Kick Drum EQ For Live Sound & Recording - How to EQ a Kick Drum - Mixing Tips - Tutorial

Tips and tricks for a solid kick drum sound in your drum mixes. Live or studio.
Kick Drum Equalizer Tutorial for Live Sound / Recording. Using The Behringer XR18, X32, Midas MR18, M32.

The bass drum sound is part of the bedrock of the drum mix and, typically along with the bass guitar, is the glue that holds the bottom end of he mix together. Whether in live sound reinforcement, or in the studio, you want your kick drum properly filling its role in the music you're mixing. These drum mixing tips and tricks in these channel videos, as well general concepts, should help you build your own mixes quickly and efficiently. Apply this information to your live sound system or your DAW and recording setup on your computer.

When it comes to kick drum EQ and microphones, it's important to remember the genre you're mixing and the appropriate kick drum sound (and the sound the drummer is actually giving you). A jazz drummer might only need a light touch, while a metal drummer might benefit with a more aggressive approach. Your boost and cut frequency points will stay roughly in the same windows as the concepts in the video talks about, but maybe with more conservative boost and cut amounts for that jazz drummer (and maybe not even some of the boost at all), and more aggressive for the metal drummer.

No matter what you do, there is no substitute for a well tuned drum set, and a drummer that understands the music, consistency, and dynamics.

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Script files and other tutorials and info in PDF format as well as scene and library files at the Patreon Page:
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Affiliate Links:

Sweetwater:
Drum Mics for sale at Sweetwater:

Amazon Affiliate Links-
AxcessAbles Kick Drum Mic Stand on Amazon:

Mics-
Shure Beta 52:
Shure Drum Mic Kit:
Shure SM57 on Amazon:

AKG D112 Mic on Amazon:

Sennheiser E602 Mic on Amazon:

Nady DM 90 Mic on Amazon:

Behringer XR18 on Amazon:

Mixers-
Midas MR18 on Amazon:

Behringer X32 on Amazon:

Midas M32 on Amazon:

"As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases."
As a Sweetwater Affiliate member I earn from qualifying purchases."

The Kick Drum Audio and Video portion of this video without narration is available here:

How To EQ A Snare Drum video is here:

2 videos that dovetail with this video and you might find informative as well:

5 Typical Mistakes Made By Behringer X32 Users (this one is longer than the XR18 version of the video (below), but the concepts talked about are the same, but demonstrated with an X32 and in more depth here)-

5 Typical Mistakes Made By Behringer XR18 Users-

Behringer XR18 / X Air Tutorials:

Behringer X32 / Midas M32 Tutorials:

Alan's Live Production Tech Tips and Info:

X-Edit and X-Air Edit software for PC and Mac can be found here:
Behringer firmware can be found here:

Midas M-Edit and MR-Edit software for PC and Mac can be found here:
Midas firmware can be found here:

Suggestions and tips for baseline kick drum (bass drum) EQ settings.

The demo is using X-Air Edit (V1.5) on PC, but X-Edit and M-Edit (V4.0) are now nearly identical for the X32 or M32. Even the GUI on the consoles with firmware 4.0 or higher is also very similar and these settings and concepts are easily applied to the consoles even via the surface as well.

Examples shown are useful for live or recording, stage or studio. Clubs, auditoriums, church audio, concerts, etc..
There is a heavy emphasis on live audio production but also has crossover with recording fundamentals in it as well. It should be pertinent to techs, bands, schools, auditoriums, houses of worship, drummers, volunteers and those new to mixing, and those looking to learn and compare information. And anyone new to the X/M32 mixers, as well as those making a transition from analog to digital consoles.

#BehringerXR18
#BehringerX32
#MidasX32
#MidasMR18
#KickDrum

Video features: Kick drum EQ settings (Kick drum equalization) / bass drum equalization ( bass drum equalisation ).
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Please watch: "5 Tips For Better Live Vocal Mixes - Mixing Live Vocals - Live Sound Tutorial on Behringer X32 XR18 "
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[AlanHamiltonAudio]

Due to a suggestion below, I've added a companion video to this that is only Kick drum EQ visuals and audio. No narration. If you want to listen to the EQ changes in their entirety and see the changes in realtime then you can click the link in video or click here after watching the main video:
I tried to keep this one as short as I could and still hit the important points. At some point I might do a companion video, or deeper dive video, explaining things like "Q" settings... low shelving and high shelving EQ vs PEQ or VEQ... and maybe a little more info on the low cut/HPF just for some more clarity behind its purpose (or purposes)...
Let me know if there are any questions, or topics you'd like to see covered in future videos.
Amazon Affiliate Links:
Shure Beta 52:

