sweet deal-oh

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Thanks for the info. I wish this forum had a dedicated tutorials section. I will try Trance.nu

I heard a story that Aqua sued someone over a stolen kick... But don't quote me on that. (The moral of the story is, I guess, don't steal the kick from a track that's been at no. 1 in the charts...)

Sampling then processing is still illegal, as you'll quickly find out if you try to sample Michael Jackson.

I started stealing kicks recently, after a great deal of frustration trying to use sample CDs. I have to say that leaving hi-hats in can sound really good... I recently just chucked two ripped kicks into a good sampler (NN:XT is brilliant here for Reason people, otherwise see Kontakt, Intakt, Halion, etc.) and set low-pass filter envelopes on each to wipe out the top of the hi-hats while keeping that lovely hi-end info in the attack phase.

The result was a kinda Bom-ada-Bom-ada sound which actually helped the groove no end! Gave everything else something to hang from, and helped the creative process.

Funnily enough, I recently found myself making good kicks from sample CDs, after all that. (I was showing a friend around Cubase SX, and he only had sample CDs around) The technique is quite simple - find two or three kicks. One should be very subby (usually there's a sub-bass kick directory in good dance sample CDs), one very 'pokky' (like a pop kick) and (if you feel like it) one should be kinda plump and mid-rangey. Layer them together, and swap em around until you have the beginnings of a good kick sound. After that it's just a matter of multi-band compression/EQing/etc. etc. etc. to taste. You should be able to get away with a little high & low end excitement, or a bit of distortion... Whatever.

I guess working closely with good kicks helps give you a feel for what makes a kick work...



Tequila

cheers sean

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quote:

Originally posted by dj-sean Also, I think unless you take a direct sample it'd be pretty hard for them to prove that their kick was the original source. I mean in this case, the low frequency will be slightly different depending on the amt it gets pitch bent, and the added reverb to the high end makes the kick sound somewhat different as well.

I have a feeling the distinctive bit is the attack phase, which should be pretty much unscathed by the processing. That has the most information, tightly packed... And that's why I always use a couple or stacked kicks!

Tequila

Can you recommend some appropriate sample CDs to get really punchy kicks off of?

I use 'Techno Trance essentials' mainly. Although I got some lovely kicks a while back from a random source. I have, like, 500MB of drum hits. It's hard to keep track.



Who's up for a kick swap session?

Ben

[Thumbs up mode]Great work this sean!!![/thumbs up mode off]

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is there any chance someone could re-host the pics for this? i'm trying it for the first time atm and they'd come in v. handy!

this is how to EASILY steal a kick.. import the tune.. cut the first kick in the whole tune.. (make sure its a tune with nothing playing over the kick..) import it to your song isolate it and VIOLA!!!

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ive built quite a few kicks out of freely available kick samples off the net. basically layer between 3 and 10 kick drums, EQ some or all of them (with a spectrum analyser to show me what the fk im cutting off or boosting). render it in fruity as a 32bit wav. reimport it into a new file with izotope ozone and add a teeny finishing touch there if necessary.

i got quite a few trance type kicks (which are my best ones), a couple of hard house type kicks (typically less subby, more of a colder, harder kind of thump) and a couple of kicks designed for freeform/hardcore tracks (some of which are distorted gabba style to varying degrees) i havent got a host though id be interested in swapping some samples. you will not be able to recognise what samples have been used to make the new ones. i can even package the original kicks and blips with the new ones and its still difficult to identify any of them cuz of the heavy EQing/filtering and layering.

its highly unlikely anyone will sue you for using a commercial kick unless to make an example out of you (i.e. to deter lots of people from doing it). the cost of issuing a subpoena alone, let alone actually getting a lawyer and suing you comes at a significant cost to all parties involved (cept the lawyers of course). basically, as long as you dont nick something totally obvious, it wont be worth anyone's time and money to sue you cuz it'll just draw out and cost everyone. if you are subtle in pillaging kicks then you will be very hard to sue either way because all creative practice is in some part derived from stuff before it.

No longer have these pics, sorry. As others have mentioned, the attack phase of the kick is the most distinct part, so I'd recommend NOT ripping off kicks for your productions if you plan on actually releasing anything =P

With even a bit of layering though you have a new attack bit, and I'd be at a loss to know how it would be possible for anyone to know what the original samples were, unless they had some crazy distinct tail or whatnot.

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