Getting that full, Impactful sound in your drop?

[dubcore]

Lately as my production chops improve, I find myself becoming more critical on my work. As of now, Im pretty good with making my drums clean and punchy, and my sounds are pretty decent. My issue is getting a fulfilling sound out of my drops. I have the basic concepts down such as sub bass for low end fullness, soft/ambient background pads or high/sheeny crashes and hats for atmosphere and high end fullness, and obviously making nice mid-range synths to fill out the the rest. Recently though I've heard some songs that the drums have basically only short shuffled hi-hats with no crash, and theres no audible atmospheric elements going on yet they still sound very full and pleasing. I understand the concept of fitting/compensating/creating frequencies to fill the so called "box" and having a good EQ balance. I CAN make my songs fat as fuck, but they lack that element of completeness, any little tips you guys can share on making my mixes sounding overall better?

tl;dr - Drops lacking fullness in mid-high range. Any input appreciated!

[Isley]

try high passing your midrange at a lower hz

edit: try not to let your mix get muddy

[Khazm]

If you want the actual drop to have impact, reducing levels in the build up is pretty standard. I guess, proper EQ like you said and make sure everything sits in the mix. I'm not the best with drops so I shouldn't really be giving advice at all.

[Isley]

also more space in your drums after the drop and less before or vice versa probably can help

[dubcore]

try high passing your midrange at a lower hz

edit: try not to let your mix get muddy

Yeah, Ive been doing that a lot more lately. One thing I found that helps is taking out all unwanted frequencies by making many drastic yet small cuts to make space. Is this a good technique do you think, or am I just creating more unnecessary work for myself?

If you want the actual drop to have impact, reducing levels in the build up is pretty standard. I guess, proper EQ like you said and make sure everything sits in the mix. I'm not the best with drops so I shouldn't really be giving advice at all.

Yeah, I mean its not the transition that gets me, rather than the general lack of

also more space in your drums after the drop and less before or vice versa probably can help

Ahh yes. Something I struggle with... My core drum sounds are good, but I think their dryness might be taking away from the drop. I know parallel reverb and saturation can help, but Im still not getting the dimension that Im stoked on yet... Any specific help for making my drums more spacious?

[Grimenoceros]

Key points:
- Dynamics/Volume - Without quiet, there is no loud. If it's not quiet before (intro), it won't really seem that loud/impacting by comparison after (drop)
- The first kick, as someone once wisely pointed out to me, is crucial. I'm not saying make the first kick any different, that will throw off the mixing and seem unnatural, but it's your mark; if that first kick smacks you in the chest and cuts through cleanly, as it should anyway,then everything will "feel" harder just by default, because the kick sets the energy by slamming.
- Sub bass - Make sure there's very little or no sub before the drop, same concept as with the kick in terms of impact. When the sub finally comes in during that drop, it will suddenly feel incredibly heavy.

Other small notes: the drum programming itself sets the "weight" of the drop, if it's something more ambitious than a sluggish kick snare at 140 bpm or slower, it might not have that dragging heaviness needed to be impactful. And as others have said, mixing is paramount and that went without saying, make sure it's mixed right and not clashing.

[bmills]

sound design. there are things you can do to create more suspense like risers and such but when it comes down to it your sounds need to be powerful and full, deep and dark, or whatever you're trying to go for.

[Dystinkt]

turn your intro section down on the master by a couple of db or so, then turn up when the drop hits, adds a lot of weight to the drop usually

[Ldizzy]

as a dj i find a lot of drops dont have that extra something we're talking about here...

in the midst of a set... in front of an interest-loosing crowd i would simply boost the bass when the track hits... or the mids, any frequency that is pertinent... kinda flip the whole energy around... lift it a little

which brings us back to the cut everything else before... but that shit is easy... and while its an excellent way to ENHANCE a drop, it wont MAKE one (don't believe me, try to cut the bass on a drum loop and then put it back..tell me if it sounds like a drop... well.. it does.. a little.. but i mean.. is that the drop u want?)

any psychoacoustic effect that could add to the "oh that shit is coming towards me" or "that shit is shaping into a monster" could help... i could think of fast reverb wet to dry action... or loops on a snippet... the cheezy stuff

or u always have the false drop... like the one that is a good enough drop, and then another one comes on top of it... eg if u write brostepishly... and you're still struggling trying to make magic by alternating bass patches (sigh), u could always get an okay bass patch to play the first drop, and then the sickest one to play the second.. (with a very dumb line its always fun..)

what i think most people fail at when they write a drop, is the whole groove part... if u have a good groove.. try to get THAT shit to build up.. not the db meter.... thats what a drop is all about...

i really thing all of this technical rambling, altho quite useful, is bullshit at the end of the day if its the only thing you remember... if u ask me... quite frankly... the best way to get the biggest drop... is to write a meaningful one... and i really mean that shit.

[dougriley]

i think dissonance and resolution is important... need to build the tension right until the tune drops

i also think it's important to utilize the majority of the frequency spectrum upon the drop...

*i could be completely wrong, these are just a few ideas i've picked up on

[B-Frank]

Lately as my production chops improve, I find myself becoming more critical on my work. As of now, Im pretty good with making my drums clean and punchy, and my sounds are pretty decent. My issue is getting a fulfilling sound out of my drops. I have the basic concepts down such as sub bass for low end fullness, soft/ambient background pads or high/sheeny crashes and hats for atmosphere and high end fullness, and obviously making nice mid-range synths to fill out the the rest. Recently though I've heard some songs that the drums have basically only short shuffled hi-hats with no crash, and theres no audible atmospheric elements going on yet they still sound very full and pleasing. I understand the concept of fitting/compensating/creating frequencies to fill the so called "box" and having a good EQ balance. I CAN make my songs fat as fuck, but they lack that element of completeness, any little tips you guys can share on making my mixes sounding overall better?

tl;dr - Drops lacking fullness in mid-high range. Any input appreciated!

I haven't read too far down the thread because I am going to offer you the same tip that I offer everyone else. The key to impact on a drop is very very simple. Contrast. For example a good drop won't have kicks pre-drop nor a sub. So as the tune drops the first thing you get hit by is the thud of the kick/sub. The impact of a drop doesn't really come from mid-range.