bringing out drum loops

[the edzell]

Greetings,

Currently I’m using drum loops from a couple of vendors. I’ve mixed and mastered (to use the term loosely) a few tracks. For some reason the drums always seem to drop into the mix. They’re just as loud, but they seem to get buried behind everything else.

Is there a way to bring out the drums without bringing them up?

 

[crankz1]

Creative carving of sonic space using EQ and panning.
Pan everything to try and give it it's own little space in the stereo image.
Then you need to look at the spectrum's of the different instruments and see what frequencies they shine in. Instruments that share similar frequencies need special attention. Be it in the form of more separation from panning or some sacrificial EQ cuts to allow one of the instruments to shine within that range.

-Edit to add- .... Loops can be harder to deal with, because you are pretty much stuck with how that loop is recorded in the stereo image.
With individual drum tracks you can side-chain the bass and snare to a compressor on other instruments to allow the bass and snare to cut through.