Mixing drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frankie
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Frankie

New member
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?
 
If you do a search on this topic, you will get all of the answers you could ever need.
 
Along with Darth's comments, you can also try using a slower attack on the compressor to allow initial transients through for added punch.
 
Yeah. By slower, I mean "backed off of fast" to taste, not "bumped slightly up from slow." :p
 
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!
 
Lopp said:
Along with Darth's comments, you can also try using a slower attack
Click to expand...


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

Oh wait, this isn't the Star Wars thread!!!
 
VOXVENDOR said:
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!
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.
 
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