The Miami bass kick is a long-decay 808 hit with a present transient, giving the genre its boomy low end

The defining Miami bass kick uses the Roland TR-808’s classic long-decay/long-release kick with a fairly present transient — not a short, punchy kick. The long decay is what gives the genre its boomy, chest-hitting low end. The tutorial fattens it further with light saturation (SoundToys Little Radiator) to add weight to the bottom end, but the genre-defining trait is the decay length and transient of the 808 kick itself. Its placement only fully makes sense once the snare and clap are added, since the kick sets up their answer.

Examples

In a DAW step sequencer, program the 808 kick with decay near maximum so the tail rings out. Optionally add a preamp/saturation plugin (Little Radiator) for extra low-end weight. Program at 130–135 BPM.

Assessment

Describe the two sonic characteristics of a Miami bass 808 kick (transient and decay) that distinguish it from a short, punchy techno kick.