Problem and a Half

[Taiyed]

I'm currently recording my band. I recorded the drums, and for whatever reason I thought at the time they sounded good. Everything was miced well so the sound is good, but the bass drum is wayyyyyyyyyyyy too loud. All of the mics have been mixed down into one single, stereo drum file so i can't just turn the bass drum down, and we don't have the time to redo the drum tracks, so I wonder if there was any way through EQ or something else where I would be able to lower the bass drum sound to a reasonable level and/or bring up the rest of the kit (especially the cymbals) to a reasonable level. If someone could help me out with some frequencies to mess with or other tips that owuld be fabulous. Thanks a lot.

 

[ryanlikestorock]

I don't know a whole lot about mixing, but if you were to put the entire stereo track through a multi-band compressor, you'd probably be able to adjust those bass frequencies pretty well. Try adjusting anything below about 150hz (usually between 70-90hz) and see what happens.

Or, a standard EQ might do the trick.

Generally, I find that people mix the kick drum too low in the mix for the bands I've worked with. Be sure not to over compensate and mix it too low. A good kick is important.

 

[starch]

I am assuming by the way you wrote this that re-tracking is out of the question. (which would be my first and the most obvious recommendation) The main prob areas you mentioned were bass and cymbals. Fortunately, these are far enough from each other so you should be able to make some adjustments with reasonable success. Kick fundamentals usually lie around 100hz with attack up around 1-3k. A subtle low shelf (@ about 110hz)might bring down the meat of the kick without affecting the kit too much. The cymbals are on the other end of the spectrum. The chunk of the hi-hat and attack of crash/ride can be around 4-7k with the sizzle above that (7-11k) Try playing with the frequencies in this area to see if you can improve your material.

As ryanlikestorock said, you may get good results with a muti-band compressor, but if you don't really know what you are doing with it, it could make things a lot worse too.

Good luck!