Mixing drums

tylerdrummer · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:41 pm Post subject: Mixing drums

i thought we should talk about what we use in editing your drums in a mix, and learn new things in recording, cause i could really use that.
i usually compression with a threshhole of -20, ratio of 10.1, attack and decay .1. then i usually eq it to the columbia LP, and turn the gain really down.
not sure why i use it, or really what alot of it means cause im new and stupid with this, but it seems to get a ok sound, exept the toms are a little weird.
you guys?
could really use other technique or learn alot more about compression and eq

Ugly Man On Parade · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:40 pm Post subject:

What program are you using??

We just got Adobe Audition 3 in my studio and it is awesome!! As far as EQ goes, a lot of the pre-sets do a pretty good job, the fat snare EQ works quite well in my experience.

For EQin in general I like to thin out a bit of the high end and pump up the low and mids just a bit.

To make a fatter drum sound I use the chorus- acoustic pre-set. Then I dry it out a whole lot, as though there is no chorus at all. I bump up the chorus little by little until i get the thickness i want (usually around 6 or ,7%)

I still fool around with hard limiting trying to find the right threshold, i use the undo button more than any other I think! That's the beauty of digital audio recording, you can always go back to the original.

For the toms, dont just fool around with the audio processing, but the drum tuning as well. I'm not saying you dont know how to tune, I'm just saying maybe play them a little looser than you usually do. Sometimes what sounds bad to the ear sounds great on the mic.

Put up some audio clips when you get a chance, more knowledgeable people than me may be able to help you out further.
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tylerdrummer · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:57 pm Post subject:

the toms, since i play metal, are like as loose as possible without wrinkles, its just i dont know what the hell a Hz is(dont laugh, no one really taught me about this stuff ive had to figure out on my own, still dont know if 20hz is like bass or 1,000 hz is bass)
im just using it too learn the basics of recording, i just do it for fun, dont really do it with the band, but i thought it would be good to learn at a young age so when i get into college i know what the hell im doing.
really what i would like is
a middle fat, yet crack sound from snare,
quick crashes because i ride on it alot and dont want to over power everything else.
snare loudness in the bass, with those two overpowering everything else with its boomyness.
toms, in the middle, noticible but not overpowering.

and no offence, but the rest i have no clue what your saying, im a like 2 year old when it comes to recording right now, im not good at all(i know threshold but not the right threshhold, ill look into it)

sbowman128675 · Big Lion Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 967

i use a compressor, sonic enhancer, and a big bottom, with a bit of reverb, and a pinch of distortion on the snare. and that's going into gold wave recording software.
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eor · Fierce Poodle Joined: 11 Mar 2004 Posts: 291

i like to mic it right the first time and do as little as possible afterwards. i like to use as few mics as possible, too. sometimes as low as two. but four mics is like a crazy huge for me. yup.

tune it right
play it right
record it right

best advice i can give. seriously. nothing can happen after the mic that could be more important than what happens before the mic. nothing that happens in the box/mixer/fx rack/whatever will sound better than repositioning a mic and recording it properly.

more bass punch/articulation? stick a mic in the hole. more? aim it towards the beater. even more? use a different beater. still more? muffle the ringy snare/toms.

more crack? aim towards the center. still more crack? mic the bottom head, too. still even more crack? use fresh heads and a fatter stick. crackier still? hit like a man. see where i'm going here? i promise you that'll sound better than an eq boost later on a mushy snare track.

love,
eor

that said, i'm pretty lucky that my preference is more of a dry sounding recording. don't care too much for a effects. maybe some compression for some roominess and ambience. or to crunch things up a bit, but that's just for fun.
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kuniggety · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:32 am Post subject:

bamboo · Labrador Joined: 15 Dec 2004 Posts: 301

I use both logic and protools but the process is pretty much the same. A lot of it comes down to mic placement (google to find some good info).
In the mixing stage i use compression, EQ and reverb on every track, and SubBass on floor tom and bass. Sometimes other things are used to get 'that' sound, but this is the general idea.

DrumHead · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:33 am Post subject:

eor had the best advice - put most of your effort into tuning, playing, and mic placement.

your toms probably sound weird because of over compression. compression can really help but at a certain point it becomes more like an effect. if you are using close mics and overheads you can set each drum's compression individually, which you need to do when using it liberally due to toms and cymbals having different attack and delay characteristics than snare etc. if you are only using overheads you need to be very careful not to overdo it because one setting will effect everything. sharing compresser values is pretty much meaningless because this will depend on mic placement, the player, and mic gain settings. you pretty much need to look at your meter, and experiment some. are you applying compressor real-time or as a plugin?

also, based on what you say you want, you should prob tune your toms up a bit. what sounds good to your ear won't always work best for recording. you should be getting a good "tewwm" sound. if they are too loose they will be dead

also, here's a hint for everyone. i read it from some well known producer can't remember who... a tambourine track can really help a hard to fix track, bad snare sound, etc. if you listen closely you can hear some tambourine in like over 50% of commercial stuff. i recently did this after my band did a quickie session of 5 songs in one afternoon and rather than redo everything i added the tamb track and for our purposes of a quick demo it came out ok - was a huge improvement
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eor · Fierce Poodle Joined: 11 Mar 2004 Posts: 291

tylerdrummer · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject:

thanks for the help,
i dont think i want a tamborine, close to me personally
i use usually three mmics, sometimes four.
i cannot put a hole in bass because my parents wont let me
i may muffle a il more, even though i dont really like it and my beaters are fine.
i use the ec2, thing on snare and i hit in the center so it gets alright crack and good fatness, being 7 inches deeps a lil bit of the problem, but i love my snare.
but i do know what your getting at and i thank you for it.
thanks for Hz post, cause i had no clue, and ill tune my toms higher

DrumHead · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject:

tylerdrummer · Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:48 pm Post subject:

thank you drum head,
i seemed to be able to get a pretty great sound without eq or comp,
i tweaked with the snare, sounds pretty overpowering with no ring or anything, surprisingly without any muffleing on anything.
i tuned the toms higher and they sound pretty dang good, and the crashes are a little washy, so any other tips with that would be good, but the mix is really good now