Processing synth drums.

[sausy1981]

Hi guys, in all my projects I use session drummer 3 and the step sequencer within sonar x1 to do my drum tracks, I have a kick drum track, a snare track, a hi hat track, a track for each tom and a track for each cymbal, all of which are then routed to a drum bus.
Now I know I will have to equalise my drums to fit in to my mix even tho they are virtual drums, but I was wondering if virtual drumkits like the ones in session drummer need to be compressed. I suppose what I am asking is should I treat session drummer 3 drums the same as drums I would have recorded myself?

 

[nsterken]

Good question..

I think this is personal preference. I prefer BFD cuz its so realistic. Not sure if thats what ur going for. If it is, give BFD a test run, there's a free, downloadable version available.

It really depends on the song and what you want to accomplish WITH the drums. I have all my cymbals one stereo track but otherwise my tracking is similar to urs. To apply compression, I listen to the individual tracks and watch the peaks all the way through and how the levels rise and fall as the track plays. Then I choose what, if any, type of compression to use.

I would also, at the end, put a send on all the drum tracks and send them to an aux track featuring a compressor to control the drums as a whole. This aux track could also feature a very slight reverb to bring the drums together as a whole, so that they once again sound like one instrument instead of a bunch of seperate tracks. Do this so that each individual track still stands out nicely but blending with this approach can really improve the believability, especially on manufactred drums.

Another option I've tried is recording all the drum tracks to ONE stero track and then placing pure wet reverb on the track, to simulate a room mic and room ambient noise. Again, this could probably also be accomplished with the sends and an aux track. To record all the drums to one audio stereo track, simply set all the outputs from each individual drum track to a certain stereo bus pair. Then, use that particular stero bus pair as the input for the record track. You could also bounce out the tracks and import the audio file to the new track.

Also, with the send it is possible to send some of the reverb back to the original track to mimic a little bleed from the kit into the individual track sound. If you use this technique, just make sure you keep the bleed level low. You can control this amount with the send you will place on the aux track.

 

[sausy1981]

Good question..

I think this is personal preference. I prefer BFD cuz its so realistic. Not sure if thats what ur going for. If it is, give BFD a test run, there's a free, downloadable version available.

It really depends on the song and what you want to accomplish WITH the drums. I have all my cymbals one stereo track but otherwise my tracking is similar to urs. To apply compression, I listen to the individual tracks and watch the peaks all the way through and how the levels rise and fall as the track plays. Then I choose what, if any, type of compression to use.

I would also, at the end, put a send on all the drum tracks and send them to an aux track featuring a compressor to control the drums as a whole. This aux track could also feature a very slight reverb to bring the drums together as a whole, so that they once again sound like one instrument instead of a bunch of seperate tracks. Do this so that each individual track still stands out nicely but blending with this approach can really improve the believability, especially on manufactred drums.

Another option I've tried is recording all the drum tracks to ONE stero track and then placing pure wet reverb on the track, to simulate a room mic and room ambient noise. Again, this could probably also be accomplished with the sends and an aux track. To record all the drums to one audio stereo track, simply set all the outputs from each individual drum track to a certain stereo bus pair. Then, use that particular stero bus pair as the input for the record track. You could also bounce out the tracks and import the audio file to the new track.

Also, with the send it is possible to send some of the reverb back to the original track to mimic a little bleed from the kit into the individual track sound. If you use this technique, just make sure you keep the bleed level low. You can control this amount with the send you will place on the aux track.

Thanks for the reply, These are the types of things I would to to drums that I recorded myself but was wondering if its ok to do all this to synth drums, especially using compression.

 

[Steenamaroo]

You should treat them exactly the same as drums that you've recorded, and by that I mean you should listen to them and decide what they need, based on how they sound and interact with your other tracks.

Simples

 

[nsterken]

You should treat them exactly the same as drums that you've recorded, and by that I mean you should listen to them and decide what they need, based on how they sound and interact with your other tracks.

Simples

What steenamaroo said.

 

[grimtraveller]

Simples

Eeeek !

 

[RAMI]

You should treat them exactly the same as drums that you've recorded, and by that I mean you should listen to them and decide what they need, based on how they sound and interact with your other tracks.

Simples

That's really the only answer.

I understand why you're asking the question. Since virtual drums are already "processed", you're wondering if they should be processed any further when mixing. The answer to that is still what Steen says. You do (or don't do) whatever you think the mix needs based on what your ears tell you.

 

[sausy1981]

That's really the only answer.

I understand why you're asking the question. Since virtual drums are already "processed", you're wondering if they should be processed any further when mixing. The answer to that is still what Steen says. You do (or don't do) whatever you think the mix needs based on what your ears tell you.

Thanks a lot guys, thats exactly the answer I was looking for, cheers.