Mixing 808
Introduction
In hip-hop, as well as pop and other genres, the 808 is often just as important to a track as the vocals. Whether it’s an 808 or a live bassline, the bass gives a song its soul. It’s crucial to bring the 808 to life in the mix without overpowering the kick drum or other musical elements.
Why is this so tricky? Because when you look at frequency ranges, bass and kick drums usually share similar space—from about 30Hz to 400Hz in the low end, and sometimes even higher for clarity.
There are a few plugins and tools that can really help make the 808 stand out. First, it all starts with the 808 sample itself. What the producer chose for the instrumental will influence which tools you use to make it pop. We’ve come across all kinds of 808s in our engineering experience—from super clean sine wave 808s to muddier, slightly distorted ones.
For cleaner 808s, you typically don’t need to do much. For compression, we like using CLA-76 or CL1B plugins. When it comes to EQ, we might use Renaissance Bass to boost the low mids, and an EQ like SSL E-Channel or FabFilter Pro-Q3 to cut frequencies that might clash with the kick drum. Multiband compression is another tool you can use to address specific problem areas.
We also tend to roll off any high frequencies that aren’t needed (usually above 500Hz). For 808s, we focus on the frequency range from 40Hz to 120Hz. If we want some extra character or harmonics, we’ll use Black Box Analog Design.
Fix Phase Issues Before Mixing
Until we really got into audio engineering, we had no idea what phase was or how important it is in mixing beats. It turns out that phase is crucial—especially when it comes to low-end frequencies—because phase cancellation can ruin your mix, even if you think an EQ will fix the problem.
Phase cancellation happens when two sounds with the same or similar frequencies are out of phase (moving in opposite directions), which leads to a big drop in the perceived volume.
For example, imagine you have a kick drum and an 808 that both sound great on their own. But when you play them together in your mix, the low end suddenly disappears—the sounds don’t hit as clearly, and the whole track feels hollow and flat. That’s because phase cancellation is happening in the bass frequencies of your track.
This is a common issue, and there are several ways to address phase problems like this.
First, you can try flipping (or inverting) the phase button ø on one of the problematic sounds using a trim, utility, or any plugin that has phase-invert functionality built in. After engaging the phase flip, listen to hear if the low end sounds clearer or hits harder. If it doesn’t, undo the change and try a different approach.
Second, you can swap out the sounds you’re using to find two that are in phase with each other. The best way to know if something is in phase is by using your ears. Audition your kick drum samples alongside your bass sounds, and choose the ones that cut through and feel solid in your low end.
808 Sample Choice
Choosing a high-quality 808 sample that fits your track is crucial. Ninety percent of a great-sounding 808 comes from picking the right sample. Look for clear and punchy samples with a consistent body—they’ll be much easier to process and shape to fit with other elements in your mix. Many sample packs offer a wide variety of 808 sounds to suit any genre.
You can also synthesize your own 808 sounds. At its core, an 808 is a sine wave with a quick attack envelope applied to the pitch. Xfer Serum is an excellent choice for creating custom 808s, offering plenty of options to shape and modulate unique sounds. There are also dedicated 808 plugins like KICK 2, New Era 808, BazzISM, BD-808, and many more.
Whichever method you choose, it’s important to start with the best possible 808 sound. Building a track around a weak or unsuitable 808 will only cause problems further down the line.
Shape Around Your 808s
A lot of mixers try to make their 808s stand out by adding things like extra low end, distortion, or tape saturation. But the truth is, if your 808 isn’t cutting through, it’s probably because something else is getting in its way.
You’ll usually get better results by leaving the 808 alone and instead shaping the other tracks to fit around it. If the 808 is dominating the sub-range of the frequency spectrum, you don’t need a lot of sub-frequencies from anything else. Just pay attention to the frequency spectrum and aim for a balance between these elements.
Remove excess low-end from tracks that don’t need it. Common offenders include kicks, basses, and synths. High-pass filters are your friends. Give the 808 room to breathe, and it will usually cut through without any extra processing.
Mixing 808s: Tuning
About half the time, when I’m working on a track using an 808 kick drum, I just drop it in and leave it as is. I place it in the mix where I want, and that’s basically it. But 99% of the time, your 808s won’t sit well in the mix because they’re out of tune with your song. Downloaded 808 samples almost always sound off if you play them with your melodies. In these cases, you’ll need to tune the 808s to match your song or the specific key of your arrangement.
Finding the right key and tuning your 808s can be tricky and time-consuming. This is a weak spot for a lot of new producers. The fastest and easiest way to handle this is by transposing the samples and using your ears to find the perfect sound.
But if your ears aren’t trained to catch these details, don’t worry—there are plugins that can help. Ableton, for example, has a built-in plugin called Tuner.
Mixing 808: Layering Kick and 808
Here’s the thing: most producers make the mistake of thinking that the attack on the 808 kick isn’t as important as its body or tail. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest errors a producer can make. You need to sort out the sub-frequencies to make sure the kick and 808 fit together well.
