Creating drum sounds – kicks that really hit

When it comes to creating kick drum sounds, there are two main types of kick sounds that you will create:

• The first type of kick is what we call a “generic” kick; this is a kick sound that can work with any production style because it simply is a well-rounded and balanced sound that fits with 808 basses, traditional bass guitars, and sub-bass noises.
• The second type of kick is what we call a “textured” kick. Textured kicks are drum noises that have a bit of attack to them, a specific sound that accompanies the underlying kick sound. Timbaland’s production catalog is full of textured kicks. They sound unique and are extremely creative in sound design nature. However, these need to be used properly to be able to fit within the bass range of certain frequencies. Certain textured kicks won’t gel sonically with certain 808 bass sounds, sub-basses, or bass guitars.

Let’...