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This is more than likely very simple to a lot of you, but I'm stumped! (PLEASE NOTE THIS ISN'T A HOW TO SOUND LIKE 'X' REQUEST!!)

I'm currently working on my beats as that's where I feel my production skills are mostly lacking at the moment. Something in particular I'm trying to achieve is quick 'repetative' kicks and drums. They're heard in a lot of dubstep and glitch hope tracks lately, but a perfect example of what I'm trying to achieve would be the beats of Koan Sound. Those really tight, choppy, quick hitting kicks and snares.

The problem I'm having isn't the arrangement of the kicks themselves, but in the compression. As any producer with an ounce of knowledge does, I compress my drums. But when i'm trying to acheive these choppy quick kicks, the compression I apply to them carries on to the next kick. Kinda hard to explain....... What I mean is.......for example........ the first kick in my drum pattern works fine, sounds tight and the compression works well.... but when a next kick comes in straight after for them choppy kicks, the compression is still working from the first kick so the next one sounds week as fuck.... this happens even when I turn the release and hold all the way down on the compressor.

I'm probably beating aroud the old proverbial bush, but I'm sure there's someone on here who knows what the fu*k I'm talking about!

Thanks in advance people!!

You could duplicate the track and switch kicks around? It seems like there is definitly something wrong with your release setting? Are you sure it isn't on Auto-release?

Cubicle wrote:It seems like there is definitly something wrong with your release setting? Are you sure it isn't on Auto-release?

This would be my first guess as well...what compressor are you using, and do you have the same issue when you switch to a different compressor (if you can)?

Incase of FL Studio:

Generally: Transient shaper, ADSR volume envelope of your sampler

helps making drumsounds choppy. also sounds like indeed your compressors release is too long

bounce your drums out and chop them up?

or put it on a beat repeater and bounce some results out to out in a sampler.

Bounce your kick to audio, so all the effects are now permanent.

Replace all your kicks with the first kick that sounds how you want it.

No more problems. Also maybe save this as a new project so you don't save over the kick with the effects on it, if you need to go back and work on it.

Have you tried gating?

Just bounce to audio and put them back in individually.

its as simple as bouncing your compressed kick then placed back in arrangements without a compressor

^^^ That was the first thing I thought of, the second thing I thought of was a transient shaper.

As any producer with an ounce of knowledge does, I compress my drums.

They probably only have an ounce of knowledge. If you're triggering samples, what do you need compression for? You don't have to use compression, nor is it a good idea to have always-on rules.

NINJA EDIT: See sig.

Also, idk about fl, but find an option to retrigger and set the max amount of voices allowed to 1. this will cause it to overlap if you have more than 1 voices allowed at a time. But just find out how to retrigger.

Try cutting out a little bit more of the low end. And make the release faster. Make sure any reverb on them is at a short decay as well as all the low cut out. That's my only options. If not try a new sample

put it on triplets and put two kicks right before the snare, then turn triplets off anf put it on 16ths, youll notice there is room to fit one more kick in there before the snare.

thats how you do that fast triplet kick and koan sound likes to do, it gives it that choppy sound and some groovy rhythm

Bass Jacka wrote:the compression I apply to them carries on to the next kick.

Then the release on your compressor is too long. Reduce the release. Job done.

I also agree with jonahmann above. You compress your drums if, and only if, they need compressing.

Bass Jacka wrote: As any producer with an ounce of knowledge does, I compress my drums. .... the first kick in my drum pattern works fine, sounds tight and the compression works well.... but when a next kick comes in straight after for them choppy kicks, the compression is still working from the first kick so the next one sounds week as fuck....

it's funny because compressing is likely what's causing your problem
but

Bass Jacka wrote: this happens even when I turn the release and hold all the way down on the compressor.

if this is true, maybe your kick is just so loud that it's clipping hard every time it hits, which could also cause the problem