Pipe is right, set the attack on the compressor late, I usually use 40 - 80 ms and a DEEP threshold with a long enough release and a fairly high ratio to stop the boom.

This essentially allows the attack to come through and squashes everything else. With multi-band you can boost/cut the frequencies as needed all in one plug-in. It's the attack (upper mids) not so much the lows that need to be prominent.

MJ

What about to do some SideChain compress? Kick vs. the mix..

I love to do it. Even at the mastering. Sometimes i record the whole mix without the kick, and use C1s/c to make space for the kick.

my s/c idea, if you intrested:

http://sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=19&MessageID=171274

P.S.: sorry, i forgot which mode of C1 i use to do this. S-P-L-I-T (not sidechain, and not wideband), but there should be many other working settings of course..

Ok here goes, from start to finish:

kickdrum: 20" TAMA starclassic maple
(I have weakness for the smaller kick drums, they're very punchy!)
(this is a great kickdrum, but there are others)

beater skin: Remo Powerstroke Three with beater pad to protect it.

tuning: Tune the drum so that the lugs are just tight enough to stop the skin rippling, so pretty much as loose as possible. On older or cheaper kits, don't necessarily worry about a little skin ripple as the drum is probably not as perfect.

beater: TAMA iron cobra with hard felt beater
(watch out for the soft felt beaters, very little punch!)

front skin: Double Ply with hole and protective hoop.

damping: One small pillow inside the drum, against the non-beaterside skin.

microphone: AKG D12E
(this is what I normally use, I have also used Shure Beta52 and AKG D112 with good results, according to the type of music)

mic location:
Get it right inside the kick drum, not too close to the beater or I find you lose the fullness of the sound. It's extremely important to make sure that the vibrating skin around the hole does not touch any cables or the mic itself. I've also found you don't necessarily have to point the mic directly at the beater.

record the kick drum into vegas flat, making sure it hasn't clipped.

now we get onto the fun bit: plugins.

don't be frightened of extreme processing. Depending on the microphone it may need more or less.

Here's my plugin chain ATM for kick drum:

Waves RBass -> Waves Linear Phase EQ -> Waves Ren Comp -> PSP pseudostereo

this then goes to a kick buss with Timeworks Mastering Compressor on it to limit the kickdrum as necessary.

I'll go through the plugins one by one.

<Waves RBass.>

This generates harmonics to enhance percieved bass on any playback system. A small amount blended with the main kick drum sound can help enhance the thickness of the kickdrum on the dinner ladies' stereo. Try adding harmonics between 55 and 65 Hz. Beware of clipping the plugin. Watch the input and output meters.

<Waves Linear Phase EQ.>

A very precise and powerful EQ with no phase shifting or distortion. It sounds good to my ears anyway. Very processor intensive.

*listen* to what the other microphones do, the overheads and even the snare will have a pronounced effect on the sound of the kick drum.

I normally cut the boxiness between 300 and 600 Hz, have two mid-range boosts between 4 and 5 Khz, and a boost around 50 - 60 Hz for the thump and beef.

<Waves Ren Comp:>

Even out the kick a little with this, allow the attack of the kick drum through - 30 - 50ms attack. Use a high ratio - 8-12:1 Release varies according to tempo of song and how you want the kick drum to sound.

<PSP pseudostereo:>

This is a VST plugin with a DX adapter. I use it very subtely to increase stereo width of the kick, sometimes I don't use it at all. It can help to bring the kick through complex mixes.

General mixing tips:

Remember that you are trying to fit things together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

The engineers trick is to use additive an subtractive EQ to meld events.

For example - Kick drum and bass must go together.

If I boost the kick drum at 57Hz, 2.6Khz, and 5.1 Khz....
I can cut the bass at 57Hz, 2.6Khz, and 5.1 Khz...

you get the idea - mirror image. All you have to do is find somewhere for the bass to sit around the kick drum and vice versa.

You should think along similar but more subtle lines for bands with two guitars etc.

Also think what frequencies instruments should be occupying - You don't want the guitar to have so much bottom end it muddies the bottom provided by the kick and the bass.

Use a high pass filter on the guitar and adjust the starting point of the filter to where the best balance is.

The idea about mixing is always about context. It doesn't matter how good one instrument sounds if it sounds rubbish with the rest of them!

The art is making a good instrument sound good with lots of other instruments playing.

Sorry if this seems like a beginners guide I don't mean to be patronising to anyone, as I appreciate that many of you will already know this.

Hope this helps!

Jason