This is a hardstyle kick SFX sound effect.
And this is why you must know how to make an SFX kick.
If you want your songs to sound like mine, watch every second of this video, or read every letter of this blog post. Else you’ll miss any vital steps. And as a bonus, I will share my best kick FX tricks at the end.
Starting now.
Why do you need SFX kicks (or FX kicks)
The greatest producers in the hardstyle, rawstyle, or hardcore scene take advantage of SFX kicks. They bring rhythm, variation, and sheer brutality to songs. They can do the same for you. And luckily, you can make SFX kicks in a matter of minutes.
Let me show you how.
And by the way, you can use FL Studio, Ableton, Cubase, Logic Pro, or any other app. It doesn’t matter. The same principles apply.
What is an SFX kick (or FX kick)
So, what is an SFX kick?
Simply put, an SFX kick is a special effect created with your kickdrum. Thereby, SFX stands for “sound effects”, or “special effects”. You can also use the term “FX”, which simply means “Effects”.
Whoever thought up these terms should get a medal.
So basically, your job is to tweak the heck out of your kickdrum to make it sound ferocious.
How to make a hardstyle kick SFX sound effect
Now, designing an SFX kick is a highly creative process. There are no rules. But still, there are some fundamentals.
Most SFX kicks are created with two basic elements: carbon and silicon.
Most SFX kicks are created with two basic effects: a filter and a distortion. A filter can change frequencies in a sound, and a distortion can overload a sound. Using these two in combination can do beastly wonders.
Sure, any other effects are fair game as well, such as a flanger, phaser, delay, etc. But let’s stick to the basics, which will give you fantastic results nonetheless.
All it takes are 5 critical steps to bring your nasty kick effect to life.
STEP 1: Use a hardstyle kick sample
To get started quickly, you only need a hardstyle, rawstyle, or hardcore kick. Hence, you can make your own or use a sample.
How to make a hardstyle kick
If you don’t know how to make one, watch the hardstyle kick tutorials on this channel. I will share blueprints to make your own.
Also, make sure to get my free sample pack. It includes many hardstyle kick samples. So, pause the video, click the link, and make sure to download it right away.
Add your hardstyle kick sample
When you have a solid kickdrum sample, just add it to your project. For example, you can drag and drop it into your app.
Inside your project, route the sample to the mixer. For example, route it to mixer track “1”. You can now use this mixer track to add effects to your kick.
STEP 2: Use a filter for your SFX kick
On the mixer, you can add a filter effect, but you can also choose to use the built-in sampler filter. Personally, I like to use the built-in sampler filter that comes with FL Studio.
And no, I’m not lazy, just efficient… Okay, whatever, I’m lazy. There, I said it.
Cutoff and resonance
All that matters is that you apply a filter to your kickdrum early on. Then, simply play with the cutoff and resonance knobs until you like the sound of it.
In many cases, a good amount of resonance somewhere in the mid frequencies will yield great results.
Lowpass, highpass or bandpass
You can earn extra credits experimenting with different filter types, such as lowpass (LP), highpass (HP), or bandpass (BP).
If you don’t know what that means, check out the filter tutorial on this channel, or better yet, get my book Synthesizer Explained.
For now, your kick may sound a bit dim or hallow, but that can change rapidly when you apply distortion.
STEP 3: Use a distortion for your SFX kick
Distortion is almost like a magical ingredient when you use it after a filter. It crunches the tones set by the filter, which can produce a more pleasant and robust sound. As a bonus it can make up some of the lost higher and lower frequencies.
That’s why, try adding a distortion to your project. You can click on an empty slot and select it from the list of effects.
Mildly aggressive distortion and saturation
Don’t be afraid to mess around with the settings. Thereby, the amount and type of distortion is what matters most probably. In my project, I went with a pretty aggressive distortion with a bunch of saturation.
But you have to test the waters and listen what sounds good. You’re all set as long as you don’t overdo it. Else, your SFX kick will become a smooth and noisy mess. Like a diaper baby buttocks.
Reminds me of that actress: Sandra Buttocks.
STEP 4: Finetune your SFX kick
Now that your filter and distortion are up and running, here’s the secret. Don’t stop! This is the time to find the SFX sweet spot.
So, after applying distortion, the changes you make to the filter will have a completely new feel. And vice versa for making any changes to the distortion.
Hence, just go back and forth between the two. This will continue to change the shape and character of the kickdrum, until you reach total awesomeness.
Add extra kick-SFX effects
When you have indeed achieved total awesomeness, it’s time to move on. Feel free to add extra effects this way, such as flangers, phasers, delays, etc., but simply explore that at you own pace.
However, not a must, but I would consider adding three extra effects.
- A reverb to add a sense of space to your SFX kick and blend it seamlessly in your mix.
- An equalizer to balance out any resulting disproportionate frequencies.
- A limiter to ensure your SFX kick will not exceed the maximum loudness.
Experiment with those until you approve of your own SFX creation. Then, there’s one final step you must take.
One small step for man, one giant leap for your song.
STEP 5: Add the SFX kick to your song
As is, you can continue to work in your current project, or you can export your SFX kick to a sample and add it to a new project. The choice is yours. Just make sure the SFX kick is available to work with.
BONUS: 4 tricks for you SFX kicks
Though, having it is not enough. The best SFX kicks still sound boring if you don’t add them to the right places in your song, create variations, and make interesting tweaks. So as a bonus, here are my 4 best tricks that can lead to kickdrum eargasm.
- As a rule of thumb, use the last few beats of every 8, 16, or 32 beats to play SFX kicks. They can also go other places, but this is a great start to get results fast.
- Create different SFX kicks and alternate. Yes, follow all the steps in this post again to build a couple of unique kicks and add them to your project. Then, switch between them.
- Try putting some kicks offbeat. Having them onbeat all the time will bore the listener quickly.
- Automate or pan your SFX kicks. For example, pan one SFX kick to the left speaker and pan another SFX kick to the right speaker.
Of course, there are gazillion ways to do things, but if you apply these tricks, your songs can become incredibly satisfying to listen to.
Rinse and repeat.
Free hardstyle sample pack & Synthesizer Explained
If you have questions, I’ll reply below. And pick up Synthesizer Explained and your free sample pack. More than 50,000 people have downloaded it, which is totally insane.