Epic Hits

Hey peeps! Today I’m doing a quick tutorial on layering samples to create hits. You can go a lot deeper with this, but these are just very basic and versatile hits. Hope you enjoy

How I layer my own epic hits

An epic hit isn’t just one massive drum. It covers the whole frequency spectrum, from deep lows through the mids up to the very top air, because it needs punch, impact and to be heard. I build one in three parts: something in the distance, something right in your face, and something that rises into it.

For the distance I start low. A kick or a tom is fine. Even the basic kits that come with Logic will do. I put it in a big reverb and roll off the top end, because lower frequencies travel further and that’s what makes it sound far away. Then I compress it fairly brutally to stretch out the tail. If something rings or sounds boxy, I sweep a narrow EQ boost until I find the ringing frequency and cut it.

For the close-up layer I want bite. I’ll take a clean kick and push it through a guitar amp for distortion, since the low end is already covered. I add some clanging metal or glass, and maybe a crushed orchestral snare. It should feel like explosions everywhere: a huge drum far off, something smashing right in front of you.

Then comes the rise. I bounce one of my layers, reverse it, trim it and fade it so it swells into the hit. A crash cymbal works well here too. Put the reversed crash before the real one and crossfade them, and it sounds like a player rolling into the hit.

A couple of tips. Bounce each layer in place as you go, so you can see how your processing changes the waveform. Avoid tempo-synced delays, or the hit will only work at that one tempo. Finally, send everything to a bus with some gentle compression and a limiter so the exported file doesn’t clip. Then name it and save it in your own sample library with numbers like 001, so it stays in order as the folder grows.

For more on this, The Ultimate Guide to Trailer Hits & Impacts explains each type of hit, Why Bother Using “Trailerised” Impacts and Hits? explains why they matter, and my free masterclass on creating your own hits goes further. My Trailer Music Course covers epic hits, sub falls, risers and braaams step by step.

Happy composing!Rich