Why Most Kicks Don't Work

There are 2 main mistake people make when choosing and processing kick drums, here are the solutions.......
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[@by_antony]

Wow, dude! You are really explaining things in layman's terms. I super appreciate it. I see so many tutorials on youtube about how to EQ this and that, or how to mix X and Y together, but you have explained with audible examples exactly what IT is. I salute you. More like this please. I have been producing EDM for about 2 years and feel I have learned more from you in 5 mins than most other KZbin tutorials/explanations.

[@sour412music]

This why I don’t watch too many of these. But usually get confirmation of what I’ve been doing.

[@joost5075]

Fully agree !

[@sour412music]

This just me but if you just turn the knobs and experiment you’ll figure this stuff out lot faster than endless hours o. Yt

[@sour412music]

In 00 we had no vids only manuals and I wasn’t reading all that shit

[@shummers]

Most youtubers who make music production content are trying to sell you a product of some sort, so that makes sense. Like he explains in the video, people want you to buy beats and sample packs and presets that sound good already, which motivates people to conceal their knowledge to encourage people to purchase their products instead, and when those samples are bad, they go searching for more packs and so on. I've just been learning how to make the samples myself at this point because I hate the malicious music production industry. There's always a promo code, or a brand deal, or a sample pack, or a course, or whatever being marketed in almost every production video. It's so frustrating, and I feel bad for people who don't break out of that cycle of just buying more beats and sample packs hoping to eventually find the perfect thing, instead of learning how to DIY it. At best, you're going to make generic sounding music anyway. What pisses me off the most is when I see the "Secret formula to ____" videos, and it's usually just a sample pack sales pitch, and like... if you know the "secret formula" then why are you on KZbin selling packs instead of climbing the charts? It's just so obvious to me at this point.

[@johnymst]

I played my track on a big club system this weekend and noticed it sounded much more boomy than the other professional songs I was playing and this was exactly the issue you explained. I always throw a processed kick from a "good" sample pack and think that's it. I will now work more on my kicks - so happy I found this video!

[@fxsurgeon1]

Get a track that has a kick you love, put your kick on top and flick between the two until to understand the anatomy of the kick you love. Then you can further apply processing to get it to sound just as good

[@Timmy_with_CTRL]

Thank you for spitting some actual facts. Thats why the "cut itself" funktion in fl studio is so essential. Which even has a click compensation for not just putting those sounds back to back. But also i work on length belly and sustain always from pretty quite of the beginning i started producing. I came across so many people who might have some good feel for melodies or so but never understood how sound waves actually work. To all those guys: please dont just make music. LEARN how to make music. There is so much theory to it. And get a decent pair of headphones which give you abilities tonlisten very closely. One other hint to that is up to like 80-90 hertz waves should be felt not but not heard ;)

[@RaveyDavey]

I think that could very easily be right though. That's what a lot of successful producers do - they have a handful of kicks, from sample packs that they use, with little or no further processing.

[@kylecarvelle]

Wow. wow. You just saved my album man. This is such a no brainer and yet every single song on this project had kicks with long ass tails - and my mastering engineer kept telling me I had a bunch of competing low end frequencies and I was struggling to figure out what he meant. THIS IS WHAT HE MEANT. THANK YOU

[@siunfound]

There's plenty of artists that use big booming kicks with long tails in their tracks and they sound great, so I wouldn't necessarily avoid using them. The trick is to ensure the other elements of the track don't incorporate a lot of low end frequencies that clash with the kick, which can be challenging to get right. But I do see where you're coming from, it's easier to create space with a short snappy kick. Nevertheless, mastering both techniques is hugely beneficial. Booming kicks sound ace on a big system, but tread carefully in the production process.

[@BoyXx76]

couldn't agree more - it's almost trendy to say "big boomy kicks suck"...

[@jorriffhdhtrsegg]

Its the tempo and rhythm that determine it for me. In other words, how soon is the next kick? Is the song 60bpm or 180bpm? Is it 1/4 notes or does it have 16th notes. Oh, and some songs are meant to be a bit of an overload noisy low end, perhaps not featuring a lot of bass (some have no bass!) where kick needs to fill in.

[@uniunissa]

Ive been watching lots of tutorials about "mixing kick and bass", "getting punchier kicks". "kick secret of the pros" etc which are usually gimmicky and lead to sales pitch of the channels sample packs etc, but this tutorial gave helpful advice. I've been struggling often with boomy low end and I found useful things to remember when selecting kicks. This video is a gem for producers navigating in this sample pack and "easy kick trick tutorial" filled space of learning music production. Thank you so much!

