Sometimes I feel like screaming. Sometimes I want to break all of my studio equipment and run off and live in the forest. There is only thing that makes me feel this way, and its getting a good sounding kick. I can nail everything else and am really confident in my production and even low end mixing, however getting a good top end kick that sits on the mix and feels powerful yet not too snappy and in your face is just not something I'm capable of figuring out on my own. I've been trying ceaselessly for YEARS.

It's not the sub of the kick, I'm fine with that. I make dirty dutch/melbourne bounce, so It's the top layer. How the fuck do artists get this sounding good so consistently? When I try to use samples, I can never get it to sound punchy enough with the frequencies still sounding relaxed and 'small'. When I try to use clicks from banks like nicky romero's kick, It sounds much too small to produce the mid 'umf' that is the most important part of a strong kick for melbourne bounce. Any amount of overdrive/compression/EQ attempts to get a sound closer just further convinces me that I'm starting with a bad sound to begin with.

I'm starting to think that there is some tried and true way to make melbourne bounce kicks and I'm just not in the loop. Because I'm a competent producer, I really am. But as far as the top end of my kick goes, I don't even think it can get in the ballpark. I just can't get it to have weight without being a snapping mess.

Please, if you have sound design advice, I would love to know. But more importantly, if anyone knows of the samples that artists like SCNDL, Will Sparks, and Deorro use to get their top kick sounds, please let me know. I'm tired. So, so tired.