The Ultimate Guide to Kick Drums for The Club
Kicks lay the foundation to our music and it’s important we get them right. This eBook is an in-depth analysis and guide to help you sculpt and build kicks, just like your favourite artists.
“Amazing! I learnt SO much in such a short time! I need to go fix my kicks now.” – Russell Photonic
Helping you where it hurts
Over the past 10 years I’ve helped hundreds of DJs, producers and artists, all over the world. I’ve come to learn a thing or two about this burning desire to create and the struggles that come with it.
Who is mredrollo?
mredrollo is an established music producer and DJ whose music continues to garner wide support from industry legends, including Lee Burridge, Sébastien Léger and Tim Green. When mredrollo is not hard at writing in the studio, he coaches artists online and creates YouTube content helping up and coming music makers overcome the daily struggles they will inevitably face. Once taking YouTube a little more seriously, his channel quickly grew to well over 1 million views and nearly 20K subscribers from creating no BS ‘talking head’ content that has resonated with people all over the world. Unlike many mentors out there, mredrollo’s guidance offers a unique perspective from his own personal experiences, not just cookie cutter ideas that sound good in theory.
After over a decade of being in the education space, mredrollo has positioned himself as one of the few people who continues to develop as an artist, while helping others do the same.
What People Are Saying
Ayna T
Completing the course with Ed made the biggest difference in my ability to use Ableton Live. I had attempted to learn through youtube & through my own exploration and was always quite overwhelmed. Ed broke things down in a way that was easy to understand and structured the course in such a way where you learned and understood how Ableton Live functioned as opposed to just being told where and what to click (like youtube). This allowed me to be able to grow creatively and not simply just copy what someone else was doing. 5 stars for any course or service that Ed delivers!
Gadi (Morning Elegance)
I wanted to take a moment to thank mredrollo for the recent mixing coaching sessions. I found the focus on group channel processing particularly insightful—it has really streamlined my workflow. Everything went smoothly during our sessions, and I’m genuinely impressed with how much I’ve improved my process. The techniques you shared have led to some fantastic results and I’m excited to keep applying them. Thanks again for your guidance and expertise. I look forward to our continued work together!
Gadi (Morning Elegance)
Ben Kriegler / Coyote Cat
Ed is an amazing mentor and coach. I’ve gained invaluable insights and grown exponentially as an artist since starting 1:1 sessions with Ed.
First and foremost, he’s just a lovely person! It’s so important to connect and form a relationship with a teacher/mentor, which is super easy with Ed. He’s patient, kind, and curious about the needs of his students and how he can help them grow.
One area that we’ve focused on quite a bit is mindset. Ed has tons of insight to offer on how to navigate the emotional side of being an artist, which has helped me immensely. He’s also an amazing composer, arranger, mixer, and producer. Honestly, I don’t think there’s an aspect of music production that Ed can’t help you with. As a teacher, he draws on a wealth of experience crafting music. I highly recommend 1:1s with Ed.
Bo Scott
Ed is an open book! Love that I could ask him anything I wanted and he would share whatever. No ego. Very talented musician. Patient, and does a great job explaining things. We were able to open up one of his sessions and go through it together.
5 stars!
Leo Ramirez / Lēo
Ed was great! I was 100% satisfied with the second mix he sent me. He is efficient, and really pays attention to your comments. He definitely went the extra mile!!
George
Loving this course ! Well structured into clearly signposted units, with very helpful material and advice presented in a way that is easy and interesting to follow. Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to get started with Ableton, or brush up on their existing skills :0)
Zankee Gulati
Super Talented Artist and lovely human! Hoping to learn some more tricks and tips from you mate. Thank you.
SOL7
It helped me tremendously in every way. In terms of the arrangement, that was my biggest concern and also in terms of the work process. Very, very thank you!
Ellatronix
Ed is a wealth of knowledge and really helped to guide my live performance set with helpful insights and tips. I highly recommend him!
Andrew Bull
I had a great coaching session with Ed today. He was full of useful tips to help me work through some of Ableton’s new features, as well as specific plugins/filters to get that excellent sound missing in the percussion of some of my tracks. Looking forward to chatting again, and getting some feedback on some unfinished projects. Thanks again, Ed!
Maurice Mo
When I discovered Ed’s content on YouTube, his philosophical approach to music production immediately resonated with me. I began by enrolling in his online courses, which substantially enhanced both the quality of my sound and my production workflow—avoiding the typical, overly complex instruction I found in similar programs. When Ed introduced personalised coaching sessions, I seized the opportunity and decided to go for 4 sessions which I’ve since renewed for another 4 sessions. I particularly value the tailored guidance, strategic insights, and mindset development provided through his mentorship. Ed’s coaching not only challenges my fundamental motivations for creating music but also offers critical support and encouragement—essential elements for navigating the complexities of music production and maintaining momentum. What I also value a lot, is the understanding and listening skills Ed has, it’s most certainly a safe space.