[@tcmusic917]

by far one of the most informative videos on production, thank you

[@R3BBiT]

That double kick thing in clubs is something I wish I knew sooner 😭😂 Golden tips right here!

[@djovercut]

I've definitely noticed it before but never "thought" about it until now. I thought it was a F'd up club system sometimes, or the DJ.

[@henriquematias1986]

What double kick thing?

[@lavenderllamamusic]

@@henriquematias1986 he briefly mentions it at 4:17

[@PeterAse]

I like how you explain everything so calmly and clear, this is incredibly useful information - Thank you!

[@HobbieOne]

One of the best tutorial that i've ever seen 🏆. Most beatmaker, include myself, given me the tought that most people try to go to college before they go to elementary school! Crazy. We always try to paid the best "drums kit", applying eq, comp or clippers, pending hours before doing the super-simple but most important thing to do, like cutting the tail of our sample drums for resolve the problem. I've been trying to find the errors in my mixes for years, i'm talking about the distorsion on the master but they weren't in the mixes 🤦‍♂man... Thanks a lot Alfonso Muchacho for the gems... the real ones!

[@germangrade]

THIS is the best tutorial/video about kickdrums i've ever seen Nice work mate!

[@YoungNino2017]

nah, it's sounds better without that low pass filter... trust me.. I've been here and done this... it seems like you don't want that high information in your kicks... but you do. I have low passed my kicks like that to eventually take it off before I finished the track realizing how muffled and muddy the kick sounds without those harmonics.

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

The end part of this has some good info which is often overlooked. If you listen to the full track/beat whatever you have when filtering out unwanted info from your samples, you can hear it in context which is how every single person who listens to the finished product hears it. Yeah, filtering the top end out of the kick when in solo makes it sound like muffled crap but when you play everything else along with it you don't hear that. Filter or eq out information when everything else is playing until you can audibly hear a difference, then you know you've gone too far. It's surprising how much information can be cut out before we notice it but this helps tremendously down the line in mixing and mastering. Great video!

[@destroy_television]

Good god.. If only this guy saw all the tutorials I've seen over the years. This video is great. Very well explained. 👏

[@garymedia7551]

You're making really good sense here, man. I've been finding that the shorter the better with kicks, too.

[@lundsweden]

I definitely agree that rolling off the top of the kick usually makes it sit better in the mix.

[@skyboundzoo]

this is SUPER helpful - im not a techno/edm producer persay even though our genres arent the same, the knowledge is universal!!!!! best video ive seen on the topic so far

[@thomas_rellum]

Thank you for your knowledge!

[@wickedwaiata2939]

One of the most valuable lessons for beginners like me! Salute Alfonso

[@ChaosProjekt]

Dear Alfonos Muchacho, i would like to thank you so much for this video. Furthermore, to mention that you’re a highly qualified and experienced music producer ! Then I know exactely, that this tutorial is totally correrct. Best greetings Chaos

[@zenguy7711]

Thank you, brilliant, straightforward information!

[@jhdrummer4815]

Very interesting, this confirms my choice of using drums sounds coming from an hardware module like my Roland TD30 and not relying on samples. I really can feel how good each drum instrument gel so well with each other.

[@DanielSamulewiczXXI]

Greatly explained, Alfonso! This is one of my few best lessons on kick. Thank you!

[@jennisonb37]

Great video, thank you for posting this. This will change the way I build my drums in all my tracks going forward.

[@Solanaar]

I'm delighted by this. I perceive many "tutorials" as very exhausting. Usually you find out sooner or later they are sponsored or wanna sell you a pack or lessons. This was straight to the point and explained VISUALLY. another thing I like! Yes, trust your ears but as a visual learner this helped me so much more. Other stuff: I like that you say you use "this kick a lot", implying that you don't need to pick a different kick for each song. I learned this the hard way. After 5 years I have my favourites and only when they don't fit I look for something else. I like how you explain how this affects a club environment. Somehow when others talk about cutting the lows and stuff i don't really care but this made me really care for how it affects the club. I think it was the great example. Youre not a KZbinr. Somehow that made it better cause it didn't feel so "youtubery", more conversational, between teacher and student. Ye, great video. Now I don't feel bad that I mainly use one kick, cause it sounds great. Now I also understand WHY. it's short, punchy, but clean, no unnecessary information or beautification. Thanks for that

