how to get better at kicks?

diferent velocities dont usually create different pitches, at least not with sample based drums. your volume will change when you hit it from 0 to 127, but the pitch will stay the same all the way through, as for regular drums, they are pretty much the same too.

a drummer has some control over the tuning of his kit, but not that drastic as debauch was saying.

if one were to tune his kit, he would probably tune it to a certain song for recoridng purpouses i would think.

but most drums in rock or funk songs arent inentinally tuned. we have an advantage with electronic music though because we can tune any sample we want.

there is a lot of sample packs that each drum is tuned in it, and it says in the sample name, those are the kind of drums i was talking about before.

a lot of people just chop a break and raise or lower the pitch until it sounds good though, so you can also do that.
im kind of over obsessive about that kind of shit though, so if i wantn something to be tuned exactly i will get a tuned drum sample rather than tune an untuned one.
but that also has to do with not having the greatest ear for pitch on my end either.

hope this helps.

16 level ur kick with velocity and program to help add depth

perhaps multiple kick sounds or use kicks with different tunings in the same pattern

Here is some things to think about.

The attack and release of the kick. How is the transient aka the mountain range of the audio wav?

Think in context of the mix. A little bit of some EQ cuts and boost on the bass and kick will help let the kick

breath through the bass and shine evenly. Try experimenting with some side chaining too.

Maybe your kick is just a bit low on the low end "ummph". Try setting up an instrument track in your

DAW and select a lead synth/bass and filter out everything above say 120hz and have your kick gate the

instrument track to achieve a fuller sound in your kick.

Also look into panning and reverb. Is your track a slower track? Does it have lots of depth?

Try experimenting with a copy of your kick track and apply some heavy attack and some reverb. Lower the

volume of the track and let it go.