The Kick Drum (Part 2)

Well according to this article I was meant to let you know about how to EQ a kick drum! Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten. But never fear it will be done now!

I’m going to be fairly brief in describing the type of EQ I generally use. There tends to be different sounds according to different styles of music. I’m particularly interested in the “pop-rock sound in a live setting” kind of kick. That is where most of this post will head so if you listen to a different style then take a few pointers and develop your style of kick.

Let’s start at the bottom. How low do you think the kick goes? Maybe not as low as you think. Assuming you have an average size kick that has been tuned to a normal kick drum pitch it most likely won’t have fundamental frequencies below 50Hz. My favourite area (low end wise) is actually 60Hz for that chest thump that you can only really feel. However, I do believe that there are situations where your bass and kick fight for the low-end sound and that can really sound ugly. If your bass guitarist tends to play a lot of low notes or just has a song where he plays that low B on the 5 string bass a lot. It’s best to let the bass guitar take the lead here and find another frequency for the kick (Its easier than finding another frequency for the bass guitar). Don’t boost the bass guitar here let it naturally come through as boosting will make the mix very muddy. Search for the frequency you need with the bass guitar playing with the kick (this is something I’ve just learnt to be honest, and it helps) usually from 60Hz – 125Hz. Anything higher than 125Hz just doesn’t have the power.

250Hz!!! This is a nice area to cut your kick slightly to again to let the kick dominate this area. I love the bass dominating this frequency range it sounds so full and “edgy”. It also helps define the bass guitar in the mix.

400Hz – 800Hz. If you have an EQ that can do it all. Then, I would also recommend you cut a little in this region as it can muddy the mix and give the kick a hollow dead sound. Not too important but something I notice and don’t like too much from my kick drum.

Ah!!! The “edge” or “click” how ever you refer to it. It is that beautiful sound of the beater hitting that skin and giving definition to the kick when you need it. It is a must and out of all the frequencies listed here this is the second (60Hz is the first) most important. Reading a few articles people reference this to be between 3kHz – 5kHz but I’ve found it lower than that on a few occasions (never lower than 1kHz though). Ideally it sounds the best (with our setup) at the ~4.5kHz region. This frequency is very dependant on where you place the kick drum microphone.

So there are some starters and I hope you find them delectable. as a side note we have a less than desirable desk with only one sweepable EQ and two static ones. so usually this is the general EQ. Sometimes I wish I could just change values digitally like Logic, Reason, Pro-tools,…………, Cubase,…………, Audacity,………[and so on]……

10kHz @ -1dB
4.5kHz @ + 5.5dB
80Hz @ +1.5dB

So what style of music do you like and how do you EQ your kick? I know the jazz listeners are going to hate my EQ