Kick drum EQ guide

The two points of interest are the fundamental and the beater attack.¹

Consider using a subharmonic synthesizer at 30-40Hz to beef up the kick.²

Cutting 200Hz can help the fundamental shine through.³

Cut the mid-range to get rid of that hollow, basketball sound. The kick doesn’t need to take up this range, which will be more important for other instruments.¹ There’s typically ugly frequencies between 250-400Hz,⁴ even up to 500Hz.⁵ Don’t be afraid to aggressively cut here. Cut somewhere around 360-800Hz for rock.⁶

Carve out a few dB at 80-100Hz to make space for Mixing bass.²

Boost the fundamental, which is often around 80Hz, maybe even the sub below that octave too.¹

Keep the low-mids, which is important for translation on small speakers.¹

The knock sound is usually around 1kHz, give or take a few hundred Hz.⁷

The beater attack is in the highs, somewhere around 2k-8kHz¹, depending on style (heavy styles use a higher freq attack).⁶ Use a parallel high band to add intelligibility.