help with mixing drums

[elicantu]

so i track pretty decently and the drums sound good on the mix ..by themselves ..but the thing is whnever i add everything else the drums always peak at the snare and kick..even after i compress the crap out of them..it seems that the only way to mix drums and music without anything peaking is by mixing at super low levels..
can anyone tell me the way they get drums to sound good and powerfull with a loud kick without it peaking...is there a certain kind of compression i should use..?

tell me what you do.

[NL5]

lower your levels.


You will learn how to make things louder eventually, but your not going to be able to compete with commercial CD's very easily. It's also not something that is a simple thing to explain. Kinda like how I can paint a house, but I can't paint the Mona Lisa. Can you explain how to paint like a renaissance painter? No, you can't. It takes years to hone your craft, and some just won't ever be able to do it.


Anyway, back to the topic. Mix your song so it doesn't peak, then slap a brick wall limiter onto you 2buss. That will get you started......

[elicantu]

i did that and it sounded good and the volume was pretty decently loud but the waveform looked like crap it was like a brick and you couldnt see anything because it was all nasty looking...

[TerraMortim]

people don't buy waveforms =) They don't care, and they won't even know what your waveform looks like. DO what sounds good. If it sounds good to do things improperly..do it. We're in the biz of making things sound good...not look good, you know what I mean? Close your eyes and listen to how it sounds...if it sounds great, why change it?

[TerraMortim]

Originally Posted by NL5

then slap a brick wall limiter onto you 2buss. That will get you started......

oh yea..do that as well...do it before you mix not after, and you won't be disappointed.

[NL5]

Originally Posted by TerraMortim

oh yea..do that as well...do it before you mix not after, and you won't be disappointed.

Why before? You'll just end up hitting it too hard 99 times out of 100. Get a good mix, then slap it on there. If it throws your mix off a bit, you can adjust it the mix. Most well balanced mixes will stay well balanced anyway......