Designing own 'Kick Drum' sample from scratch - First Time

[SpectruMaddness]

I know many of you will go like "..this has been posted before like a million times EVERYWHERE" or some other way of telling me to go read other old posts made on this topic. BUT I"VE READ IT! honestly but not only here also on other sites eg S.O.S (for some reason this is the only site coming to my head right now )

I've always used kick samples free/commercial that I've collected or bought off the net this many years but now I wish to learn how to make my own drums and after weeks of searching this is the best I've found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18hvNPAJXxA this guy is doing what I wish to do but I don't have Adobe Audition. and plus the $ is way to high for the aim to just make kicks

and NO! I don't want to create my own kicks by layering some other guys kick samples that I already have by splitting them to low-mid-high's separately...which I see in majority of sites teaching the same thing over and over OR by using some drum synth like Drumspillage, Drumaxx etc I want to MESS WITH 'WAVES' YOU FEEL ME!? like in the video because I feel this style suites me and I like it, I don't care if its hard. If I have to use some VST to generate the sine waves separately with different frequencies and put them together then that will be fine by me too I got Reaper (if this point help you guys in any way).

Can someone teach how to make kicks this way or link me to a site that I missed (somehow) Any DAW you use to teach me with doesn't matter (i guess) plus (again guessing) any free synthesizer (wavetable or whatever else) you pick to teach me for now which later on I can learn to apply the knowledge with any other synth I like using is fine

Thank you for whoever read the whole thing till here for your time. RESPECT Thank you.

Now healp me somebody?

[mthrfnk]

I know you don't neccesarily want to use a dedicated synth (you metioned drumaxx etc.) but BazzISM is good - I use it for synthesising the low end of my kicks. I like it because it essentially is just manipulation of a sine wave but the parameters make it very easy, I normally tune the kicks to my track key and adjust the envelope and pitch decay to suit the tempo.

Once I have this low end I combine that with 2-5 more layers dependant upon the type of track, namely: midrange/top end, a pure noise transient (synth'd), a hihat/ride, a clap, white noise (synth'd). I find by eq'ing each element and building the kick up from scratch is not only kinda fun but once you have the method down it takes only a few minutes to get the perfect kick for your track.

Sorry I kind of went off on a tangent, but to answer your question - synthing a kick from scratch from pure sines/saws, imo is pointless there's no benefit other than to say "yeah I did it" but it may take you something silly like five hours before you get the sound you want (time wasted imo). This is of course assuming you want to make a "modern" or realistic kick with low/mid/high end punch and not just an 808... in which case yeah just use a pitch envelope on a sine wave sample.

I'd personally recommend synth'ing the lowend (using any synth or BazzISM), synth'ing some noise (using any synth) and build the rest of the sound using samples... but that's just me.

[mromgwtf]

http://www.image-line.com/documents/bassdrum.html

+ layer with hi passed vengeance samples.

But personally I don't recommend making your own samples from scratch. Start working from some existing sample, much better.

[SpectruMaddness]

synthing a kick from scratch from pure sines/saws, imo is pointless there's no benefit other than to say "yeah I did it" but it may take you something silly like five hours before you get the sound you want (time wasted imo).

I tried it!!! wish I read your reply before got busy with some work then tried in the few time that I got for myself.
BUT Yes. It was a waste of time and the results were 'saddening' After several few hours later I found myself going back to layering 808 and 909 kicks together and after many trial-and-error methods finding how to process right and to get as close to the commercial kicks, it gave out a way better result FASTER then using them pain in the a** waveforms and messing with the envelopes and various other stuff hours

+ layer with hi passed vengeance samples.

Sorry mate I still refuse to use samples that are not mine knowing that the TS-808 or Tromine GT that I used (just to try) were virtually analog, I felt it more versatile as to get exactly what I want that fits my taste buds for a perfect 'kick' from the very start, then using samples that I have no idea what's going on but it sounds good/ok - I can't judge. OUT OF MY CONTROL!
(Not that using samples is bad - I would be stupid to say that (very). The best kicks that I've made so far in my life were by layering samples (not mine) but I always felt limited for some reason as to what I like in a kick.

BUT here's what I did if any one wants to try...

Synthesize Kick > Filter(LOW-FREQ) > |
Synthesize Kick > Filter(MID-FREQ) > | Compress > EQ > X > Transient.Shaper. THE END
Synthesize Kick > Filter(HIGH-FREQ) > |

NOTE: X can be Distortion or Bit-crusher or something else that I haven't tried. So try. AND don't forget to adjust the envelopes so they fit together like its one kick!


This is the first processing chain I ever planned out...anyways to improve it to get a more hard pump-y kick? or maybe I just did something stupid above that didn't come in my head?

[SpectruMaddness]

BazzISM is good

Oh yeah, I did come across the name bazzism on the net, mostly in Psy-/-Trance sites plus saw video's on YT when I looked out for how to make kicks from scratch but it was not what I was looking for at that time but I have to agree its crazy good for something that gives out great results in just seconds. I'm getting it for sure now

[gen_]

I used to make all my kicks myself. My favorite record that I made back in the day, Spaceman didn't actually have a single sample in it. It was all synthesized. The trick is to use a sine wave with a very very short pitch mod. Start off with it down somewhere subby, then modulate the pitch to something really high, like +64 notes. Then set that mod envelope to no attack and really really short decay to get your click, then another track with some white noise at a really short legnth.

Once you've done that you have th framework there. Buss them so you can compress together and saturate them using a good plugin like PSP Mix Saturator, BX XL or the one built into Ableton. (Not familiar with FL so can't help you there, but if you use logic, the saturation plug is good, and Scream if you use Reason).

EQ and change lengths and times of both of the synths to taste. Consider filter splitting off the noise into two tracks if you wanna go with something really interesting.

[bouncingfish]

Use an FM synth for the transient, (LOTS OF MODULATION, so you get horrible noises, and then use a really short decay). And then any synth for the body, pitched sines.

Though decicated synths like Sonic Academy KICK or image line Bassdrum do the same thing but much faster. I got ok kicks out of those, the ones I made myself werent exactly better, and I had all the control I wanted.

THe point of making stuff yourself is so you have control, not so you can say you made it.
I don't feel limited by dedicated plugins like KICK, and therefore I see no reason in not using them.

Same goes for everything, those who don't feel limited at all by using only presets for their synths should go ahead and use presets, the only reason I make my own synths is because I want to be able to make the ideas I have in my head real, which I wouldnt be able to do with just presets.

Woah, that was deep.

Anyway, transients, sines, compression, distortion, transient shaping, LOTS OF EQ.

[SpectruMaddness]

Thanks for all the help guys! really seeing improvements in the kicks I'm making now THANK YOU!

I'm finally done with kicks!

[bouncingfish]

NIce!