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Help with compressing kicks
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| Thois |
Everytime I try to make the kick come forward in the mix by using compression, I get this ugly distortion on the bassy section of the kick, no matter what compression settings I use (only if it doesn't compress or just a little bit there is no distortion).
Am I using the wrong compressor? Am I using the wrong kick? What's wrong, help me out here!
I have tried using Fruity Compressor, Waves C4, Waves C1 & Voxengo Crunchessor.
Is there a best compressor for kicks specificly? |
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| PutBoy |
Don't solely compress to make something come forward in the mix. The magic word is EQ, and for kicks it can also be pronounced: "Side-Chain Compression"
With that having said, try some other kicks. I have never had that problem. Maybe you compress poorly. What's the ratio/Treshhold you're using? |
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| Derivative |
Post a soundclip. I dont get what you are trying to say here...
You can use a compressor to bring a sound forward in the mix but...
If the sound gets raggy around the edges you are
a) Brickwalling it too much.
b) Clipping
c) Running the input gain on the kick too high.
d) You are using some kind of overdrive/distortion on the kick.
if its a) Ease off on the compressor threshold and ratio and dont apply too much post gain.
If its b) Reduce the post gain in the mixer. The channel fader for your kick drum. Until it no longer clips. Alternatively, use a filter or a paragraphic EQ to subtly roll off the offending clipping frequency. You say its bass so that should give you a hint as to where its phcuking up.
If its c) Reduce the pregain on the kick drum directly. Increase the post gain until its roughly at the level it was before you started fiddling. It shouldnt clip or you are doing something wrong.
If its d) Good on ya! I love raggy distorted 909 kick drums, run through several tubes and output directly into your skull where it proceeds to trounce your brain into radioactive waste. |
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| ronk |
| I'm using the fruity compressor, and if there's anything I've learned about it, is to increase the release/attack time when there's clipping (especially when you're compressing bassy stuff). |
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| substorm |
I often do not compress my kicks, but i depends on how good quality the kick have.
MY key to a good kick!
1: A good quality Kick.
2: Some EQ. Let i roll of in the bottom (around 35Hz), then give it a little boost here as well. Cut (around 150Hz) to take away some rumble.
Last boost (around 2500Hz) to bring out the attack.
3: A good pair of Monitors and a good pair of headphones, so that u can hear and feel the whole frequency range. I had a pair of headphones that "lied" to me :P, i thought the kick was lame, but when i played the track on my home stereo the bass almost blowed my speakers away, then i bought a really good pair of studio headphones, and that was all i needed.
Cheers
/C |
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| Lindo |
| Well knowing that eqing can make or break a sound, here is my suggestion. Depending on the sample, check to see what frequencies your kick mainly occupies. Normally I like to keep the low frequencies there (low 20-35hz), but if there is too much I give a little cut around there otherwise on small systems it just doesn't sound well. For overall happyness, give a little boost around 80hz to still give a nice bass hit. Cut away around 150hz like substorm said to get rid of that rumbling that gives some muddyness to the sound. Then look at where in the mid-high frequency range that it could use a boost at (looking anywhere from 2khz-6khz) for some nice clarity that will define the attack of the kick. This will bring out your kick in the mix with a little bit of compression (sidechain comp with the bass if you please) to rid of the conflicting frequencies. Now you should have a good solid kick and bassline that will tear the dancefloor. You won't become an eq genius overnight, but test this out and see where it brings you. Also check the list that Derivative said because clipping can also distort your kick and make it sound blah. |
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| Atlantis-AR |
| quote: | | Originally posted by Thois Everytime I try to make the kick come forward in the mix by using compression, I get this ugly distortion on the bassy section of the kick, no matter what compression settings I use (only if it doesn't compress or just a little bit there is no distortion). |
This is most often caused by the release time being too low. Bring it up to around 50 ms, a little higher or lower depending on the sound and music.
| quote: | | Is there a best compressor for kicks specificly? |
It depends, but I wouldn't use a multiband compressor on a kick, as the sound is mostly focused in one band anyway. Try the Waves RComp set Electro mode, followed by another RComp on the kick and bass set to Opto. |
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| Dj_Es-Dva |
| in the oldden days i used to compress my kicks, but ive learnt its best not to. since they are the primary sound in the song they shouldnt be compressed, but its up to the producer. |
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| cybernetica |
I see that you have the waves plugins, so try the Waves L2, which has a limiter inside, limit it to -6 dB or something like that. Experiment with the threshold until it sounds good.
Afterwards (!), do some EQ. I prefer to boost the bass punch at 80 Hz and the click at 2 kHz (only narrow peaks, so called "nipples"), and cut everything below 15Hz. |
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| Icone |
I think the crackling could be due to a combination of things, e.g. a low treshold, fast attack setting and fast release as well (such as Atlantis-AR mentioned).
Sometimes the 'type' of compression can also reduce the crackling; for example set the compressor to a 'soft' type compression.
Multiband comps are indeed a bit of overkill for just a kickdrum sound, keep it simple! :)
Atlantis-AR: is it advised to put so much compressors in-line on the bass and kick for unmastered tracks versions (i.e. when labels will still do the end-master in a professional studio)? |
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| Atlantis-AR |
| quote: | | Originally posted by Icone Atlantis-AR: is it advised to put so much compressors in-line on the bass and kick for unmastered tracks versions (i.e. when labels will still do the end-master in a professional studio)? |
While I'm not one to advise using mix compression, I do find compressing the kick and bass together gives for a tighter, more controlled sound. I'm only talking a ratio around 1.2:1 here (maybe 2:1 at most, but this depends on the knee as well), a relatively high threshold, and attack and release times to suit the music, just to make the kick and bass pump and breathe a little more.
I look at it in the same way as using any other bus compression - the way you might route different drum sounds to a single compressor, even after having compressed the sounds individually. You're not compressing the whole mix, but just a group of sounds to create an effect. |
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| whatsupd0g |
maybe it's not the kick that's the problem.. it could be that the kick and bassline are clashing.
You have to figure out which one you want to be more dominant in the track.. the kick or the bassline.
If you're making Mylo house, then you probably want the bassline to drive the track and the kick to just be there. Load a Parametric EQ on the kick and find where its clashing with the bassine and turn that freq down.
If you're making Armin trance then the kick is the most important part. Load a parametric EQ on the bassline and find that freq that's not letting the kick drive and turn it down. Even if your bassline doesn't hit the same time with kick. In trance since the tails of the kick and basslines are longer than that of hardhouse, it is wise to EQ them seperately.
With both genres, I typically notice that the problem area is at around 90hz. (If you want a good starting point, start there)
Depending on what track I decide to mix down.. I usually compress the kick for a peak time trance track and leave the house/prog one uncompressed or compressed at a low ratio. There's no clear-cut rule saying you HAVE to compress all your kicks. If it sounds good without compression, then don't use it. I often find that my mixes with less processing sound better than those I put a lot in.
A lot of trance being released nowadays is overcompressed, and the mixes lacks clarity in general. This may not be a big issue to you at the moment, but it is at the clubs, when a dj is spinning a nice punchy track and all of a sudden a weak squashed track comes in next.. that could be the determining factor for people to stop dancing and leave. |
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