Get the Perfect 909 Kick Drum Sound With THIS Simple Hack

[@pickyourselfofficial]

FREE Guide - Learn how to finish at least one song per month: pickyourself.com/framework

[@Ace_of_DiscaL]

WOW ... This completely changed the way I perceive kick samples! Thank you very much for adding the saturation & EQ segments to your video so that the possibilities can be opened up more. This is perfect if we are very happy with one kick that is just missing a little extra over-tones which can be added in parallel.

[@pontuslindberg]

I can't help but smiling when this guy dials in "aggressive" settings on the saturator plugin. I do however enjoy this content a lot, no matter how skilled you think you are there's always something to take away from each episode. Keep it up! Best regards

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Haha, nice one! Yeah, I know what you mean ;)

[@EricCoplen]

Great video....this really helped me with my Kicks having that clarity, thump, and punch that comes through the mix effortlessly. I love the parallel processing tip especially and the control this gives you when you want to mold the kick and bass together especially.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That’s so great to hear! I’m happy you got something out of it :)

[@yoshijaecques6890]

Very good tips !

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thank you! 💯🙌🏻

[@victor.vandeneynde]

i like using a transient designer like smack attack on top of both kicks

[@Streetsweepa808]

I like to use a subsonic transmoger like slap retreat on bottom of both hats

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Yep! I haven’t talked much about mixing here but I would group both of those kicks together and then treat the group further. Transient designers are great.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

You mean the slap plugin from Mr. Bill? Still have to try that one, sounds promising!

[@simonyricools]

@@Streetsweepa808 I use a plunger.

[@danallem]

Excellent channel! Thank you!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

You’re welcome! :)

[@justletmesigninokthx]

16:59 would the parallel channel be at different phase to the clean channel, and would you put a utility on there to see how flipping the phase sounds ? or should it be fine ? thx

[@dreadsocialistroberts]

You need a noise filter on your mic. (Either through OBS or NVidia (if you're recording on windows). It sounds like you're slamming your keys and mouse clicks and it's a complete distraction.

[@omartinc0]

Great Idea!! 👍

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Glad you got something out of this :)

[@eli-shulga]

Great video, cleared up a lot of things for me. A question about Ableton's Glue Compressor A/B test you did at 9:45 - From what I saw the "without" picked at -12dB where the "with" picked at around -6dB so obviously sounded "bigger". Wanted to as if you ignored the gain over compensation on purpose? Are Ableton's fader Peak and RMS gages are misleading? Im using a them a lot when doing A/B testing compression to make sure Im not fooling my ears. But maybe Its better to use other tools? Again very helpful Thank you - Subbed :)

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Hey Eli, great observation, you’re absolutely right! I should have paid closer attention to this (especially in an educational context). Now to put this into perspective: Since I’m working on mixes and masters every day, I’m not too strict about exactly keeping the before and after levels right since I’m listening to details in the tone and don’t focus as much on the change in level. That being said, normally the difference is a dB or two and not as much as in this example. Part of my mixing philosophy is “enhance the beauty of the sound” instead of “fixing errors”. This puts my mind in a very good place and enables flow state. But it also means that I’m less picky about 100% exact gain staging etc. ;-) I hope this clarifies things a bit. Thanks for pointing this out and also thanks for subscribing, I really appreciate it!

[@eli-shulga]

​@@pickyourselfofficial Thanks for for the clarification and the insight: "’Im not too strict about exactly keeping the before and after levels right since I’m listening to details in the tone and don’t focus as much on the change in level" This very valuable for me at my skill level. Because, its hard to tell how much and to which extent you need "enforce" some things. And where you can get loose a little bit more. Guess these things comes with experience and "ear milage" :)

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@eli-shulga very true! Glad it was helpful:)

[@victorszamardage8941]

Good video thanks mate! I use 909 mars and what i basically do is layer my kick and process them. then group and process some more. Classic. I also tend to use different kick drums for subs or click. Additionally i put a 4x4 pattern layer of the main kick lowpassed for a little energy. What do you think? Your methods seems easier and cleaner. Will definitely try it now!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

I’m a big fan of not artificially splitting the layers. But it can work well, just trust your ears and gut feeling. If you feel the impact of the kick and get the right texture from it, everything is fine. Just trust your ears and gain experience, no matter what exact technique you try out!

