
Design and process kick drums in Ableton Live across genres, using practical techniques from resampling, transient shaping, layering, and automation to craft strong low-end and percussive clicks.
Design a heavy bass kick for EDM using Live's vocoder on a library kick sample, then apply a limiter and glue compressor with 10 ms attack and 0.4 ms release.
Record kicks on a resampling track with F9, tweak threshold, vocoder depth, and analog distortion, then consolidate into a single file for a reusable sound design library.
Resample each kick individually by selecting it, enabling resampling, and reassembling. Rename clips and file names, then consolidate them into separate library folders for easy browsing.
Enhance a weak kick by sculpting the low end with resonant boosts around 36–66 Hz, applying compression, saturation, and transient shaping, then resampling and organizing into a sound design library.
Design a kick by layering sine and noise in Ableton Live's Operator, routing to an instrument rack, and mapping macros; resample for variations with compression and saturation for punch.
Layer a mid-range sample onto the kick with parallel dry and heavy chains, saturation, and distortion. Automate macro controls, resample, and compress to craft a versatile Ableton Live 11 kick.
Learn to design heavy kicks with the kick 2 plugin in Ableton Live 11 by layering a top click, adjusting envelope and transient, and rendering variations for synth-heavy electronic genres.
Layer a sub under your bass drum by pairing a kick with a sub-layer, match the 46 Hz area with a spectrum analyzer, then render, group, and apply the glue compressor for processing.
Load Superior Drummer from the factory and vintage libraries to craft a tight, dry bass drum; tune, compress, saturate, and limit for a punchy low end.
Layer a click sample with a kick, attenuate unwanted frequencies, apply fades to balance bottom and a transient high-frequency layer for a cohesive sound.
Welcome to my "Sound Design Session" Series.
Working as a Sound Designer for Native Instruments in Berlin, Germany, I thought it was finally time to pass on to others what I had learned.
Sharing Industry Secrets
The best producers aren't making production tutorials, they are too busy making music. That's why there are so many tutorials where the sounds being created are just not up to pro level standard. I came here to change that.
I'll create a complete Sound Design course, covering the creation of all kinds of sounds to bring you the most comprehensive manual on sound design and production techniques here on Skillshare. Snares, drum loops, synths, pianos, basses, everything.
The courses are designed in a way which allows anyone to learn these sound design techniques, from beginner to professional, with a gradually increasing level of complexity from lesson to lesson. You'll make new sounds using different techniques in each lesson, some of which are even industry secrets of some of the most reputable producers in the world right now.
Instead of giving you a theory lesson on "how to use Ableton Live", I'll show you how the best producers actually make their sounds!
This is Part I: Kicks
I'll start with the basics, so the first couple of lessons are all about drums, starting with kick drums. How to create and process them, how to deal with weak sounding kicks, resampling techniques, different plugins for bass drum creation and much more.
Start with the first lesson about how to make a kick using Live's Vocoder plugin right now!
Enjoy!