finding out if a kick is a 808 or 909

[n2hf1st]

yeah that graph is a bit bogus. 808 kicks are really nothing but a dirty sine wave, don't expect much other than the fundamental down there so eq really isn't that useful. pay attention to the stuff at the bottom of that chart though, where it goes "weight warmth knock etc..." because that's pretty much spot on.

generally speaking, highpass everything that isn't either bass or kick drum around 120-300 hz. also, slightly attenuating 300 hz in sounds that don't absolutely require it can help your mix keep a nice round bass sound going.

you also need to figure out whether you want the kick to sit above, below, or with the bassline and how to balance that out. for example, in ke$ha - tik tok, the kick drum is low and takes up all the sub bass range (30/40-80), and the bassline of sorts just sits on top. In other tunes, for example a dnb tune, kick sits higher, around 120 hz (with the snare hitting around 200), and the bass takes over everything below that. In french house tunes or anything with a large kick and bassline, the bass is sidechained to the kick so they never play at the same time.

for figuring out what a kick is tuned to, just use a spectrum utility and see where the peak is down there.

[djhipnotikk]

be careful with 808s..they either sit too low and don't hit, or will swallow your mix. you may screw up your first couple of mixes with it (actually, you *probably* will), but once you understand how 808s sit within a track, you'll know how to fit it in much easier. practice!

[grow]

Roll off your 808 at around 50 cutting below 40 and above 90 (unless you want some distortion on it then give it some up top too but go sparingly or you will mud your mix fast. Put some attack on it to make room for.....
909 rolled off at around 100 cutting below 90 ...these two layered will give you punch and boom