Mixing Drums: All 4 1 or 1 4 All

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tubby

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When mixing drums, what is the best path to take, or are they both of equal merit: should I send my 7 channels of drums to a bus and have that as one stereo track in the main mix, or send all of those channels to the main mix and set their relative levels to the overall mix? What are the benifits and draw backs to those ideas?

I, being a drummer, am most conserned with the idea of what makes a great drum recording and how I can get closer to it with my limited equiptment.
 
Hi tubby....

It starts with what type of music/song it is.

My home studio really only ever sees :

Aggressive rock

I have been an assistant on a few jazz and reggae songs but only during tracking, so ..I can't comment on mixing techniques.

So...always taking that the player, the drums, the room, mic placement..and all that junk was thought out, and the drum trax sound good from the source...this is what I do (there are MANY different approaches ,..techniques..TRY THEM ALL)

Aggressive rock

I like busses. I'll make 2 stereo busses, 1 names 'DrumBuss', 1 named Drum Squish. Both share the same buss input, and output the the MasterBuss. I'll leave the 'Squish' muted for now.
I bring the faders up on ALL the trax in the song (vox, guit, vocal, keys) to where I can sort of 'hear' the song as a whole (obviously not mixed yet).
I'll then mute all but the drums tracks, the DrumBuss, and the bass guitar.
Now all the 'personal taste' compression, EQ decisions are made, dependant on individual track needs (the kick isn't punchy enough - the snare doesn't 'crack', or it has no body...etc.).

** note - I do have some effects sends set up (reverbs, delays) that I have for the snare, toms, and room, and I do add these in 'lightly' while just mixing drum and bass ** ... I won't get into this part too much...

I personally like buss compression for my drum tracks, for gluing and adding more 'punch' to the whole kit (mostly kick and snare). If any EQ changes need to be done after I insert my comp on the 'DrumBuss',...I'll make those EQ adjustments on the individual tracks (not by adding an EQ on the DrumBuss). Many engineers like to use an EQ on their DrumBuss,..I don't...personal preference,..neither is 'right' or 'wrong'.

From here I usually have a pretty kick ass drum sound (but I havn't mixed the other trax yet)....so I'll start working on making the bass guitar cut through and play a little better with the kick drum. I'll unmute all the other raw trax while working with the bass guitar to make sure I'm mixing everything 'together' - rather than one element at a time.

I'll start working on the other trax - giving each what it needs 'for the mix' - and at this point the drums have lost a little of that 'punch'...so...

I'll unmute the 'DrumSquish' track, and insert an EQ, and really shape the EQ to focus mainly on the 'meat' of the drums' (snare, kick - less cymbal)....and then insert a comp, with a generous amout of compression...almost limiting...to really bring out the attack of the kick and snare....and bring the 'DrumSquish' up under the 'DrumBuss'...to taste.

Now...with all my trax balanced (mostly) ... I'll go back and listen to the effects sends for my drums, which now are probably a little low in the mix now, and may need to be brought up a bit.

Thats pretty much it for drums..

Hope this helps...I'll chime back if I remember something I missed...

Cheers,

-LIMiT
 
Thanks for all the info. How do you track your drums? I have been using Studio Project B1's or Audix ADX51's for overheads, sm57 snare, beta52 on the kick and Audix D2's on the toms with a D4 on the floor tom. The room is roughly 12'x16' and is untreated. Sometimes I mic the hihats, it just depends on how many of my channels I'm using. (I only have 8) Also, any tips on getting a meaty kick drum sound while still getting a nice snap?
 
Hi again..

let me take this quick opportunity to emphasize that all the cliche's you hear, 'depends on the room'...'depends on placement',...depends on the kit and player'....the tuning'....ALL of these are crucial...not only that,..but as your experience grows,..they'll really start to make sense in a more apparent way....and your ear will be able to hear all the subleties that these 'cliches' (or guidelines as they are) will help you avoid certain problems.

That being said...

This is my gear and how I go about tracking for an aggressive rock song.

All tracks are at 0, panned center.

O/H's - AT 4041's
I'll take 1 O/H, and with headphones on loud enough to not hear the drums in the room, I'll have the drummer play a simple beat. I'll move the mic around listening for the snare and kick to be centered in the image. I'll then start playing with height. The farther away..the more room and cymbals...too close...all snare...

I'll measure the distance from the middle of the snare to the mic, and put the 2nd O/H the same distance on the other side of the kit, again listening for the kick and snare to be center of the image and always listening for phase probs. Now ask the drummer to play around the kit, and just for this, pan the kit hard L/R) - listening for the overall stereo image of the kit. - you can spend a fair bit of time getting this right if you're new to it.
Panne the O/H's back to center.

Room mic - Apex 460 (modded by DT)
Placement is 3 times furhter than the O/H's are to the snare, measuring from the center of the snare, below cymbal height (usually about players chest height) listening to center the kick and snare and preserve the stereo image of the kit. I then mute the Room mic.

Kick - D112, NS10
D112 placed halfway inside kick, aimed away from the snare, slightly below where the beater hits. Get the drummer to play the kit, moving the kick mic to make sure it's in phase with the O/H's. (when something is out of phase, in this case the kick, will seem to disappear from the headphones, or appear really thin)
NS10 placed just outside the shell (just there to catch the reall really lows (checking for phase with this is best done in the DAW)
I then mute the kicks.


Snare - Sm57 (ol faithfull)
I only mic the batter head. 4-5" of the rim pointed towards where the stick strikes the head (again, listening to phase with the O/H's)
Mute the snare.

Racktom
Senn e609 3-4" above the rim, pointed towards the strike point (watch for phase with O/H's)

Floortom
Senn 421 3-4" above the rim, pointed towards the strike point (watch for phase with O/H's)

Now, before tracking, I bring in the O/H's and pan them once more hard L/R...add the room, and start adding in all the close mics and panning them to their appropriate locations roughly). I'll then ask myself: 'does the position of this mic (say the racktom) add to attack in a good way?...whats it missing?..too much decay and not enough attack?..move it closer to the drum (checking once more for phase).

Thats 'pretty much' how i go about it at home. When I have access to a studio and better gear (because I know what sound I'm going after)..I may use compression and EQ during tracking...

Hope this helps. Take what you want from it and try different things...experiment,..and make it your own.

Cheers,

-LIMiT
 
my technique: 1 shure sm57 about 5-6 feet away, centered, pointed slightly downward...the best drum sound i ever got...seriously...the room and the kit are about 50% responsible, though...hehe :p...and through mucho trial and error i found that one "magical" spot to put my mic...that's the remaining 50%...i put down a drum track on one mono track, one mic, and it's always perfectly balanced and i never have to touch it with eq or comp...nuthin...that's just my years of hard work and experimentation payin off...and if i'm feelin kinda crazy that day i'll set up another sm57 on the other side of the room for a "natural reverb" mic... :eek:
 
I always send all drum tracks to a bus so I can drop all levels if I need to. I like to mix the drums in relation to themselves, and then fit them in the mix. I'll then go back and adjust individual track if I need to.
 
Assigning busses makes it nice. Especially with plugins. I always have a drum, rhythm guitar's, backing vocals bus. And others if I have midi instruments.
 
Cult_Status02 said:
I always send all drum tracks to a bus so I can drop all levels if I need to. I like to mix the drums in relation to themselves, and then fit them in the mix. I'll then go back and adjust individual track if I need to.
Click to expand...

^^^^^ this
 
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