So, it might seem like I’m taking a very long route to get to Kickdrum Ave, but it’s all for a reason. It always amazes me how many variables and subtleties there are with sound design. My hope is to share a workable process for managing those possibilities, rather than just presenting a recipe to follow.
Armed with the knowledge that 50hz is a sweet spot for the kick, we can reprogram this patch around this knowledge.
First, by setting the pitch of oscillator A to 50hz…
…then adjusting the Pitch Envelope to land at right at 50hz:
I’ve done that by setting Sustain and End to 0 semitones. Notice that I’ve set Peak to +30 instead of +36 (which would be the full three octaves we’ve been sweeping through thus far).That’s a choice I made by ear.
With the Decay over 100ms (as seen above), starting at +36 robs the sound of some of the midrange punch I like. However, with a Decay that’s 50ms or less, you’ll find that a Peak of +36 (or more!) lends a satisfying high pitched click to the attack.
Once you’ve got a sound you like, explore the Pitch of oscillator A a little further…the difference between 48hz and 52hz is dramatic!
