I've been thinking about getting an Ultra Kick since it came out and finally just did it. I'm kinda regretting not trusting my instincts and getting one straight away. It's sooooo good.
I think a big problem with demos of kick drums is that most of the time you hear them on their own, or in some poorly mixed arrangement that someone has thrown together. But the magic of the UK is how you can perfectly slot the kick into a mix by tweaking it precisely, balancing the top end click, the mid range thump, the low end, the 'breathiness' of it, the shape of the amplitude envelope (using the compressor), and so on. This is something that only becomes clear in use, over time.
I've been going back over old tracks and replacing the kicks with the UK, and in most cases I realise the new kick sounds 'smaller' or 'weaker' in isolation, but when you listen to the track all together it sounds waaaay better because the kick fits in place. And that's with no processing, at all. I used to spend hours on kicks and still not be happy with them. Now I spent 5-10 mins on them and I'm happy.
I think a big problem with demos of kick drums is that most of the time you hear them on their own, or in some poorly mixed arrangement that someone has thrown together. But the magic of the UK is how you can perfectly slot the kick into a mix by tweaking it precisely, balancing the top end click, the mid range thump, the low end, the 'breathiness' of it, the shape of the amplitude envelope (using the compressor), and so on. This is something that only becomes clear in use, over time.
I've been going back over old tracks and replacing the kicks with the UK, and in most cases I realise the new kick sounds 'smaller' or 'weaker' in isolation, but when you listen to the track all together it sounds waaaay better because the kick fits in place. And that's with no processing, at all. I used to spend hours on kicks and still not be happy with them. Now I spent 5-10 mins on them and I'm happy.
Statistics: Posted by digable-me — Thu Jan 02, 2025 5:19 pm