I’ve heard some 808s that sounded incredible, and I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a few of them. Turns out, they were just pure sine waves with a fantastic attack layered in.
A good kick sample helps your 808 cut through the mix more effectively. That first slap gives you an extra click that, even if it’s brief, somehow tricks your brain. It makes the whole kick and 808 combo sound more complete.
So, what’s the best way to do this? Once again, finding the right sample is crucial. You want the perfect amount of attack and just the right amount of “hump.”
Balancing The Volume Levels
A lot of the time, people with untrained ears want both the 808 and the kick to sound really loud. But if you listen closely to tracks mixed by top engineers for artists like Migos, Drake, or Lil Baby, you’ll notice the bass and kick don’t hit quite as hard as you might expect.
That’s because their engineers understand that the low end plays a huge role in the overall headroom, and too much low end can cause a lot of clashing in the mix.
The important thing to consider is which instrument needs to stand out the most in your mix. You want one to be louder than the other, depending on how each one sounds.
For example, if your 808 is more sub-heavy and deep, and your kick is punchy and tight, you’ll want the kick to be heard and the 808 to be felt. In this case, you can make the kick a bit louder in the mix and keep the 808 slightly lower.
This is a key tip for balancing these two sounds, and it really helps prevent them from clashing. You can still make your 808 stand out by using some parallel processing, which lets you boost the mid-range on a parallel channel.
Mixing 808s: Effects and Processing
Another technique I’ve seen is distorting the kick sample. You don’t need to go overboard—just enough distortion to make it sound slightly clipped. This adds extra bass and that signature “sharp” distortion in the highs. It’s crucial to have your kick work well with your 808. In this case, the 808 should always stay separate from the punchy kick that brings the click. Using a high-pass filter to clean them up is another important step you shouldn’t skip. The high-pass filter is essential for getting the right sound.
The easiest way to do this is to fade in the 808 just enough for the kick’s transient to cut through the bass. A bigger fade-in will create a more noticeable pumping effect. You can also fix this issue with sidechaining and/or automation.
Sidechaining isn’t always the default method for mixing Hip Hop drums, and there are other ways to separate the kick from the 808. But if you do it right, sidechaining can actually help your 808 stand out by ducking it when it’s not needed. Multiband compression is another powerful tool for processing these two elements. With multiband compression, you can target specific frequency areas and help the kick and 808 fit together better.
By giving the kick room to breathe, you’re essentially ducking the 808 when the kick hits. All you need to do is bring the 808 down a bit whenever the kick comes in, and that’s where sidechaining comes into play. This makes the process smoother and helps everything fit together nicely.
Process Them Through the Same Subgroup Before Hitting The Master
Each DAW handles this process differently. What we’re specifically talking about is sending both the 808 and the kick to the same subgroup bus channel, so they can be processed together before going out to the final master.
Traditionally, most mixers will route all their drums to a drum subgroup and all bass elements (like the 808) to a separate bass subgroup. Each subgroup is then sent to the master bus track for exporting.
This method is different because it has both the kick and 808 routed to the same subgroup bus, where they’re summed together before joining the rest of the mix on the master bus.
Processing on this subgroup can involve a variety of tools—EQ, compression, distortion, and tape saturation are all common choices (these are what we usually use).
The key is not to overdo the processing. These sounds should remain dynamic, so a touch of compression can help glue them together, while adding some harmonics through distortion or tape saturation can enhance their combined presence and synergy.
808 Sliding & Gliding
808 slides are a popular technique in modern digital music and beat production. This approach is simple and can be achieved with just a few easy setting adjustments. First, it’s important to set your 808 to ‘monophonic’ by limiting the number of voices to one. This ensures that only one note plays at a time, instead of multiple notes like in a chord.
Next, to create the slide or glide effect, switch your 808 sampler to the ‘Legato’ setting. Finally, adjust the Glide Time to make your 808 glides sound longer or shorter, depending on your preference. In this example, we used Ableton’s sampler, which has a built-in ‘Glide’ setting, but you can apply similar adjustments on any DAW or sampler you’re using.
Work on the Transient Shape of Every Sound
Let’s think about every sound logically for a second. A kick drum has a very clear transient—the loudest part of the hit or attack happens instantly, then quickly fades out with minimal sustain. An 808 is similar but has much more sustain than a typical kick drum because it “rings” out.
808s have a lot of sustain, while kick drums are mostly about the attack.
We can use transient designers, like the SPL Transient Designer or Native Instruments Transient Master, to shape the transients of each sound so they fit together more smoothly.
This often means reducing the sustain of the kick so that its initial attack stands out, while lowering the attack on the 808 so the kick can punch through. Sidechain compression can also help with this.
Just like with EQ, we usually want to use a transient designer in a subtractive way—removing what we don’t need to make space for what we do want from the other elements.
Conclusion
If you’re leaning towards using wideband compression for your sidechaining, just try to keep it tasteful. If you want that pumping effect, time it so the movement matches the speed of the trail and tricks the listener’s brain into feeling like the bass was always present. It’s an art in itself, but I’m confident you’ll be able to figure it out.