[@lexmusiclab]

yeah I agree, once I find a dope kick that works well for one genre, I usually use the same one for that genre over and over, maybe editing it a bit to make it have a bit of unique flavor for the track in question

[@benwaveproducer]

Really inspiring tutorial and tips! I come from producing Hip Hop and also went into more electronic stuff - but it often was a very frustrating journey, especially when it came to my mastering limiters. Often I had to work my ass off and try a thousand things, to realize it`s the sub area and the transient shaping, that are so damn important. Since I have really good headphones and different Waves NX Plugings, room treatment and optimization systems (Sonarworks Sound ID), it became way more easy to figure the problem areas out. Even good soft clippers, a Pro L2 or Ozone 10 don`t make a good job, if you choos the wrong kickdrum, what I still often do.

[@billeva12]

Great that you have started giving production tips again.It's been a while.

[@shaneshelton8834]

I watch a lot of music making video tutorials, but this is so concise and usable. I’ve already been doing some of these things, but thinking of a mix in terms of information amounts makes so much sense. I’m about to record something new, and I’m definitely going to pay attention to the amount of cumulative information in each part of that track and carve out space where needed!

[@MrMeecles]

Nice video man Among live drummers there's a similar thing where the tempo of the song determines how much muffling we use in the kick Every kick we do could be massive wide and open but it would just clutter things up too much for the band

[@Keifer-D]

Yeah. Now that’s why drummers have a pillow in the kick drum. Makes sense now! 👍

[@els1f]

Like the clicky death metal kick😋 can't have a lot of slow moving waves when you're plowing through 32nd notes lol

[@sungwonkim8870]

I feel like this is an important tip that is overlooked quite often. Thanks for pointing this out!

[@mit136speichenumdiewelt]

It would be great to get more of these tips. Thank you!

[@glenn_michaels]

Thank you for this!

[@khkx450]

This was incredible man. Thank you!

[@000SilaS000]

yes yes yes. that is very true. good video, i needed to hear this

[@kriss12loverap]

there something called a retrigger on most samplers. that way the transients dont clash. its not the end of the world if u got ur kick in a sampler because u can just fit the adsr to be snappy in any situation if u make hiphop with 808s adjusting the length often shorter makes the 808 fit right in the track, its all about the bounce. Most about the tuning. pierre bourne blends 808 transients. ALso: Longer kick makes the track feel diffrent, kinda like slower, i think flume use allot of long transient kick.

[@updown5238]

Really enjoyed that mate, thanks. Will investigate more of your stuff.

[@nononanonon]

Thank you very much for taking your time to explain this even though you're not a KZbinr! You're very good at explaining things. This was just as concise as the kicks you use! People like you make it possible for us to get into music production even without proper education in the domain. As a side note, there're subgenres of techno that are based almost exclusively on the kick (hard/industrial/rave techno, usually 148+ bpm, almost no melodies and very little percussion used mostly for breakdowns). I've never tried producing something like that but I assume in that case you want the kicks to fill out most of the frequency range and to last until the next kick comes, right?

[@b1nary_f1nary]

Yeah but also they are faster bpm so there is even less space in between each kick. So yeah the kick will be filling out until the next kick but the kick would still have to be really short in general because the music is really fast

[@AlbertSirup]

yes there's something called a rumble kick, which is a techno kick with a longer tail. if you don't have a lot of harmonic movement a long kick can work as it takes the function of both kick and subbass

[@Djuni]

I've learned a lot, thank you.

[@seangunn3079]

What a concise and well explained video. Thanks!!!

[@syllomusic]

GAME CHANGER Thanks for the tips (and super clear demonstration/theory)

[@ThePerceptionist]

Glad I found this, very informative mate thank you

[@Deepbluecat]

Great info bro. Thank you for the no nonsense facts

[@proaudionajia]

Very informative video. Thanks man.

[@pollarik6400]

I have ADHD and I never knew that all I needed to make me watch a tutorial all the way through was a handsome muscular man to tell me what I need to know. So thankyou Alfonso! On a serious note, great tutorial!

[@CraigHinrichs]

I have heard people ellude to what you are stating so clearly. I appreciate it.

[@Elektragen]

Right on bro 💯 🙏 💪

[@anattaevergreen4115]

awesome video man very informative and you explain super well too :)

[@frankyoualot]

this is so great- thanks a milliom

[@Kakadiho3]

Thanks Alot That's The Best Video I've Watched Ever🙏🙏🙏

[@RokSivante]

Extremely helpful ⭐️🥂

[@caballoloco1]

Thanks man, so clear and easy. Es una excelente explicación y sencillo de entender por la forma en que lo explicas. Gracias

[@robinminkster]

Life changing stuff! Thank youuuuuuu🎶😎🎶😎💚🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

[@christophermeraz-mata6834]

I wish every producer out there would watch to this video.

