Getting your kick through the 808 without a sidechain

Every producer who works with 808s runs into the same wall. The kick and the 808 share the same few octaves, and when they hit at the same time they fight. The usual fix is a sidechain compressor on the 808, keyed from the kick. It works, sort of. The kick comes through, but the 808 pumps, loses weight and sounds like it's apologizing.

Two problems, not one

A kick and an 808 clash in two separate ways. The first is level: both are loud in the same range, so the kick's punch gets buried. That's the part sidechain compression deals with. The second is phase: if the 808's wave happens to be moving the opposite way to the kick's tail, the two partly cancel. That's why some kick-and-808 pairs sound thin even when the levels look right, and why producers end up flipping polarity and nudging samples by ear.

What a good fix looks like

Ideally the 808 should only get out of the way for the kick's attack, just a few tens of milliseconds, and then come straight back at full weight, lined up with the kick so they add together. That's the idea behind POUND CAKE. One copy on the kick listens and broadcasts; one copy on the 808 receives, opens a short pocket on every hit, then hands the 808 back in phase with the kick's tail.

Setting it up

1. Remove any sidechain compressor or volume ducker already on the 808. Stacking them will over-duck it.
2. Balance the kick and 808 faders with both plugins bypassed.
3. Put POUND CAKE on the kick and click POUND. Put it on the 808 and click CAKE. Both start on CH 2, so they lock straight away.
4. Bring Bake up until the kick's knock comes clearly through the 808. Keep going until you hear the 808 pump or thin out, then back off a few percent.
5. Check it quietly and on small speakers. The kick should still be obvious on a phone.

Two things that catch people out

Tune the 808 to the kick. Any pitches work, but a kick and 808 in the same key give the cleanest, heaviest lock.

Don't bounce the 808 on its own. The CAKE copy needs the kick playing at the same time to do its job. Bounce the kick and 808 together, or the full mix.