anyone know a trick for supper tight attack on the drums

[Chris Jahn]

mabye this is more of a tracking issue, or its actually both, but i like and want that heavy metal attack on the drums, supper tight toms, clicky kick way up front without being overbearing etc.. i like this in all forms of music.

Ive been trying things with compression and eq of course, whats the best route?

 

[Sonixx]

samples...

otherwise learn how to tune and mic for tracking and...EQ and compress during mixing

 

[tarnationsauce2]

I have experience recording and mixing metal and heavy rock stuff.

RECORDING:
Use plastic, rubber, or woode bass drum beaters.
Use a Flam patch on the kick head. Unless they want an over-the-top "Slipknot" or "Pantera" click. Then use a metal patch, like the Danmar.
Deaden the kick more than usual. Too much resonance will carry over to the next kick hit and smear the "punchyness". But not too much!
Use Nylon tip sticks (if the drummer doesn't mind a bit of nylon transfer to their cymbals)
Use clear heads on the toms. Coated heads warm a drum and the attack is dulled.


MIXING:
If you use compression, use slow attack settings, otherwise you'll squash the attack "click".

Mix the percussive instruments a bit higher than you might otherwise.

You'll want to boost the highs around 4k-6k a bit more than normal for the toms and kick. Probably with a parametric EQ. But don't use too narrow of a Q, otherwise you'll make it sound fake and "EQ'd".

Also, apply "corrective" EQ before compression and "effect" EQ after compression. In other words, kill sub-harmonics, overtones, nasty frequencies before compression. Then after compression add the high end boost I talked about. As well as any other flavor you desire.

If the toms sound too much like "classic rock", you'll probably want to scoop the mids on the toms a bit. Probably around 220hz-400hz.

But don't go too crazy boosting and cutting. Try to be moderate, but effective!

 

[ecktronic]

Start at the source and work your way forward.
Tune the drums perfectly. Pad them perfectly to get the right amount of over tones. Use a wooden beater for the kick. Choose a good solid drummer also. Choose the right mics, and placement so as to avoid as much spill as you can.

Then cut the mids on the drums, boost highs and lows. add reverb, compression.
And your done.
The most important part is tuning the drums, oo and make sure you put new skins on before recording. Thats a must.

Eck

 

[chessrock]

I have experience recording and mixing metal and heavy rock stuff.

RECORDING:
Use plastic, rubber, or woode bass drum beaters.
Use a Flam patch on the kick head. Unless they want an over-the-top "Slipknot" or "Pantera" click. Then use a metal patch, like the Danmar.
Deaden the kick more than usual. Too much resonance will carry over to the next kick hit and smear the "punchyness". But not too much!
Use Nylon tip sticks (if the drummer doesn't mind a bit of nylon transfer to their cymbals)
Use clear heads on the toms. Coated heads warm a drum and the attack is dulled.


MIXING:
If you use compression, use slow attack settings, otherwise you'll squash the attack "click".

Mix the percussive instruments a bit higher than you might otherwise.

You'll want to boost the highs around 4k-6k a bit more than normal for the toms and kick. Probably with a parametric EQ. But don't use too narrow of a Q, otherwise you'll make it sound fake and "EQ'd".

Also, apply "corrective" EQ before compression and "effect" EQ after compression. In other words, kill sub-harmonics, overtones, nasty frequencies before compression. Then after compression add the high end boost I talked about. As well as any other flavor you desire.

If the toms sound too much like "classic rock", you'll probably want to scoop the mids on the toms a bit. Probably around 220hz-400hz.

But don't go too crazy boosting and cutting. Try to be moderate, but effective!

That's a pretty good response.

.

 

[jonnyc]

Choose a good solid drummer also. Eck

Most of the time this isn't even an option, you pretty much have to go with the drummer the talent is dragging along with them. This is homerecording.com and usually people don't have the funds to hire a studio musician, nor want to.

 

[apl]

The drums on recordings I've been playing in my newly treated room sound much tighter, so I suppose you need to record in a good room.

 

[MadAudio]

Supper drums?

Use chicken-leg drumsticks instead of wood?

Couldn't resist, the temptation was super.

 

[Ford Van]

I have experience recording and mixing metal and heavy rock stuff.

RECORDING:
Use plastic, rubber, or woode bass drum beaters.
Use a Flam patch on the kick head. Unless they want an over-the-top "Slipknot" or "Pantera" click. Then use a metal patch, like the Danmar.
Deaden the kick more than usual. Too much resonance will carry over to the next kick hit and smear the "punchyness". But not too much!
Use Nylon tip sticks (if the drummer doesn't mind a bit of nylon transfer to their cymbals)
Use clear heads on the toms. Coated heads warm a drum and the attack is dulled.


MIXING:
If you use compression, use slow attack settings, otherwise you'll squash the attack "click".

Mix the percussive instruments a bit higher than you might otherwise.

You'll want to boost the highs around 4k-6k a bit more than normal for the toms and kick. Probably with a parametric EQ. But don't use too narrow of a Q, otherwise you'll make it sound fake and "EQ'd".

Also, apply "corrective" EQ before compression and "effect" EQ after compression. In other words, kill sub-harmonics, overtones, nasty frequencies before compression. Then after compression add the high end boost I talked about. As well as any other flavor you desire.

If the toms sound too much like "classic rock", you'll probably want to scoop the mids on the toms a bit. Probably around 220hz-400hz.

But don't go too crazy boosting and cutting. Try to be moderate, but effective!

I agree with all of this, but feel that some things should be added.

1 - I don't agree about killing resonance at all! Tune that stuff to ring!!!

2 - Gate the kick and toms!!! Not only can you control the ring of the tom this way while still being able to retain tone that you want, but you also get rid of a lot of phase issues that will come up when you combine those tracks with the overheads! Make sure you gate them before you do anything else to them.

3 - The right kind of reverb can be your friend in this kind of sound. Short and sizzly. VERY short!!! You can eq before and after the reverb to achieve interesting effects. This can help emphasis the duration of the attack without having to boost a lot of eq! Remember, things that ring out longer tend to sound louder than short sounds! Thus, a reverb that emphasizes the attack of the drum mean you don't have to do a bunch of boost eq to make the attack SEEM louder. This will also make it hold up in a dense mix better than just an eq boost.

You can then use another eq for your "room" sound. You can use automation on both reverbs to suit your taste. You might need more of both while guitars and vocals are going than you would when the drums are playing with only the bass!

4 - If you are using a DAW that will allow you to use a "key input" on a compressor, you can put a compressor on the guitar sub-mix and maybe even the bass guitar that will only turn them down on kick drum hits. This is a trick used a LOT in metal! You will be surprised how hard this is to do in most DAW's though! Reaper allows you to do this easily, but even Sonar doesn't allow you right now to do this. Most other DAW software doesn't either, unless you involved a VERY complex routing and some specialized plugins for this purpose. I won't even try to explain it. Just buy REAPER and call it good.

 

[apl]

Supper drums?

Use chicken-leg drumsticks instead of wood?

Couldn't resist, the temptation was super.

I had some KFC this afternoon but they messed up our order.

Can't finish the explanation without talking about a pair of breasts, so never mind.

 

[TragikRemix]

DFH superior has a sample- i think it's the DW kit, that has a really nice tight kick. you can adjust it too, and some compression and it makes a great metal kick sound.