Melting big fat drum with contrabass kinda thingie

[neon glow]

I'm trying to get the following:
(imagine multitrack with two instruments)

huge drum: tum_________tum tum_________tum tum
contrabass: da-da-dum_______da-da-dum_______da-da-dum

So, contrabass kind of continues the huge drum's impact in a tight, percussive manner, with three bass notes. It should create shuttering, pleasant effect.

The problem is... I can't make it stand out and really be heard. In the mix, the drum sounds like it's in another room. Contrabass sounds alright, but you can't really hear the melodic part... Just some low-frequency vibrations. What adjustments/effects should I implement? Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

PS. I use Trilogy for contrabass thing, and Battery Orchestra Percussion kit for drum.

(Edit: Ah, should've probably posted in recording techniques. Moderators, please, move the post where you think it's most appropriate.)

[Tim Brown]

Well, what you need is to add some kind of attack or impact to the huge/deep drum you are talking about.

Come to think of it - you may need to add some attack to the Contrabass to get the notes to stand out.


I have a similar problem with my kick drums - if I tune them down really low - they sound great 12' away, but up close where the mic's are the sound totally different. On top of that, they have very little attack.

My suggestion is you make sure that you have a sound attached to the drum to add some attack. Then go in, and time align the individual tracks, so that the attack is in sync with the bass sound - that means you'll have to offset the attack of the drum by a few miliseconds, so when both hit the listener at the same time - they sound closer.

The reallity is - when you pitch stuff that low - it does sound far away because the waves take a long time to build. Consider this - at 100Hz, the Waves are literally TEN FEET from peak to peak of the Wave. That's why you can hear those "boom" cars for hundreds of feet - because the waves take a long time or a lot of space (as in length) to form. It's for that very reason that smaller drums, and smaller speakers work better in recording studio's.




Tim

[neon glow]

Thanks Tim, I think I got pretty close to my goal. Just as you said, I needed the attack, so I used two other drums (they sound more like snares, but big snares) together with the deep kick. They fit very nicely, especially with reverberation on them (so the attack sounds more epic). I also had to adjust contrabass sound a bit, to be similar to drum sound. That's all. Thanks for advices.

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by neon glow

Thanks Tim, I think I got pretty close to my goal. Just as you said, I needed the attack, so I used two other drums (they sound more like snares, but big snares) together with the deep kick. They fit very nicely, especially with reverberation on them (so the attack sounds more epic). I also had to adjust contrabass sound a bit, to be similar to drum sound. That's all. Thanks for advices.

I know what you mean about Epic sounding, man - I'm into that "Wagnerian" bombast - it's just huge and powerful sounding. Like the concussion of a pro fireworks dispaly - that's the kick drum sound I'm after. LOL



Tim

[neon glow]

Yeah. : ) I'm almost there. However, in my case it's more of folk kind of thing. Indian, Grand Canyon percussion.