[@OfficialSameerSingh]

Great information❤

[@listeningtomusic7665]

This was mind blowing thanks! When you cut the high end it all clicked

[@mikeearl101]

Very well done video! Thank you!

[@owenkitto27]

10/10 for the video I found this late at night and then spent hours yesterday trying to find this video. I have now saved the link to my inbox 😊

[@scott_doyle]

Great explanation. Thanks for the video 👍

[@karolisbalcius2809]

Auto subscribe. This is the kind of stuff youtube music production needs. The real obvious "secrets' that no one talks about. Super massive big up.

[@prophangas]

Well explained, sir!

[@DjNemes1s]

Haha that kick is "absolutely obnoxious" - brilliant! Really insightful video, keep doing these types of vids please, they're packed with information gems!

[@RoccoKOfficial]

Great explanation, will come in handy thanks!

[@oxar050]

Never thought I'd see someone suggesting to bandpass kick drums. Great video, thanks for the advice

[@kshimonstevenson6458]

This was super helpful thank you !!

[@hoidoei941]

The first thing I always have done with kicks from samplepacks is trim it’s tail immensely (other keywords pitch, layering, eq, saturation, (sidechain)compression etc.)

[@jimmycoco6506]

Thank-you...

[@kolbrun90]

Thanks a lot!

[@mastakilla2253]

Thanks for the video! very useful information!

[@partlysimpson5154]

Depends on the sample packs, some are well quiet raw synthesized sounds, but they tend to take more work to get it sound good

[@mrr5835]

Some great concepts!

[@nefaraidnb]

Most people will use any kick that is any pitch, not realising that yes drums have a key. Its harder to hear but out of key drums will mess up your mix. Use a tuned kick and you shouldnt need to eq much out, just the sub lows

[@jemseed]

If the tone of the kick is hard to hear tune your kick up a full octave to hear the tone (which for me is more musically clearer sounding) in relation to the song you create to see how in tune it is then find the correct tone at that higher octave and transpose by 12. 👍

[@nefaraidnb]

@@jemseed yeah personally I use external software that I run my music through to find the key of all my drums. Hats and stuff that isn't really tonally obvious but, I like to keep all my elements in the same key at least, not necessarily the exact note

[@tokowera]

great tutorial. thanks a bunch :)

[@Jobobaboss]

Very clear and understandable. I see so many tutorials and how to's but i find most of them useless, pointless and worthless. But this my friend, this is just very important info that we're able to apply immediately and have big effect on our work. Thanks man, i'll definitely stick around and look into more of your video's.

[@Well-beingCris..]

Smartest producer on KZbin. Thanks

[@franciscojaviergomez4807]

very wise advice thanks for sharing

[@monab615]

thanks for the great video :) why exactly do you not want any information below 50 Hz though? could you not for example cut the bassline at 200 Hz if it's lets say a 303 or sidechain the bassline to the kick? i'm afraid i'll loose some of the "boom" from my kick otherwise - and sometimes especially in techno there is a kick with a reverb (= rumble) being the core low frequency element, so isn't it important? what do you think?

[@UbergamR447]

great video! very informative, thank you! :)

[@benitolazio8193]

Thank you

[@KnjazNazrath]

Flashcore is my jam, and I keep tryin' to tell people exactly what you're sayin'. When they tell me "your kicks can be in c3 or c4 so what do you know?" I can now direct them here. Thanks for that, it'll really help me curtail some long arguments in the future.

[@midinerd]

My kicks weren't working and then this vid fixed them. now people's shins be aching, cheers

[@nickfarrant9581]

Super helpful many thanks 🙏

[@arbitersofsound]

Great video! Very good advice, and not just for electronic music.

[@psyzmech9044]

Great video, this really helps.

[@marquezvanroeschen5340]

good explained!

[@d.j.levison4292]

Very good information, thank you

[@stuartg4670]

"Don't choose a kick with a hi-hat on top" , and be aware of the tail and the implications of the tail. And the rest! Sage advice. It's the stuff we can all be lazy about, but it's the most crucial stuff. Great video!

