High passing kicks?

POND LIFE · Post by **POND LIFE** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:40 am

Few questions about hping kicks... one, everyone says you must high pass all kicks. I can undersand this is in dubstep but does it apply to other genres, like house for example? Surely if you were to high pass a kick in a house track at say 80hz it would have none of that boom house is known for?

Basically my problem is, everyone says you've gotta hp at like 80 - If I do it at anything more than 30 or 40 the kick is more like a tapping!

Am I using the wrong kind of filter? (fruity free filter)

safe

beerz · Post by **beerz** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:44 am

id assume house would hp a kick at around 40 as there isnt a sub bass normally. Or a sub bass is layered underneath each kick and its hp'd at like 60. 80hz shouldn't b a click tbh. it should sound pretty thuddy. i dont know wt ur doing tbh...its not an exact rule to hp at 80 tho.

serox · Post by **serox** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:51 am

I use 808 style kicks so no point for me. I want a kick to be punchy and boom and my snares to snap.

There is no right way to do it tho. Everyone uses different kicks so just use what you like.

apathesis · Post by **apathesis** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:08 am

I think the point of HPing kicks is to leave enough room for the sub, so work out where the sub is and do so

Half the time in house is there is a sub it's only there to give the kick some weight, it's a different style of writing beats really.

whineo · Post by **whineo** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:09 am

it really depends on the tune, sounds used etc...
A/B you tunes against others using an analyser to get an idea of how other people cope with the kick

Hide_One · Post by **Hide_One** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:13 am

EQ whilst listening to the bassline, then you can find which frequencies aren't working.

I'll usually find clashes in the 70-80Hz range can affect the kick 'THUD' the most.

You could spend hours EQing a kick to get it sounding lush but then bringing it into the mix can make it rubbish again.

Settings that have worked before are good places to start, but there's no rule of thumb with EQ. Tis all bout using your ears.

gravity · Post by **gravity** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:56 am

personally i really dislike highpassing kicks much above 60hz, i feel it takes away too much of the weight. you can get away with it if you do side chaining so the bass ducks when the kick hits, or if you eq youre bass well enough, or if you arrange in a certain way so that the bass and kick never conflict.

jolly wailer · Post by **jolly wailer** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:05 pm

this thread has me totally confused..

if yr talking about 'passing' freqs that are only 60-80 hz anyway wouldn't that be low passing?

serox · Post by **serox** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:16 pm

gravity wrote:personally i really dislike highpassing kicks much above 60hz, i feel it takes away too much of the weight. you can get away with it if you do side chaining so the bass ducks when the kick hits, or if you eq youre bass well enough, or if you arrange in a certain way so that the bass and kick never conflict.

pretty much what I try to do.

paradigm_x · Post by **paradigm_x** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:20 pm

gravity wrote:arrange in a certain way so that the bass and kick never conflict.

worth its weight in gold.

martello · Post by **martello** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:33 pm

Serox wrote:
There is no right way to do it tho. Everyone uses different kicks so just use what you like.

Yep.

Ignore posts where somebody talks about frequency numbers

lowpass · Post by **lowpass** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:55 pm

Jolly Wailer wrote:this thread has me totally confused..

if yr talking about 'passing' freqs that are only 60-80 hz anyway wouldn't that be low passing?

I'm assuming he's on about high passing above 60-80 to take out the sub frequencies and hes wondering where abouts he should filter from

d+ · Post by d+ » Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:06 pm

well actually as a house producer/dj i can tell you that this common misconception amongst dubsteppers that house has no sub is wrong...

its just that the dj's don't turn up the BASS knob on the mixer ! we let the music BREATHE !

I think if your cutting at 80HZ then it really depends on what type of kick you are using in the first place. if the kick hasn't got much past 400hz then it will lost most of its presence if ur cutting at 80. but if its a kick that has a bit of click at around 1K then you can afford to cut the lows add a bit of distortion and eq to taste and it will still thud. alot of it also depends on how the music is being monitored. on some systems with loud volumes the kick will sound fine, but on other systems the kick will dissapear and just be a click riding ontop of the sub. its all about understanding what kind of groove you want between your sub and kick and eq'ing accordingly, and picking the right kick sample to begin with!

im not a big fan of sidechaning sub and kick i think its quite lazy. only do it as a last resort if you cant fix the problem with using a different sample or eq'ing. also i often cut my sub at 65/70HZ and boost it a little between 30-50HZ, whilst cutting the kick at around 70. then all you need to touch are the volume faders and this (imo) is the best way to mix your tunes - volume first, eq and comp second!

djdowee · Post by **djdowee** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:08 pm

and amen to that

paradigm_x · Post by **paradigm_x** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:20 pm

D+ wrote:well actually as a house producer/dj i can tell you that this common misconception amongst dubsteppers that house has no sub is wrong...

its just that the dj's don't turn up the BASS knob on the mixer ! we let the music BREATHE !

I think if your cutting at 80HZ then it really depends on what type of kick you are using in the first place. if the kick hasn't got much past 400hz then it will lost most of its presence if ur cutting at 80. but if its a kick that has a bit of click at around 1K then you can afford to cut the lows add a bit of distortion and eq to taste and it will still thud. alot of it also depends on how the music is being monitored. on some systems with loud volumes the kick will sound fine, but on other systems the kick will dissapear and just be a click riding ontop of the sub. its all about understanding what kind of groove you want between your sub and kick and eq'ing accordingly, and picking the right kick sample to begin with!

im not a big fan of sidechaning sub and kick i think its quite lazy. only do it as a last resort if you cant fix the problem with using a different sample or eq'ing. also i often cut my sub at 65/70HZ and boost it a little between 30-50HZ, whilst cutting the kick at around 70. then all you need to touch are the volume faders and this (imo) is the best way to mix your tunes - volume first, eq and comp second!

good post sir

nellon · Post by **nellon** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:24 pm

Just do whatever fits best in the song imo.

author · Post by **author** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:42 pm

I know some signed house folk that boost their kicks at 50.

dj vision · Post by **dj vision** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:07 pm

most house and happy hardcore and other genres that use kicks but no bassline during the kick high pass their kicks at about 50-60 with a big boost in that area, thats what gives the music the umfh and pulsating beats

jolly wailer · Post by **jolly wailer** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:07 pm

yeah i like spiking more than passing its like volleyball with bass drums

High passing kicks?

High passing kicks?

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