I see many posts on forums about how to get a kick drum like a certain artist. Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is. I never really concerned myself with how other people’s kick sound. When I listen to music, I hear the kick and maybe give it a passing thought but overall it’s not the main thing I am interested in. I don’t know many people who are sitting around saying this song sucks but the kick is awesome and saves it from being any worse than it is.
The point is that I don’t think you should really concern yourself with another artists kick sound. Remember that by the time you hear it, it’s gone through several levels of processing. You should be more concerned about what kind of kick the song calls for. If the song needs a big boomy kick then give it one.
Do you really need to spend all day just tweaking the sound of a kick? I have done that but it’s usually not because I really want to, it’s because I need the kick to sound a certain way for the song or I’m recreating a certain drum sound for a very specific reason. A good exampled of this is the drums in “Slow Down” off the “Stonehenge Diaries” cd. I spent a good few hours on the drum sounds. The main reason was the original beat in the song was a sample that I had used just as a sketch. I didn’t want to use the sample so I did my best to recreate the sound of the drums. I got something pretty similar but it involved the layering of several drums and using envelopes to get that sound.
I think it more important to get your sound than someone else’s sound.