[@victorszamardage8941]

@@pickyourselfofficial Thanks. What would you offer instead of soothe 2 ? If you could do a nice dseq3 tutorial for resonance suppression would be nice

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@victorszamardage8941 I have no experience with that specific tool. I only use soothe (subtle settings only) or a bit of the dynamic EQ in the Kirchhoff EQ from Plugin Alliance. It’s slightly better than Fabfilter Pro Q3 in my opinion.

[@slawomirbialecki2275]

Maybe is stupid question... When you convert this to audio, does that make any phase cancelation between oryginal and processig sound? Thank you for response.

[@alp740]

thanks!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

My pleasure!

[@ruffusduarte]

Hey man! Nice tutorial but I have a question: on the sampler the kick you choose says “BD 909 Color 01 Medium F 05”it means that the kick is in F right? Why you didn’t change the root note from C3 to F3 on the sampler itself?

[@tobebrandpool3214]

Hi! Thank you for a great channel. You have helped me get a better sound fast.(I have struggled with this for many years).I have a question about the drumrack. Is it a diffrens is sound-quality if you put all your drum i a drumrack on diffrent chains instead of putting your drumsounds in separat channels?. Thankyou!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks, that means a lot! It’s more of a workflow choice. In a drum rack you can also route to different audio channels and then treat them individually.

[@ptah23]

I have an RD-9. A video showing how to customise sound on actual drum machine would be useful

[@pickyourselfofficial]

I’ll put it on the content list, thanks! 🤘🏻

[@marianomonti9440]

Hello friend, thanks for the tutorial. I have some question: Do you use both kicks for the entire track or do you only use the processed kick? thank you

[@pickyourselfofficial]

You mean kick channel + parallel chain? In most cases I’d keep both running for the entire track. But it can be cool to only use one of them in softer parts and bring in the other one when you need more power :)

[@marianomonti9440]

@@pickyourselfofficial Thank you friend, very kind, I appreciate your prompt response and dedication. a hug!

[@lolfully]

Hey man, great vids. Super informative. I have a question. When you are processing in parallel with low-end heavy information such as a kick and a rumble do I not need to cut the low-end (under 100hz) on the parallel channel to avoid muddiness or phasing issues?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Great question! I’d say try to trust your critical listening skills. You will definitely notice if something gets too muddy or out of phase. As a default, I would NOT cut that stuff out. Try first with it still in and only remove it if there’s clearly a problem. Hope that helps!

[@distaleberlin]

Be careful. All your plugins creating delay. Ableton's delay compensation is not the best... you can get into phasing issues here...

[@absyntho73]

I think you're right. A trick I heard about was to insert the same chain on the original channel but with no processing. However, I would bounce to audio and check for phasing and line them tracks up if necessary.

[@elieskateur]

Subtil but does all the difference

[@phreddaudio9080]

machst echt gute videos aber was soll das jeanshemd immer. wieviele hast du davon? :P

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Haha, das wird für immer ein Geheimnis bleiben 😂

[@Criomancer200]

which phones are those?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Audeze LCD-X Creators Edition. Best investment in a long time, I can confidently work on major-level client mixes and masters from everywhere in the world and not even miss my monitors there. Though I admit it’s optimal to have both plus a treated room, of course.

