How To Equalize A Kick Drum

I’m back again with another video tutorial and today we are going to look at how you can equalize a kick drum sound to help it cut through and fit well with other sounds in a mix.

You’ll learn how to find problem frequencies and then remove them to get a clean and punchy kick drum. You’ll also find out how to add more attack to your bass drum and add more presence.

Here’s a quick walk through of what I did to get good eq settings for the kick.

Kick Drum Eq Guidelines:

Low Pass Filter: First thing I did was remove anything below 50Hz so that I don’t get any rumble or low-end mud. This will also create more headroom for the entire mix.

Low-End Thump: I had to cut out the frequencies around 119Hz to make space for the bass sound. But if the kick drum you’re working on is sounding thin then you can boost this frequency.

Remove Boominess & Mud: Next I created another cut around 400Hz to remove some mud and boominess to get a clean and tighter kick drum sound.

Cut Out Boxiness: The next thing I did was to remove some boxiness around the 700Hz range, this can cause a lot of nuisance so I cut it out.

Bring Up The Attack: I then created a boost around the 4kHz range to bring up the attack and presence of the kick to help it cut through the mix.

Low Pass Filter: Then finally I had to create a low pass filter around 16kHz to remove any bleed. Although this is a sample not a live kick drum where you’ll find bleed from a cymbal or snare sound I do remove these frequencies. If your kick drum was recorded live then push the low pass till around 10kHz.

It’s that easy guys, and now watch the video to see everything visually. If you have any questions then leave a comment below, you know I always respond.

How To Equalize A Kick Drum