Shure Drum Mic Kit:

Behringer XR18 on Amazon:

Midas MR18 on Amazon:

Behringer X32 on Amazon:

Midas M32 on Amazon:

Videos:
How To EQ A Snare Drum:

5 Typical Mistakes Behringer XR18 and Midas MR18 Users Make:

Tech Videos Playlist:

[bizzlemedia]

This is always be my 'go to' video for processing Kicks. Ace work as always, and your style of instruction is perfect. Thanks again

[bobnorth]

Love your vids!!! Would love to see some on drum gating (especially tom gating for punch) and compression, and live electric guitar tips and tricks. Keep up the good work!!

[steimystein]

Looks like how I've been doing my kick for years. Instead of saving the EQ setting, I've built a whole scene with preliminary settings for each channel. I have one for a four piece band and another for a five piece. I generally use my mics on the drums and instruments, and allow the band to use their vocal mics if they want. My settings are for my particular mics, but it's easy enough to change settings for someone else's vocal mic. It saves a great deal of time on the sound check.

[tomstrizak]

Awesome tutorial, you have a great way of explaining things. Had my Live kicks good, but now they'll be great in less time. Can't wait to see you do dynamics and gating. My main take away from this vid is, Low Cut at about 30-40, move to low mid, then shelve the low boost 60-80, experiment with Q's (high peq), 3 - 5k cut last, then fine tune it all. Thanks Alan!!! Liked, Saved, and Subed :)

[TheHungarianHitman]

Definitely going to come in handy... Subscribed!

[jazzylei]

Very cool. Please do this on toms and snares as well. Thanks

[DJENERGY]

Have this same mic I'm gonna try this next time and hear my results

[leon_krn]

Ich hab dich mit der Martin Miller band gesehen du warst mega

[NickBryant]

Subbed. Extremely useful info!!! Thank you!

[jimbo]

Set up the kick with this profile and it was perfect.

[RnBDSidestreetBandfamily]

Loud and Clear Alan. #RnBDSidestreetBand

[mestock]

What are your thoughts on gates and compression on the kick? Do you put any effects on it? If I'm specifically going for a punchier sound do you recommend using a gate to cut down on the sustain or rely on compression? I guess that also brings into play muffling.... if you have drums that ring too much do you muffle first or use gates to eliminate that ringing?

[hanbo]

This is a great video, but I suspect that most of us start with a kick sound that's a lot more sucky, and needs more help 😎🤘

[eldersays]

thsnk you so much for this video it has helped me getting the ball rolling on mixing drums which sounds too scary to me still. I have a question. does this video work with both kick in and kick out? I am in process of mixing drums that were recorded live in a DAW and I received both kick in and kick out and now im a bit confused how to EQ both of them using your video ! thank you

[mestock]

Alan - have you considered doing some videos on your approach to gating and compressing drums? Another good topic would be side chain filtering the bass guitar with the kick. I'm interested to hear your thoughts and philosophies on these topics. I've started taking advantage of mixing stations VU meter (I hope that's right). It actually allows you to view the gain reduction of gates and compressors in a rolling graphical format so you can see how the signal is being attenuated. Thoughts on using this meter to fine tune the gate and compressor settings? Thanks as always

[clintonstein]

Alan ! I use and XR-18 on my PC and Reaper as my DAW Is there a way to be able to use XR-18 mixer, FX etc. to control Reaper ! Once I engage Reaper it only allows me to adjust gain per channel ??

[alecualex]

Hi Alan: do you have a EQ video for the overheads and Hi Hat? Thanks

[gbmovies]

Please note the B52 have a litttle equalizer circuit inside the mike that cuts the mid range, besides the B52 is a delicate mike, in my decades two B52 was death, it never happen with D112, B52 sound better for kick and require only bit eq, D112 is more robust and require a more agressive eq than B52, i prefer the D112 that can be used efficiently also to pick up a bass player or other kind of big drum. Don’t forget the sm91 (now beta91a) and sennheiser e901 perfect condenser mikes for a more agressive sound with a fast attack, and if you have not any budget put a sm58 over a pillow inside the kick drum and you have a perfect sound.

[bagasramadhan]

Hai Alan, can you tell how to eq electric drum ?