[@RemyRAD]

This video is great. If you like, 1970s Disco Music! Which Germans are stuck in. Since Donna Summer, died in Munich. And they just,, Love To Love Her, forever more. And can't get enough. They are stuck. Of that Funky Disco Stuff. The next thing you know. They will be missing their Disco Duck. And want more Duck. RamyRAD

[@RemyRAD]

The following is what I've been doing since the, late 1970s early 80s. In regards to, drum samples and recording drum samples and recording. Which is way more fun than, fake old drum machines. From the 1980s and 90s. Before we grew up. Into the New Millennia of, Production. So, read on. And try for yourself what I describe. You'll never look back. To, Prehistoric Drum Machines. Ever again. Because you. Yes You! Will be creating your own, Drum Samples. Advice given by a 50+ year professional major music award nominee professional. RamyRAD

[@RemyRAD]

Wait! I thought it was the Roland 808? That everybody vacillates towards? Where did this 909 come from? Was it just released?! I don't think so? I think you are kidding us? Right? Overtones in the waveform? Can you tell that's a sine wave? There are no harmonics or overtones in, sine waves. That is purely a sine wave. Oh my God! And so that voltage controlled sine wave can be, speeded up or slowed down. Which changes pitch and the envelope follower changes duration. And it's a sine wave. With no overtones or harmonics beyond its fundamental frequency. Of low. My goodness… Tsk tsk tsk. Now change that waveform from sine wave to, pulsed sawtooth. And you get some edge. Change it to a square wave. And you get some grasp. Change it to a pulse wave with a shortened modulation duration. And you get clicks. Modulate the audio with pulse waves. And you get Pulse Wave Modulation. And that's what time delays and different waveforms can sound like can do. This 909 is a sine wave. Now if I recorded a shitty sounding bass drum? I might trigger one of these? From his wet blanket sounding, overcooked noodle sound. From their quasi-poor excuse, for a bass drum recorded sound? Maybe? But even those, lousy sounding bass drums. I dial in, correctly. With raucous EQ, raucous dynamic range limiting and final, Gating period of each and every drum. Of each get tired. Of each Bass. Of each keyboard. Of each vocal microphone. And then and only then. Do you get something worth listening to. Because Natural Sound. Doesn't mean not doing nothing, to it. It means fooling the listener's ear. Coming out of their puny, playback system of earbuds, small home and car speakers. What needs to sound gigantic and Perfectly Natural Sounding. That still sounds like it has, dynamics. But doesn't really. And the joke is on everyone! Because I have the process to Natural Sound. In very, unnatural, electronic, ways. And because electronic reproduction is not, in person, reproduction. It's all electronic. Just like being here. Reading my words. Hearing my voice. Without ever hearing it. Because as you read this. I am speaking directly to you. And to you and you and you. And Santa Claus knows whether you have been naughty or nice.. This way! When you get no present's. At the end of the year. Because you thought natural sound meant, getting the right microphone and not doing nothing. Whoops. Nope! That's wrong. Oh yeah she thinks she knows so much! Well yeah. I'm history making and 4 time major music award nominated. And the reason why you don't get your, coast-to-coast, Network Television News, delivered in stereo. Oh sure the pretty intro/outgrow and commercial bumper music is in stereo. You don't get anything from the studio, the street or out in the field. In stereo. And it's all my fault LOL. I was the only one apparently, consulted. About how to do the network television news in stereo. And since NBC-TV News. Was the first in the world to go stereo TV. And I worked for them as, one of their Top, Senior, Audio Engineers. Who had done a lot of stereo work with music. I was the only one consulted. In 1984. Even though I was brand-new to, Network Television News. But they listened to my concepts. And agreed. Mono a.k.a. Monaural News. Offers a higher degree of, Intelligibility and Comprehension. With heightened and enhanced, articulation. And so as a result. We continue to do the news in Monaural a.k.a. Mono. And all of the other major US and foreign Television Networks. All followed my lead. Back in the last days of analog television. With analog studio equipment. Because mostly. Remarkably. They can't get there right from there left, straight. It's amazing it's incredible it's true. And I said we should just forget it! And it's very funny today. In TVs purely Digital Realm. Where they can no longer get the left and right channels backwards. They still haven't figured out how to do the, World and National News. In stereo. 39 years later and counting. As I retired a while back. And I laugh with each passing day. And so what do you all think about that? I think it's terribly funny. As they also drive! RamyRAD

[@RemyRAD]

This is a very funny, sad and boring video. About how to make fake synthetic drums sound more fake and synthetic. With nuanced differences of more, fakery. Because we all want to sound the same don't we? Aren't we all supposed to be, the same? The same sounds? Everybody should become, assimilated as resistance is futile? In this not so Borg method of music manufacturing? Fake Borg music? That only Borg's will like? RamyRAD

[@rossco78]

What a very weird comment. Are you bored?

