EQ'ing the Kick Drum

This Week:  EQ’ing the Kick Drum – general settings

If there were a “one-size-fits-all” solution to using EQ there would be a lot of engineers out of jobs – especially in these days of plugin-driven solutions.  We all know however that there is no magic preset for every situation but there are some basic formulas that can be used to apply EQ and get a great sound from the kick drum.

First, the usual disclaimer; you need to start with a well-recorded, good-sounding drum.  EQ can’t fix everything so your mileage may vary.  We’re going to look at using 3 or 4-band EQ to shape the sound of a recorded kick drum by focusing on three areas:  the low end for thump, mid-range for clarity and high end for the “click” of the beater. 

To begin, assess the sound you’re after.  If you’re working in a mix with a lot of heavy guitar you’ll want to open up the mids to avoid the kick drum adding “mud” to the mix.  You should also determine the relationship between the bass guitar and kick drum – often it works to have one handling the very low-end (55-60Hz) and cutting a bit of the other at the same range.  The 50-65Hz range is where you’re going to find that low “thump”.  If the drum is lacking here then use some EQ to boost it a bit with a middle Q setting of 3 or so as we don’t want to boost all the lows, just the fundamental.  You’ll need to hear what you’re doing so be conservative here unless you have great low-end clarity in your monitoring since too much thump will take energy from the rest of the mix and cause it to be bass-heavy.  If the drum is already boomy-sounding then a cut in this range might be appropriate instead.

The mid-range is next, start with a bit broader Q of 1.5 or 2 and center it at 500Hz.  Now, pull down the gain and move (sweep) the frequencies between 250Hz and 800Hz.  What you’re looking for here is clarity when the drum is working in the mix with the other instruments.  Kick drum often benefits from a pretty good midrange scoop in a lot of today’s music and it works very well on drums that have a plastic beachball tone.  Each drum is different so finding the range you need to cut will vary.  On my particular drumkit that range is usually in the 400Hz – 500Hz range with about a 6dB cut. 

Lastly is the high-end.  The 3.5KHz – to 6KHz range is where you’ll be able to accentuate the “click” or smack of the beater impact on the head.  Here again it’s great to sweep the frequencies to find the spot where the beater impact will cut through the mix.  Again, the type of music and mix will dictate what’s appropriate here.  I typically boost with a mild Q by 2-6dB around 5KHz for my kick.  Start conservatively and boost within the mix to achieve the right balance in perspective.

Other thoughts – you can employ a hi-shelf boost to add some “air” to the kick at 7KHz or even higher.  Some mics (AKG D112, Shure Beta52) are tweaked already for kick drum applications to an extent and the KickPad from Earthworks also provides a great solution to getting a great kick drum sound from the start so they’re worth looking at if you don’t own something similar already.  Overall, by focusing on the areas outlined here should have a good starting point from which you begin dialing in a great kick drum sound.  Use your ears and refer back often to the overall mix to find the right balance since every drum and recording is different!