Favorite snare mixing techniques

[maartenl945]

Hi,

I just posted a video on my YouTube channel about snare mixing techniques. What are some of your favorite snare mixing techniques that I could benefit from ?


Regards,
Maarten

 

[CrowsofFritz]

Well my favorite one is the obvious one: narrowing the band on EQ, bumping the gain to max, and sweeping the spectrum to find the resonant frequency and then cutting it.

 

[maartenl945]

Well my favorite one is the obvious one: narrowing the band on EQ, bumping the gain to max, and sweeping the spectrum to find the resonant frequency and then cutting it.

Ah yes, I use Soothe 2 for that nowadays. Lazy me .... .

 

[bouldersoundguy]

It depends on the snare and the song.

 

[jimmys69]

Ah yes, I use Soothe 2 for that nowadays. Lazy me .... .

I just watched a demonstration of the 'Soothe' plugin. It does have a 'easy' thing about it so not talking smack.

It does however seem to be just a simple 'one pony trick' version of Oxford Dynamic EQ, that has much more ability to do the same thing. But it has actual flexibility for more than just harsh frequencies.

I am always trying out new stuff, and it seems to be a trend for simple 'fix this' type of plugs. In the end it is your ears and the regular stock plugs can do most of the work when one knows what they are listening for or how to use them.

Always back to the ears... Easy is not always the best. Sometimes it can work tho. Not judging. But I would rather use a plug that can do more than a vanity 'one off' one.

And the obvious elephant in the room; it would not be an issue if recorded correctly. But not everyone has that option so...

 

[maartenl945]

I just watched a demonstration of the 'Soothe' plugin. It does have a 'easy' thing about it so not talking smack.

It does however seem to be just a simple 'one pony trick' version of Oxford Dynamic EQ, that has much more ability to do the same thing. But it has actual flexibility for more than just harsh frequencies.

I am always trying out new stuff, and it seems to be a trend for simple 'fix this' type of plugs. In the end it is your ears and the regular stock plugs can do most of the work when one knows what they are listening for or how to use them.

Always back to the ears... Easy is not always the best. Sometimes it can work tho. Not judging. But I would rather use a plug that can do more than a vanity 'one off' one.

And the obvious elephant in the room; it would not be an issue if recorded correctly. But not everyone has that option so...

Yes Soothe 2 has really found it's way into the industry in a big way. It can be used for a lot of applications on many sources. I'm sure you can do most of these things with your usual plugins as well, probably more accurately and exactly the way you want it. But it just takes a bit longer. I haven't used the Oxford Dynamic EQ myself but I imagine it is comparable to the Pro-Q3 dynamic EQ functionality.

And yes, getting it right at the source is obviously preferable but as you say, not always possible.

 

[jimmys69]

Oh crap, $220 for this plugin? Now I must buy it! LOL!

Sorry for the shitty remark. I actually am curious so I went to purchase just to see what it can do. I will try the demo when I come up with something that could use it for.

Thanks for sharing. I am not trying to be a dick. It comes naturally for me sometimes. Just ask my wife....LOL

 

[keith.rogers]

I rarely have drums to mix, but my favorite "technique" if it can be called that is to use the snare track to trigger a better sounding snare and use that.

 

[TalismanRich]

Unfortunately, I haven't had a snare drum in my basement studio in years. My recent personal stuff either used MTPDK or my Alesis SR18.

 

[jimmys69]

I rarely have drums to mix, but my favorite "technique" if it can be called that is to use the snare track to trigger a better sounding snare and use that.

I tend to do that same thing more than I would wish.

There is a natural 'body and character' to a drummers snare that is necessary to keep the feel of a recording. But in this time of having tools to enhance the performance, I see no need to not make it better with samples.

There are also times when I am mixing records for others recordings where full on replacement was necessary. I hate to have to do that, but we gotta do what works for the benefit of the recording.

That being said, SS Trigger is my go to plug for enhancement of snares. It is easier to add a sample than to try to tweak a shitty sounding snare so it works.

 

[spantini]

You guys do much layering?

 

[jimmys69]

By layering do you mean more than one sample? Yes I suppose. SSTrigger 2 allows multiple samples to be added to the triggered snare. Meaning there are multiple samples that can be added and changed (tuning and levels) in it's own mixer. So yes, I suppose that would be called layering.

More so than not, I will completely replace a kick drum. It just easier to not mess around with fixing a shitty kick.

 

[maartenl945]

Oh crap, $220 for this plugin? Now I must buy it! LOL!

Sorry for the shitty remark. I actually am curious so I went to purchase just to see what it can do. I will try the demo when I come up with something that could use it for.

Thanks for sharing. I am not trying to be a dick. It comes naturally for me sometimes. Just ask my wife....LOL

Ha ha .... no problem! I hope you find some good use for it. There’s lots s of videos around with people using it in all kinds of situations. I my last mix I used it on snare, vocals and a guitar part.

 

[jimmys69]

Some times when needed, I will use SSD4 or SSD to create a drum track or use them for things like side stick where the live recorded part just doesn't cut it in the mix. Also great for click track sounds.

It just what works for any given tune. So many samples and so many uses.

Oh and toms as well. Ever have a issue with cymbal bleed on a gigantor kit with 10 cymbals? Go to your triggers for toms and blend them so your hair doesn't fall out trying to gate/eq/cry.

 

[maartenl945]

I rarely have drums to mix, but my favorite "technique" if it can be called that is to use the snare track to trigger a better sounding snare and use that.

Yes I do that all the time too. Using Trigger 2 to add a sample to the actual snare or kick drum or Toms. I usually do that as enhancement though, without completely replacing the original drum or its character.

 

[jimmys69]

Yes I do that all the time too. Using Trigger 2 to add a sample to the actual snare or kick drum. I usually do that as enhancement though, without completely replacing the original drum or its character.

Yep.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I just checked my last full band mix. All I did to the snare was eq. No compression, no replacement, nothing else. When tracking, I probably had a little eq on the mixer channel and barely hit it with a dbx 166 compressor.

 

[jimmys69]

I just checked my last full band mix. All I did to the snare was eq. No compression, no replacement, nothing else. When tracking, I probably had a little eq on the mixer channel and barely hit it with a dbx 166 compressor.

View attachment 107913

That is awesome when that is all you need! Genre, room and musician dependent to have that work. Wish it were always that easy...

 

[keith.rogers]

Yes I do that all the time too. Using Trigger 2 to add a sample to the actual snare or kick drum or Toms. I usually do that as enhancement though, without completely replacing the original drum or its character.

Yes, I don't usually delete the original, so it's completely obvious. I've done the same thing with the kick, but more for the dynamics I'd say. Most of this has to do with getting drum tracks recorded with a phone (in the past year, and I don't mean with external mics), or in my case when recording remote, simply having a limited number of channels for drums, sometimes 2.

 

[zepfan59]

Frankly, I try to get the sound I need by asking the drummer to fix it. But it depends on the song, what kit, the player, so I don't see how you can have a favorite technique. I'm not sure I've ever had to fix anything the same way twice lol.