[@le-berry]

Simple and Hack you aren't serious I presume? Yes it's simple and no it would not be considered a 'hack'. Neither a trick or anything like magic it's just common sense. Nice video and good tips for the unableton rookies.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Just trying to be helpful to someone out there ;) what is common sense to an experienced producer is an unknown hack for someone else. I personally can remember how unbelievably fresh parallel processing seemed to me when I first read about it in Bob Katz’s “Mastering. The Art And Science”. But we’re on KZbin, not in the library ;P

[@le-berry]

@@pickyourselfofficial I do understand and appreciate the effort for what you doing but the hack part feels a bit level clickbait. I guess that's your choice and to be fair I did click in order to discover the hack. The afterthought was what the heck is the hack?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@le-berry fair enough ;-) Thanks for the feedback!

[@RemyRAD]

Yeah. You don't need a stupid drum machine. If you learn how to sample and record your own drums. Then put those samples into your software. And they will be real drums. Not synthetic gobbledygook from frequency tone generators! Which isn't a drum at all! And so you are selling fake imitations here. That sounds fake because they are. So? What to do? My recommendations. What I recommend here works on everything. From a single channel. And can be accomplished with other equivalent's. In the same manner. With different stuff by different manufacturers. Of lower end and more affordable items. But the application applies across the board. You take a cheap, microphone. Any microphone. Like a common rock 'n' roll PA microphone. Such as a, SHURE, SM-57. And you stick it inside the Bass Drum. I like that microphone. It works just fine. Others can be used also. It really doesn't matter much. Then you play that microphone. Into a microphone preamp. I prefer 2 in particular. But I will use anything available. The one I prefer the most is the, all discrete transistor, Neve's period of any variety. A lovely alternative to the Neve. Made in Great Britain. Is the American-made version called API. These are my 2 favorites. And the favorites of so many others. Thousands of others. Throughout time and rock 'n' roll immemorial. But even a simple, $3.50 US, single integrated circuit chip like a 5534 will do quite nicely. But I like the API and Neve's, the best. Those then get plugged into a, full function tone control called, an, Equalizer. Which is an elaborate tone control. And offers many frequencies and enhancement features. And we turn some up and some down. At multiple frequencies. To get a really cool sound. But it is still bloated and needs to be tightened up. So! We then follow that. With a Dynamic Range Limiter. To even and fatten it all up. But still sounds a bit unruly. And needs to be tightened, yet further. And so! I then follow that and insert. A, Dynamic Range Downward Expander Gate. Which will turn off the, Bass Drum, microphone. After each and every single beat! As I adjust it to track the Bass Drum Et Voilà! My own Bass Drum Sample! That sounds Fabulous! And is 100% Real! And sounds Totally Sick and Killer! And all sounds Fucking Natural! Woo hoo! Yabaddabadoo! Yeah baby! Holy Shit and Caboodle! And I can do the same thing with a cheap, PA mixer and DBX 266, ALESIS 3630 and others that cost next to nothing. And a counterfeit Chinese imitation SM-57. You got for 20 bucks. And sounds like crap. Because it is. You can still use. And get away with using this way. And so the stupid lame old drum machines, not necessary anymore. You can DIY. And you will throw your, 808 and 909 into the trash. When you can get better samples, yourself. Without ever being able to play the drums, yourself. That you will program, later. With 3 and 4 hands playing them LOL. So don't make that mistake. Or rather don't make that miss-fake. Both. Don't make both. I've been making my own drum samples that way since, 1979 or was that 1978? RamyRAD

[@JackhammerSiesta]

Calm down .

[@jamiecorke3195]

The video was great but seeing this nutter in the comments was the Cherry on top. 😂😂😂😂 Great entertainment all round.