Balogh Zoltán
Fantastic help! Reinforcement of what has been learned so far and.. raising creative creation to a new level! Thank you so much!
DJ Tsoi
Ed is my go-to expert for mixing and mastering. Love working with Ed and would highly recommend anyone, from beginner to seasoned pros, to do so! He has helped me bring clarity and balance to a few of my tracks and my EP. He was able to fully bring out the focus in each frequency range and clean up a lot of muddiness in my tracks. He used reference mixing techniques to benchmark my tracks with similar songs in the same genre, as well as referencing the other tracks in the EP to bring sonic consistency in the final mix.
Not only did I get to observe Ed’s process and methodology, he also walked me through each step and gave me a much better understanding on the rationale behind each action. This thoroughly improved my production process and how I create tracks, having the mixing & mastering considerations in mind.
David Hohme (Anjunadeep)
I’ve been a fan of Ed’s music for much longer than we’ve been working together… and I must say that now that we are, my respect for him as a musician, engineer, and general professional has only grown. It’s been a pleasure getting to know him, releasing some of his music on my label, and more recently working with him on some mixing projects. Looking forward to continuing our collaborations!
Obbie (All Day I Dream)
Best ratio time-invested/improvement in music quality. The quality of your kick is so important to make quality dance music, and this guide covers everything needed to nail this part!
Dulus (All Day I Dream)
Everything there is to know about designing a kick via audio is in this guide! Hell, I sample my kicks from Ed’s tracks and now I know what’s going through his mind when he is making them!
Syafiq Halid
Just wanted to shout out how awesome your YouTube vids are! Seriously, your honesty and advice hit home every time. You can feel the hard work and real struggles behind it all and that’s what makes it so damn good and authentic. Your tutorials, especially on Live Performance and Push 2, are solid! Super inspiring stuff. And gotta give props for the crisp HD quality and clear voice, makes learning from you a breeze. I’d tell anyone looking for solid tips to hit up your channel! 🙂
Russell Photonic
Amazing! I learnt SO much in SUCH a short time! I need to go fix my kicks now.
Matthew D.W
Pretty brilliant tools that add very immediate value without getting caught up in a million parameters. Thanks!
Jake Aaron
Ed is an exceptional mentor and I’m truly grateful for his support and guidance in my journey as a music creator. One of the things that has stood out to me most in our 1:1 sessions is his personalised approach to mentorship. He takes the time to listen and relate, provides practical insights, challenges me to think critically about my projects and goals and provides thoughtful advice that has helped me to grow in both skills and confidence. Ed continuously helps me push my comfort zone and challenge my thinking making the music creation process immensely rewarding. I highly recommend Ed as a mentor to anyone seeking personal or professional growth in their music creation endeavours. Thank you so much for your time, wisdom and unwavering support Ed.
Leo Ramirez
I took a 1:1 coaching session with Ed and was totally worth it! He truly cared about my project, is a great listener and provided great advice to help me improve on different aspects. I am already looking forward to the next session in the near future.
Lem Smith
It is very rare to find someone like Ed. I first came across his music through a random spotify playlist. I was immediately enthralled with his sound and interested in finding more about his music production techniques. I was fortunate enough to discover that he provided training tutorials for Ableton Live and Push 2. His teaching style is very thorough and he really explains how to use Ableton Live for electronic music production. Ed has since introduced 1:1 coaching sessions which I have had the privilege of being a part of. He not only has experience in the music industry, but is also willing to share his knowledge with others. His coaching sessions are top-notch and have taken my production skills to a new level. He focuses on both the production side of things and is truly interested in your goals. With Ed, you get more than just tips and tricks. You receive fundamental knowledge to give your tracks a professional sound and strategies to get your music heard. I could not more highly recommend Ed to learn from and jumpstart your music production.
Gareth Bellamy
Whilst I had completed plenty of online YouTube tutorials “how to’s and tips and tricks” which just melted away as soon as I’d finished, mredrollo was different. After completion of a series of his videos on Ableton Push I, for the first time, I had completed a finished and very passable piece of music. I further dived into his videos and again I completed an even better finished piece of music. I realised that I wasn’t being shown how to do something, I was being shown how to think, how to approach creating and to focus on completing work, to make the creation process “the why” to “keep creating”. I joined mredrollo’s Facebook community without hesitation, where I have met likeminded people, all on the same journey. I have shared my music knowing it is in a safe place, received the community’s and Ed’s feedback, genuine, honest and focussed on improving the creation process without all the bloated egos. He has made such an impact on my music journey (and life really), and inspired and motivated me to do much more with my life.
Miles Kvndra
I known Ed for quite a while now and have learned to really value him as a fellow creator, who has a great perspective on the whole music and content creation game as a whole. Not only is he a fantastic musician that totally knows his craft, he also is a great teacher and creative soul that has an inspiring view on the life as a creator in general. And most importantly: he is a super fun dude with lots of positive energy!
