that "fluffy" kick sound

[Alexi]

hey slutz............do you have any idea how i could achieve
a really fluffy kicksound?


I attached a song snippet by a band called " the umbrellas", the song is called city lights........i am talking about that really soft kick sound.........i always think there is a high cut involved or something, even though the kick is still very present and defined in the mix................


Any ideas guys? How should i start eqing?



cheers


alex

[thejook]

Sounds like a dampening thing.

Get the kick to sound like that in the room - that's the key. Mess with a bunch of different kick drums / tunings / dampening; I know this sounds like a PITA but it's really the way to go. You make 95% of the sound before you even mic it up.

I learned from one of my 'mentors' that the correct way to track drums was really to do so whereby you don't touch one EQ. Then, once you master that, you can learn what adding a little here or there (or rolling off sub from the kick, as we all do) can do. Become a drum-tuning EXPERT.

[Alexi]

......well i am pretty sure i would need something like the Vater "Vintage Bomber" beater......

[djui5]

fuzzy beater like above, and a player who kicks it right, and a beta-52 inside the kick pointed at the beater from slightly below and to the side of it.

[De chromium cob]

An AKG D-12 would help as well..... Thats what I reach for when I'm after that sound.

[Alexi]

i think it is a 421 actually...............i am wondering how it was eq'd...

[norman_nomad]

... a nice condenser in front of the kick often does the trick.

[mogWai]

sample it.

done.

[AdamLazlo]

Dampening, tuning, heads, soft kick pedal, etc... will do the trick. thejook said what needed to be said.

I'll add by saying, EQ-wise, pump a bit in the 100Hz range and compress slightly. Maybe even key in (EQ side-chain) the compressor 'til it pushes on the lower mids. You could also start a slope out the highs from 2k and above... don't take them completely out, you still want a little of the upper transient tone to come thru otherwise it might sound too dead.

Also, the drummer must be accustom to playing with a consistent and softer touch. I've had drummers that were accustom to playing with a forward foot and tight kick drum heads that it was very hard to get them to sit back on a soft tuning approach. That's where filling the kick drum with plenty of pillows comes in handy.

I prefer an EV RE20 for such applications, or a Neumann/Telefunken U47jFet if available.

The sample you presented sounded like there might be two mics cuz I hear slight doubling. I'm a fan of putting a mic on the beater side as well as a mic on the other side (then mix/compress/EQ to taste). The beater side will take care of the attack and the other will take over for the booooom.

If you want to keep in simple, get the kick drum to sound like you want it in the room... if that's accomplished you'll be closer to the stars and might just use only one mic, placed where need-be. Some compression doesn't hurt either.

Finally, make sure you don't have other instruments that fight against the kick drum's frequencies. If you get everything (frequency-wise) in its proper place, you'll be much happier.

-- Adam Lazlo