[@DiMK_46]

Very helpful video!💯 I would say Bazzism is a very appropriate plug in to built your own kick and avoid any "bad information"

[@matthewfinan2619]

Thanks, Alfonso. I Been Choosing Kicks Based on How They Sound on Their Own--blowing my Mixes. I'm going to Try This--and, Hear the Difference. Thank You, Alfonso. Make It a Great Day. Smile on~ Matt Detroit

[@Actunify]

Thank you! This really something to pay attention to. I tend to count the kick as part of the bass line in some tracks. Some 808 kicks are very melodic.

[@woodcraft_cz]

“I am a music producer/DJ/part time mastering guy/Deeaauuuuuwww noise maker”

[@AlfonsoMuchacho]

Hahaha exactly

[@adrianmiszczuk8061]

Harder kicks with more bass frequency depending on the specific kick sound it's better? Nobody said that Soft kicks are worst. If you have 1000W+ boosted subwoofer even soft kicks hit hard 😊

[@waytoofarianism]

​@@adrianmiszczuk8061how does that translate to a phone, a small speaker, or flat response headphones?? Probably underwhelming huh?

[@AutPen38]

Very useful tips. I've been suffering from this problem, as I'll audition a bunch of kicks when I first start on a track and I guess I usually pick the "biggest" or "most interesting" one that sounds great when soloed... but I keep having problems at the mixing or mastering stage because the kick is (usually) too dominant or creates some kind of resonant clash with the other instruments. It often takes a long time to fix it at that stage (and often needs to be replaced entirely) so it's probably a good idea for me to go back to simpler kicks right at the start and then add pizzazz of my own if there's room for it, rather than have to work around a boomy kick that has too much information to begin with.

[@TyneBridge90]

that makes sense to me now but it wouldn't have made any sense at all to me 15 minutes ago before I watched this video

[@Mojo_Musik]

Hi Alfonso, this is a really great video. I don't actually produce any house/techno style music, but I write a lot of Old school Funk, Soul, Disco and Chill/Lo-Fi. This music is typically lacking in a lot of the high mid/high frequencies. Would you say this process is transferable to these genres? because it seems, particulary with my funk and disco music, that my low end lacks punch and sounds muddy, and I have tended to cut low mid and also try and find higher frequencies to help it cut through the mix, however it seems as the though the sustain/release of the sub frequencies may be the biggest culprit. Many thanks for the vid

[@els1f]

The MOMENT i saw the Ozone 5 plugin I subbed! 😋 I feel like that says a lot and for a number of reasons

[@St4rrk.]

I remember I saw some video from some dude advising to boost the high frequency of the kick so that it will "punch harder and cut easier through the mix ". I think I might have done exactly that on some of my tracks. 😭 Lesson learned, I will take with a grain of salt what you learn on KZbin producers' channels. Thanks! Great video, subbing right now!

[@cyanyoshida2650]

Hi, commenting from the standpoint of a heavy bass producer. As he has mentioned, the validity of his advice is dependent on the style you are aiming for. This is especially true for tip #2. If you are planning to heavily duck everything to the kick, you would likely want a full-bodied kick that would span the entirety of the frequency spectrum. This is especially important if you are using cymbal loops, as you would likely have better luck working with a kick that's already been compressed and distorted with a hi-hat as opposed to processing the kick and the cymbal loop together while trying to get all of it to sound natural.

[@Od3ll_Official]

Yup, the style is very very important to consider.

[@djmattblack]

The man, the myth, the legend

[@hanfbrot]

Another observation I've made during my years as a live performer (using only hardware like drum computers, samplers, and synthesizers, without laptops) is that the raw sound of the bass drum is often too loud in the low-frequency part. How does this impact your performance? Well, the powerful bass drum sends a signal that's too strong for the PA system. To address this, a limiter steps in and reduces the volume of all the sounds, including the bass drum, until the bass drum is quiet enough for the limiter to not interfere. This unfortunately makes all the other sounds much quieter too, even if the bass drum's frequencies, which caused the adjustment, can't even be heard through the PA system. This is because most PA systems can't reproduce sounds below 30-50 Hz.

[@wickeddubz]

Nice points to consider! Can you please make another video about kick processing with compression. Many newbies often overuse EQ which causes phase distortion, so kick and bass are mismatched.

[@martinneervoort4137]

Great explanation and an eye opener! Would you have anything similar while you would actually build your kick? Thanks a lot for this video, really helpful :-)

[@ts4gv]

4:38 this gesture is great lol

[@flavorlessdenial8271]

Great stuff this, confirmed a lot of stuff for me