Sam J
Amazing resource! Thank you Mr. Ed! This course was super easy to follow and covers basically everything you could ever want to know about getting started with Ableton Live.
Mustafa Sarbak
Most of the tutorials online are basically “how to” videos and they don’t help in an artistic way of creating. I felt like I didn’t get the most of my new hardware and it was annoying. Then I bumped into mredrollo. The way he communicates and the fact that you follow along while he is teaching felt unique to me. I have finished this course a few times and I still come back to take a look at the certain points. I can definitely say that after watching, Ableton Push has become an instrument rather than just hardware to me. I don’t struggle anymore and really enjoy my sessions, but it also helps me to have a broader perspective while I’m making music.
Adam K
Since completing this course with mredrollo I’ve become much more confident using Ableton Live. I’d always come up with ideas for songs but get frustrated with arranging and move on to the next idea. But following mredrollo though his workflow as he walks you through the process of completing a track from start to finish I was able to put some of those ideas together and actually finish something… and it feels great!
Reece Bryan
My main difficulties with music production were: not knowing all the element of a complete track, struggling with arranging elements into a song and mixing elements together to sound good. After doing my fair share of YouTube searching, I was lucky to stumble across a tutorial from mredrollo. I found his way of teaching concise and professional. From there I felt confident that my money would not go to waste and signed up for his course. Ed is straight forward, and every minute is filled with useful information, no fluff. Ed covered everything needed to complete a track from start to finish. This is just what I needed to start making music that sounds full and finished. Since taking two of Ed’s courses, I’ve been able to bring my creative ideas together in a much more satisfying way. I am loving my music production journey and am grateful for Ed’s contribution to it.
Marco Diaz
One of mredrollo’s most powerful lessons for me was that less is more. I had bought loads of courses all over the internet, wasting so much time with overcomplicated explanations, causing me to give up on music after only a few minutes. With Ed’s guidance though, I found myself wanting more and more. He’s helped me to find more inspiration, while understanding the process of creating, focusing on simplicity while acknowledging the work that needs to be done. Overall I have found more happiness from all the lessons he has given me and the skills to solve these problems.
Alan Dale
I tried various creators on YouTube for tutorials or inspiration but always got bored either with the techniques, teaching or just the creator themselves. When I first watched a video of mredrollo I instantly connected and wanted to know more. What really sold me was his journey and what he’d been through which was such an inspiration. I really liked his approach, it’s kinda like a no BS approach, clear instructions and explaining the full process of making music.
David
This is what I’ve really enjoyed about Ed’s courses – they’ve allowed me the freedom to develop my own voice.
Rob D
When I enrolled for Ed’s courses I was looking to make better use of my Push. I was attracted to Ed’s course because it seemed like it was showing you the Push while in the process of actually making a track. I wasn’t interested in a video manual going over the functions. And while I did learn more about the Push something unexpected also happened. I actually ended up getting more from the course on workflow and just general approaches to working through a track to completion. As it turns out the Push stuff was just a bonus. Ed’s workflow was quick and simple. I liked how he didn’t spend time mired in details and got on with his track. I now use the same approach in my tracks. Instead of obsessing over minor details during the creative process I now feel I am better able to flow and worry about the details later on in the process. Because of this, making music is simply more fun for me now.
Haraold Hemmink
At first I didn’t know where to start and I really got lost in all the YouTube producers’ tutorials. It was an overdose of information and went wayyy too fast to follow for a beginner. mredrollo’s voice is very clear and the way he explains things has helped me understand. It’s never dull, unclear or too fast. Implementing what I had learned got me to a point where I was able to put a nice simple song together, and I thought WOW!! Now I’m getting somewhere, after almost 2 years! I now have plenty more fun when I start up my machine and know that I might get somewhere.
Fiendski
Incredible value on these 10 tools. I must use at least 1 of these on every track. Beautifully thought out and simple to use – essential purchase!
Andrew
Really happy with Ten Tools pack. Have used them in a few tracks already.
Great stuff Ed, and a bargain for $10!
Tim Gough
In the beginning I had very little confidence using Push2 and was miles off using it to it’s full potential. I loved how your courses have detailed step by step processes for both using Push2 and your creative process. I learnt not only about Push2 but about sound design and arrangement. Certainly by the end of your first course I felt that I had learnt an enormous amount about using the Push and had the confidence to experiment with it more.
Julia
Great tools! Have had loads of fun integrating these into sets! Highly recommend.
Xavier Ng
mredrollo isn’t just a great music educator but also a great music creator. With these awesome tools that are created concisely, this is one of the best $10 I’ve spent that will help to streamline my workflow!
STEFAN SUPERTI
Thank you so much for this massive insight in making a tack from start to finish!!
Sign up to my newsletter
Join more than 1,400+ subscribers receiving my emails where I regularly share insights I don’t share anywhere else and exclusive news about upcoming releases.