Max Christensen has released Hybrid Kicks, a free sample pack containing 67 royalty-free kick drum sounds in WAV format.
The unusual thing about the Hybrid Kicks collection is that the included kick drums samples were crafted from various body hits which were used as the sound source. Max created most of the sounds by pounding his chest and later processed these recording into modern sounding kicks. Here is how Max describes the sound design process that went into creating Hybrid Kicks:
I recorded various body hits, adjusted the tails and then basically went crazy with the processing. First I added the subharmonics with the free subharmonic generator Bark of Dog because any drum will have a resonating frequency and a chest pound is just way too short. Then I would equalize, saturate, and compress like crazy in various orders. Sometimes I would apply double compression, double saturation, double distortion, and so on.
Since every plugin was reacting so violently to the audio, changing the processing chain sometimes had dramatic effects, sometimes not. For the FX patch, I used some additional processing tools like bitcrushers and other distortion effects. After everything was said and done I was left with 67 usable samples which were then categorized into Punchy (short with a good attack), Sustained (long with a fundamental note), Low Thump (sub-bass kicks or 808 like kicks), and FX.
When I first heard the kick samples from Hybrid Kicks, I was pretty sure that Max used drum machines or synthesizers in the creation process. I was totally surprised when I heard the backstory of how these were made. The included kick samples sound very modern and I would recommend them to any musician looking for quality sounds to add to their arsenal.
A valid email address is required to get the download link. You can unsubscribe at any point if you don’t wish to receive the newsletter. Also, check out the video embedded above to hear another body percussion drum kit made by Max Christesen. The sounds from that video are what inspired the creation of the Hybrid Kicks collection.
Hybrid Kicks is available for free download via Max Christensen Audio (1.34 MB download size, ZIP archive, contains 67 kick drum samples in 16-bit WAV format).
