Kick filter HP vs LP

[Gino]

Hi Everyone,

Today I dug into some sound design on kick drums, and one thing I found interesting is that the HP filter works really well on kicks. It depends on your sample, but most have high frequencies cut.

Usually a filter on my kicks looks more like this:

But for the samples I’m working with, I’m getting better results with this:

I know we all dream of more filter options on the DT (BP pretty please! ), but there’s good flexibility in what we have.

Here’s what those settings in the screens above sound like on the same kick sample (BD Natural from the factory sounds). The beefier one is using HP.

I find that if I have a sample with too much range I re-sample with HP or LP to get exactly what I want, and maybe there will be a more direct way to do that in the future.

One idea I had is the ability to specify a static filter that’s applied when a sample is loaded from the +Drive to RAM. Might be a compromise if the DT can’t accomplish more filters in real-time.

Best regards,

Gino

[Fin25]

Love the HP filter on the DT for kicks, especially with the resonance cranked. Have you used the exponential LFO as a one shot on the pitch? Really gets you into some heavy territory.

[Lauli]

I feel most of the time a solid base sample is key, from there on it‘s usually the right way of calling attention to the kick.
Sometimes also just giving a very short noisy transient via bitreduction and exponential LFO to the kick is nice too.

Somehow I‘m not fond of the exponential LFO going to tune on the Digitakt. I believe there‘s some kind of hardwired limit to the tuning that doesn’t give the exponential LFO enough reach.

But using the highpass is absolutely essential to shaping the low end!

[man909]

i almost never use a low pass filter on a kickdrum sample, if i find myself doing it, i figure i am probably using the wrong sample …

resonant high pass filters only, with a negative envelope. works great on snares also.

you know, since we only get one filter per track etc etc

[sjvl]

Have you used the exponential LFO as a one shot on the pitch?

Oooh I had not tried this just did and I like it! Thx for tip. The other tips/approaches from others are also cool.

[GirTheRobot]

I used to think this way but I’ve heard a lot of fantastic kick sounds that are low passed to hell and back. Think lo-fi hip hop or “heart beat” kind of kick sounds. So lately I’ve been using LPFs on kicks with lots of HF, “clicky” content and have been enjoying the warmth it brings.

Now that being said–and to add to the OP–using an HPF with a peak resonance is a classic trick to make certain low frequencies pop out in a kick drum. I don’t knock either technique

[GirTheRobot]

I want you to picture a high pass filter.

Now picture a high pass filter at, say, 400dB.

Now picture a high pass filter traveling from 0dB to 400 dB.

Now variate how fast this high pass filter travels. This would be the decay time, except it would be negative–because the HPF is set to 400 and it’s quickly going “backward” to 0 aka the starting point. If it was set to positive the HPF would travel from (say) 800dB to 400dB.

Negative envelopes are just the opposite of positive envelopes It’s just that when we think of the default orientation of envelopes, it tends to be positive.

So now apply this to a much more common LPF set to 400Hz. What typically happens when you have a (positive) envelope set? You hear a bit of the higher frequencies decaying to lower frequencies, with the speed dependent on the decay time. And what do you imagine might happen if you have the envelope set to a negative value?

Now imagine how these ideas might apply to a kick drum vs a snare drum and why you might prefer one type of configuration for one part over another. But most importantly–experiment and find out what you like.

[Gino]

Nice tip on using BR for attack, works wonders!

I use what I call a “static LFO” (see link below) , and for me it’s easier to control (FADE is a linear ramp up or down at an adjustable slope).

Putting this on BR was magic for getting the kick the right presence in the mix. Thanks again

Using LFO as envelope with fade

I ran across this, and wanted to share in case it helps anyone. I needed to make a really long rising filter sweep, but the filter envelope was used for the attack, so it was time to use the LFO as an envelope (a common technique discussed up here). However while trying all the modes I found something that might be less common. If you use fade you can get a nice linear ramp, which is very controllable for long fades, sweeps, etc. Here are the settings, and sharing all of them to be thorough, …

[Lauli]

Huh, I almost hesitated to write, because I thought this would be a common thing. I tend to keep the LFO real real real short though, otherwise I could just layer a hihat ontop haha. Good that you found it useful

[Gino]

As I learn more and more about the DT, I find I often miss the obvious

The thing I really like about this technique is the ability to p-lock a single parameter (FADE) to give more or less bite on certain beats.

[L.AMendes]

Using lfo fade on bit rate and p locks add variation to bite on kick drum is a great idea I’ve never thought of, will give it a go tomorrow!