in the last tech tip. Here we cover the 909 kick, building one from scratch in Pro Tools! Little history, the original 909 kick drum sound came from a Roland® TR-909 Rhythm Composer drum machine.
This is where the 909 kick gets it's namesake along with other new generation 909 sounds coming from the TR-909. Rumor has it that the infamous 808 kick sound actually started life off as an acoustic wave generated from a "tom" sample and altered through eQ'ing and mixing in low-freq sub-harmonics with the sample in the 50-100 hZ range to come up with the super low sub sound.
ProTools: 909 Kick Drum»
Open a new Pro Tools session,
+add new "kick/fx/master" tracks,
and import or record a new acoustic
kick drum sample into the session..

drag new import kick sample into track..

in the mix window,
buss the kick drum on
"aux-send" to "fx" aux-track
[ie: bus17 in this sess],
insert a signal generator
+gate on the "fx" channel,
and set the buss send from
kick channel to unity gain..

open signal generator plug-in,
and adjust settings on oscillator tone
[example: 90hZ tone @-9dB sine wave]..

gate the kick with normal kick settings
[high ratio comp, fast attack, slow release]
and click "sidechain" to allow
key input from kick track..

hit "play" on transport to hear 909!

sample2:
909 kick w/90hZ +boost tone!
wow-909KiCK12bar.90hZ.wav
In your project studio, open a new Pro Tools® session and manufacture your own 909 kick samples for awesome low-end on any demo/cd. Homemade 909 samples boost the LOW END of any project studio or professional release.
Tip2: to get an original 909 sound, eQ the kick [-drop mids @250-400hZ/ +boost hi's @3-6KhZ] and mix in the signal generator/oscillator boosting the 90-150hZ range, sweeping the freq to find the sweet spot. Adjust the settings to find YOUR sound..
and go kill it w/909!
Mike the audioK9
indie audio engr
For more details on ProTools session signalflow,