my kicks sound too mono

Daeronb · Post by **Daeronb** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:25 pm

hello, i've got a problem with my kicks... i think.. and i have no clue at all how to fix it.

At the moment im making progressive/techno music. 1 (big) thing that bugs me is that when i compare my kicks to kicks from commercial tracks, my kicks sound to mono. I think that is the best way to describe it..

When i listen to commercial tracks through my speakers, the kicks almost embrace me, like its around me (same with headphones by the way). However, when i listen to my own kicks, they are simply only right in front of me..

I've bought a vengeance sample cd with kicks, because ive heard a few major producers saying they used those, however even with these kicks, (and they sound pretty kick) something seems to be missing. It sounds infront of me... empty, noobish...

Does anyone even know what im talking about? haha.. If so, could you please please please help me get my head around this? I need to treat the kick, but how i have no idea... tried everything i could think of..

Cant thank you enough however solves this for me.

If interested i could upload my kick....

Stomper · Post by **Stomper** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:30 pm

Kick suppose to be mono and supposed to sound in the front.
i think your talking about the width maybe?
in the mastering process (sometimes in the master bus on a mix) engineers uses stereo enhancer to make it sound like that.
if your kick feels is punchy enough and feels like it kicks, than dont worry about it.

your could try layering and stereo enhancer on higher frequency layer.

Daeronb · Post by **Daeronb** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:55 pm

http://www.speedyshare.com/files/267739 ... xample.mp3

this is one of my kicks.. i like the fact it doenst have too much mid/high, it suits the tracks... what i mean is the centerness of the kick... i want it broader..

tone-def · Post by **tone-def** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:19 pm

i'm sorry but stereo is not what you are looking for. you want your kick and bass in the middle.

jobbanaught · Post by **jobbanaught** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:30 am

try some reverb on your kick. seriously. it gives you the spacy feeling your looking for and the kick itself stays mono. dont overdo it though, or it becomes muddy and looses punch. and fiddle around with the pre-delay

Stomper · Post by **Stomper** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:24 am

Daeronb wrote:i want it broader..

like i said, solved in the mastering process. some stuff are not fair to compare to a commercial track.

try stereo imager on the drum buss or master buss.

STML · Post by **STML** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:09 am

Couple of ways to solve this. Your bottom end ( <150) should probably stay mono. Layer a mono subbier kick and a stereo mid/click one. Reverb (as already mentioned) is another way. A very short (slapback) delay spread wide will also work. Just be careful. Subs in a large system will be mono, and putting the low in stereo could cause major translation issues when your track is played out.

AK · Post by AK » Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:11 pm

I think this is down to you THINKING its the kick which is responsible for some stereo width you might be hearing on these tracks. I cant think of any reason where its a good thing to have. Theres lots of ways to add width to a track and places where it works, kicks though, are not one of them.

Im wondering what it is you are listening to. Can you post a short clip as an example?