Mixing drums

[Frankie]

Hello,

I`m mixing a rock song, with lots of guitars, and I want the drums
to sound sharp and heavy.
Anybody got some compression/effect tips on how to achive this?

 

[matty_boy]

If you do a search on this topic, you will get all of the answers you could ever need.

 

[DarthFaders]

I always compress the snare and kick very heavily, and always give the snare drum some high end for the 'crack'. You can listen to some of my tunes here:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showth...&threadid=50930

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showth...&threadid=50456

I usually cut out all of the mids in the kick drum, also.

Darth

 

[Lopp]

Along with Darth's comments, you can also try using a slower attack on the compressor to allow initial transients through for added punch.

 

[DarthFaders]

Agreed, Lopp, but not too slow!

 

[Lopp]

Yeah. By slower, I mean "backed off of fast" to taste, not "bumped slightly up from slow."

 

[VOXVENDOR]

Keep the cymbals quiet!

Listen to any mix by the big guys... Mike Shipley, Tom Lord-Alge, Bob Clearmountain, Andy Wallace, the cymbals are alway burried just underneath the bass drum (level-wise)... Mike Shipley.. (Def Leppard, Shania Twain), makes them just at the threshold where any quieter they would be inaudible.... I love this.

My biggest beef with recordings, is when the cymbals go CRASH!!!!... it's just annoying..

And, it's very much ruled by opinion.. but I say,

Blend-em!

 

[UberGawkman]

Along with Darth's comments, you can also try using a slower attack

Darth Vader's attacks are never slow, he moves with....

Oh wait, this isn't the Star Wars thread!!!

 

[Frankie]

Thanks for your answers.
I`ll shure try them out!

 

[BrettB]

Keep the cymbals quiet!

Listen to any mix by the big guys... Mike Shipley, Tom Lord-Alge, Bob Clearmountain, Andy Wallace, the cymbals are alway burried just underneath the bass drum (level-wise)... Mike Shipley.. (Def Leppard, Shania Twain), makes them just at the threshold where any quieter they would be inaudible.... I love this.

My biggest beef with recordings, is when the cymbals go CRASH!!!!... it's just annoying..

And, it's very much ruled by opinion.. but I say,

Blend-em!

Quite a good tip in my opinion. Especially in stuff like Rage Against The Machine, you got often a crash that is used in the enitire song instead of just as accents. Use Testify for example, the crash isn't that loud but still enough present.

 

[littledog]

Another tip:

Make sure the kick and the bass work well together in the mix. They shouldn't be competing for the same frequencies. You should make a decision as to which will have the control over the low end - this will nmake the whole mix less muddy.

In some mixes the bass gets the low end, and the kick is more of a thud or crack. Other times, the kick has all the deep lows, and the bass gets a HPF so it's more midrangy.