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How to use a sample to give your kick drum more consistency and attitude

Kick samples Kick drum Live drum tracks Metalcore Mixing

Drum samples are a common part of many modern music genres, and if you listen to as much heavy music as I do, you have certainly heard your fair share of samples.

When used correctly, samples can help your drums cut through the mix with added consistency and larger-than-life attitude. Unfortunately, with great power comes great responsibility. It is easy to push things too far with samples and end up with a mix that is aggressively unpleasant to listen to.

“Well then Josh”, you might be asking, “what’s too little, and what’s too much when it comes to drum samples?”

I’m happy to show you! Let’s start with the kick drum. In this video, I talk about how I used a sample to reinforce the live kick in this mix in order to deliver more consistency and some in-your-face kick attack. In the video I go through all the processing that I used and I even give away my secret sauce: the sample I use in almost every mix!

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