There’s a new trend in music production that I’ve been hearing everywhere.

Sound Hacking: Duck the Kick

There’s a new trend in music production that I’ve been hearing everywhere. It’s funky as hell and has a completely unique feel. It’s an old technique called ducking the kick but it’s become more exaggerated than ever. Simply put, it’s a way to configure a dynamic range compressor. I’m probably making it less cool by writing about it and revealing the magic so consider this my resignation from the Alliance of Magicians (of sound).

Dynamic Range Compression

So, a compressor basically watches the level of a signal (volume of a sound) and reduces it (turns the volume down) if it goes past a certain threshold and then turns it back up when it’s not so loud. After that, it boosts the output signal to make it all sound louder.

The name comes from decreasing (compressing) the range of volumes (dynamics) that a sound has. Sometimes, humans will act as compressors when they are watching a movie with loud explosions and quiet dialogue. Usually, we use compressors to level out a sound so that it’s a more consistent volume but they are flexible enough to serve other purposes.

The Duck

Ducking is way of using a compressor to get one signal to duck under another signal. In other words, turning the volume down on one track when another one gets loud.

DJs will often duck their music under their microphones to make their voice more clear when letting everyone know that it’s time for another line dance. They accomplish this by piping the music through the compressor and also sending a mic signal to the side-chain or key input of the compressor. This causes the compressor to listen to the side-chain signal and compress the main signal accordingly.

By using the same technique to duck the lead part under the kick, we get a very punchy effect, often called pumping because of how it seems like the kick’s volume is getting pumped up. When the compression is cranked way up, so that the main signal is nearly inaudible during the hit, it feels like getting punched in the chest.

Sometimes, there’s no isolated kick signal, but the ghetto pump is still possible by pulling out the low frequencies. Split the mix before the compressor, give it a strong low pass, a gate, a boost, and send it to the side-chain as well as the post-compressor mix. Alternatively, make a new kick track that emulates the original.

Finding the Feels

Achieving a good duck can be tricky, and there are some situations where it works better than others. Use a high ratio, a fast attack, and a slow release to get the biggest pump. Time the release based on the feel of the upbeat. The dynamics of the kick signal will have a significant impact, as well.

It tends to work best on dance grooves with a naturally big kick drum hitting the downbeat and the leads playing long tones on top. This allows the lead to come through on the upbeats and get hit with the downbeat, giving a nice interplay.

Duck Whisperers

Daft Punk has been ducking the kick since they started (noticeable on One More Time) but their approach is subtler than what I’ve been hearing lately. It’s apparent that they’re only trying to make the kick bigger, not punch your lights out.

The Australian Flume has taken the technique to the extreme and mastered a new kind of sound. Listen to Sleepless and it’s impossible to miss. The compression is so dramatic that the lead synth and vocals get completely muted by the kick. With every punch, its like getting blacked out momentarily. The vocals ease back in but only to get punched again on the next beat. Can’t help but bounce to this.

This is Relevant To My Interests

People love to talk about chord progressions, scales and other traditional theory, but there are so many other dimensions of sound that deserve the same amount of respect and we’ve only recently discovered them. When I hear new sounds, I want to know how they were produced, but there’s just not a lot of material on the subject. People might be trying to keep secrets, but I believe knowledge sharing will move the art faster and ultimately give us better music.

If this was interesting to you, try and think of some curious sounds you’ve heard and send them my way, maybe I can demystify them!