One trick I have used a lot, especially on drums, and especially on the kick drum, is to pass it (ie only the kick) through a compressor with the following settings:
Ratio: Max
Threshold: Min
Attack: Max
Release: Min
This makes the kick very much louder, but also gives it a fairly even dynamic with a nice snapping sound at the very start of the waveform. I sometimes compress the sound again after this stage to tame the snappiness a bit, but I've found it a good way to get a really massive, punchy-sounding kick.
Hopefully this works between different compressors and wasn't just an artefact of that particular model....hmm...
-Annikk
|