Kick Drum Samples | Lifestyle

by JohnGellei

There are many different types of kick drum samples available for music producers today. Beat making is such an involved activity that having to use the same samples over and over can really kill your creativity. This is especially true with kick drum sounds as these are an elemental ingredient to just about every rhythm and blues, hip hop, rap, pop and rock song on the charts and underground today.

There are a few different sound stages (or phases) in every sample, including the ever-present kick drum. The first, and at the starting line, is called the attack. This first phase really determines the 'shine' factor of the kick, and whether it can be heard with a whole bunch of other sounds competing for attention. A slow attack (which means a weak starting point) will need to be compensated for by the other phases of the drum sample.

The second phase that we should talk about is the sustain, which is the long part of the kick that the attack introduces. This bulk of the sample can be long and booming or short and pointy, but it does matter as this is the memorable part of the sample. Having a very weak attacking phase can be disastrous if it's coupled with a very weak sustain phase, too. Either have the best of both worlds or one good phase to get you started and get it heard.

If you want to adjust your kick's volume in proportion to the other drum samples, there are hundreds of ways available to you. Your main sequencer program probably has a few different places with volume controls, and even if it doesn't you can just as easily download a free plugin or program to help you achieve this goal. Most drum machines and software on Macs and PCs offers easy volume manipulation on both the main mixers and the additional nested devices, so check them out and read your manual.

If you do not wish to use any device or plug-in inside your host or hardware unit, you can certainly adjust the volume in any one of the editors (both free and paid-for versions) that are available. Most already have the functionality or offer different plug-ins to help you crop and adjust volume and fading. The free programs like Audacity are great and even match the professional edition programs in many departments.

You should also know that depending on what program you end up purchasing, different drum samples come with different programs. The drums in Propellerheads' Reason, for example, are different than those contained in Battery 3. You can mix and match, but what's important is that the samples are really the best for you; you should make a folder of your go-to drum samples to use time and time again.

DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice.

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