do all low basses have to be round and lack presence? Can't you get a distinct sound out of a low bassline?

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quote:

Originally posted by azndragon0613 Do all low basses have to be round and lack presence? Can't you get a distinct sound out of a low bassline?

Part of the problem is the amount of time it takes for a low tone to be recognizeable as a note at all. I imagine the note would have to cycle for more than a period for the ear to pick it up, and with low range notes, that can be as long as one twentieth of a second. A sixteenth note at 140 BPM is 1/37th of a second, more or less. That means that all tones under 37 Hz can't possibly be well-defined without losing tonality. The faster you go, the harder it is to define your low end well.

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you could have a deep off beat sub bass in there, i listened on other speakers and the kick is definatly strong enough.

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https://soundcloud.com/ghostea stuff

ok guys...i'm seriously about to like give this whole thing up...my ears are banging from hearing the same tweaks again and again....

i know the sample probably has a lot of mids right now but unfortunatley i want presence/clarity and that comes only in the 250-800 hz range...might toss the bassline but i think the second sample hits things better? Do i still need a lower bassline? Thanks guys!

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i wouldn't toss that bass line...i like the sound of it.
i'm not at my own station so i can't give ya a final word. sounds okay for now on these desktop speakers. (@ home i run everything thru an amp, two 15s).
you could try & eliminate the "problem frequencies" that occur between kicks & bass. (i just learned this recently myself, but not thru trial & error so i guess i cheated). you're basically eq'in each channel so certain frequencies from the other can cut thru the mix more clearly. as i'm not at my own computer you'll have to check back tomorrow - i'll post again. hopefully this'll give you the clarity your lookin for.
also, you could take sean's advise & try sidechaining the bass.

lower bass line? yeah...your "main synth" used for the bass - which gives your bass it's characteristic, could have a low shelf. then use another bass w/ little characteric w/ high shelf in the same range for your sub.
maybe use soundforge or a similar program w/ a FM synthesis feature to create your sub...then you'd have to know what frequency your root note is at, i.e. 55hz = A, etc. (http://www.wdv.com/Eye/SndN2Grfx/KeyMap.html)
i'm pretty sure the reason you're lacking "umph" in your sub bass is your going below your speakers frequency range (?). so unless your mastering w/ monitors you might not want to try & push too low as you'll be unsure of the final result (like low low bass drops, etc.)
if you spent enough $ on a sound system you can make 15hz bump like a mf.

i don't know what genre you have in mind...but from the way your synths are i'm thinking your kick's level ok in relation to the other channels. (melodic trance? i'm guessing here).

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