Opinions on our recording (drums)

  • Thread starter Thread starter GrandMarkie
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GrandMarkie

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This is our first day of recording to make sure we are headed in the right direction. I went ahead and mixed the track for about 20 mins...please give me any opinions good or bad. The first one if the raw song, the second is the edited. Please take into consideration that this is our first time doing this! Thanks!

Sorry for the huge files, I didn't want to compress the files too much to lose quality...

Original mp3
Mixed mp3
 
not bad

Hi
For a first time, not 2 bad
it sounds very moni-ish , pan the snare a bit to the right (3- o clock)
pan the hi racktom 1 -o clock, low racktom 11- o clock and the floortom 9-o clock)
Overheads hard left (floor side)and hard right (hihatt side)

the tom's are a bit soft and dark, compared with the snare

Remco
 
The drums sound very good in the mixed version.
The toms might be a tiny bit soft but not by much (if any).

I am a recording drummer and I could mix tracks all day with drums that good. So I'd be happy ! Sometimes there is a tendency to keep brightening the drums to make them cut through the mix, but don't. They need their natural sonic space of sounding like they are coming from behind the band. If you want you might brighten the snare just a little, but don't until you have the entire mix going.

Be proud! You have a good start. Post the entire mix when you are done.

Tom
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll add the panning today. How does the kick drum sound? I compressed it a bit and eq'd it a bit as well. I think it sounds ok but a little too fake for my liking. I'll post the song when we are finished...we are anxious!
 
The kick sounds good.
Actually, I have had to make my kicks sounds similar just to cut through the mix later. I usually exagerate the click and thump but cut out frequencies that will compete with the Bass guitar.

Try it in the mix before you do anything else. I listen so often to drum tracks alone (after I alter them to fit in the mix) that I'm telling you... You are close right where they are at.

I use to make every drum sound big and full, but in the mix it was murky and boomy. The bass guitar (if played in average voicing) will fill in the low frequencies, while the kick will add rhythmic punch and definition. If you are playing funk where the bass might be more pecussive but less lows, then you might want more low end thump.

Look forward to the mix.

Tom
 
Yeah sound good. Get more punch on the kik though as it might be tricky getting that kik sound to be heard in the whole mix.
Is that a china cymbal i can hear?
The toms are nice, could do with a bit more attack though. Suppose you have to wait until what it all sounds like together though.
 
Umm....

As far as mixing goes... of course it sounds good--there's just the drums!

There is NO context to place this in so I can't tell you if this sounds appropriate or not. In fact, NOBODY can. Just the drums by themselves tells us nothing.

Drummer is off tempo a slight bit a few times, especially on the kick drum.
 
Just the drums by themselves tells us nothing.
Click to expand...

By listening to the mp3's, I was given suggestions on how to improve my recording, so yes, they can tell you something (volumes, panning, quality of recording etc) Obviously we re-mix the drums once all the instruments are recorded, but to say hearing just the drums tells you nothing is obsurd. I was just asking for opinions to see if I was in the right direction, not as a final mix. :cool:

Thanks to the others who gave suggestions, the panning improved the sound dramatically.
 
Attempting to mix drums without the context of the song is a waste of time. Like I said--it tells us nothing.

But whatever man, do it however you think is best.

:rolleyes:
 
So if you hear a drum track recorded in a basement with one mic and the kick is distorted, the toms can't be heard and the snare is overbearing...that tells you nothing?

Like I said, i'm not looking for the final mix, i'm looking for things to get me IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
 
GrandMarkie said:
Like I said, i'm not looking for the final mix, i'm looking for things to get me IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
Click to expand...

How about go to the phonebook and open the section on "recording studios", call one of them and let the professionals do it?

So far that seems to be the only right direction I'm seeing here.

:cool:
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
Attempting to mix drums without the context of the song is a waste of time.
Click to expand...
Ummm...gotta' call bullshit on that one. I do it all the time in a seperate session, because some things are pretty universal. Tweaks are made in the context of the mix, always, but it's by no means a waste of time. It's no different than mixing guitars as a subset to make sure they're balanced.

Now, back to the post at hand. Those dry tracks sounded better than most. Nice job tracking. You might consider compressing the overheads a touch if you haven't done so to smooth them out a bit, but I'm kinda' guessing. Keep going :D
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
How about go to the phonebook and open the section on "recording studios", call one of them and let the professionals do it?
Click to expand...
lol...I hadn't even gotten far enough in the thread to see that. Wow. How about shutting the fuck up right now before it gets ugly?
 
So back to the song...we have recorded all the lead guitars, working on rythm and bass this week. Hopefully, we'll have that done in a few days, and i'll post it up w/o vocals.

So far the only thing I have compressed is the kick drum. Should I end up compressing each individual drum/instrument or just compress the final mix? Compressing anything seems to lower the volume of the track...are my ears playing tricks on me again?
 
GM,
Here is where you get into personal preference as to sound.

I am an advocate to not compress ANYTHING unless you absolutely have to.
When you compress something like drums you have to be real careful to not take the snap and life out of them. Yes limiting the peaks will help more often than not to keep transients from clipping your mix, but once you get beyond that you get into an area where it is a trade off. More compression brings up the body of the sound but kills the transients making a dull mix.

As to whether you should compress individual pieces, I usually treat the kick and snare individually (when needed) , but the toms and cymbals as a whole to keep the image from shifting around weirdly as it will sometime when compressing individual toms and such independantly from the overheads.

When I need really thick drums what I will do is copy certain tracks (like the kick , snare and toms) and set them up on a seperate aux bus and compress them as much as I can before they die and then sneak THAT mix up under my regular drum mix to fill it out a little (or a lot). That way you retain the snap and sparkle of your original tracks and can add some beef up under it to taste.

Hope that helps some, I am sure someone will rip me a big one saying I don't know what I'm talking about ( ;p ) but none the less it really works.

Tom
 
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Update

Well, we just finished up the guitars and bass. Here's the raw recording. Both guitars are untouched and the bass was minimally mixed. ANY feedback on this would help a lot...this is the point where things are getting complicated...and there's still vocals to come :)

Newest Mix

tmix,
I'm going to have to try the aux bus technique...I'm especially disappointed with the kick drum at this point...I want some boom to it!

So what are my strong points and weaknesses here people...is the overall volume of the track ok, or should it be turned up? Any panning, volume or effects suggestions?
 
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also, what do people think of the song in general? Mixing aside
 
i like the mix not bad..but in my own opion u need to redo the drums and try to get more of a clear sound, when u track just pretend ur not alound to edit it at all..try to make ur tracking sound like a masterpiece..it takes lots of time and effort i really like how the songs going. to be honest today is the first time i am happy with my drum sound. keep the good work. any questions or help feel free to IM me on aim rufiochris581 later
 
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