Question about EQing drums

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Seafroggys

Seafroggys

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I don't have/haven't been able to afford a good set of monitors yet, so I'm forced to mixing on headphones and then listening to regular PC speakers.

As such, my drums sound fine on my headphones. When I play them through my speakers (which are naturally bass heavy, so songs can get muddy easily) my mix is, well, a lot muddier then if I play regular music through them. Especially the toms, which right now according to my spectrum analyiser, their fundamentals range from 80-140 hz.

Is it common to cut some from the low midrange? say, 100-300 hz or so, to get rid of the muddiness? What do some of you guys do?
 
If you're mixing through headphones, then you're really just guessing. If you're toms are sounding muddy, then a cut in the are you indicate might help, or maybe they're just a little too loud and could benefit from some compression.
 
Seafroggys said:
Is it common to cut some from the low midrange? say, 100-300 hz or so, to get rid of the muddiness?
Click to expand...

Yes, very common. Cutting somewhere around 300 Hz is usually better than 100 Hz.

--Ethan
 
EQ tweaks I always start with and test.

All +/- 3db

Bass Drum-
Hi Pass 50 hz
boost 80 hz
cut 400 hz
boost 2.5 khz

Snare Drum-
Hi Pass 100 hz
boost 225 hz
boost 5 khz
boost 10 khz

Hi Hat-
Hi Pass 100 hz
Boost 200 hz
Boost 8-10 khz (find somewhere in this range to boost)

Cymbals-
Hi Pass 150 hz
boost 200 hz
boost 10-15 khz (find somewhere in this range to boost)

Rack Toms
Hi Pass 100 hz
Boost 240 hz - 500 hz (find some where in this range to boost)
Boost 5khz

Floor Toms
Hi Pass 50 hz
Boost 80 hz
Boost 5 khz

With drums keep in mind you can boost drums that arnt playing at the same time at the same frequencies and not have to worry about them mashing together.

With all of that said, I really dont cut too much at all other than hi/low passes. Getting a good sound at recording is the best approach. Too much messing around with EQ imo results in a fake sound. Use EQ to enhance, not to create.
 
Yeah, the EQ I got on my snare and bass are fine. Not much, just mostly taking out the unwanted shtuff. I'd rather not boost, though I boost everything above 5k on my OH just to bring out the cymbals and hats more. But the muddy region comes from the toms mostly, which are from the OH mics (as I don't have tom mics).
 
Seafroggys said:
my drums sound fine on my headphones. When I play them through my speakers (which are naturally bass heavy, so songs can get muddy easily) my mix is, well, a lot muddier then if I play regular music through them. Especially
Click to expand...
IF your speakers are naturally bass heavy then your mixes will actualy be thin in the low end rather than the opposite which you think is happening.
Listen to a mix that sounds muddy on your PC speakers then listen to the same mix on a decent stereo system. Your mix will probably lack low end.

Eck
 
That might be true to an extent, but my CDs sound fine on those speakers. Bass heavy and warm, but not to the point of muddiness.
 
Since you boost everything on your OH above 10k dont your toms have a lot of attack rather than muddy sound?
 
not noticeably, actually. It only seems to affect the cymbals.
 
Cutting some low mids out of the OH's is pretty common. I'll usually scoop a little out of the 100-400hz range. 200hz is a good place to start. I also like to compress the OH's to bring out the toms more. Sometimes I'll compress the shit out of them.
 
unless you have monitoring you can trust (which includes the room you're mixing in), you will always have problems having your mixes translate. i hate to say it, but that's just a fact of the matter.

get monitors. get acoustic treatment. develop your skills and ears. then you'll have a lot better chance at getting good mixes.


cheers,
wade
 
Seafroggys said:
That might be true to an extent, but my CDs sound fine on those speakers. Bass heavy and warm, but not to the point of muddiness.
Click to expand...
That means your mixes have too much low mids, and maybe too much low end.
Use commercial CD's as a reference when mixing your stuff. Listen to each frequency range carefully on your mix and the reference CD, and try and mimic the CD roughly.
Id try cutting the low mids around 280-400 on your separate drums to get less mud. It just takes a lot of practice.


Good luck,
Eck
 
TexRoadkill said:
Cutting some low mids out of the OH's is pretty common. I'll usually scoop a little out of the 100-400hz range. 200hz is a good place to start. I also like to compress the OH's to bring out the toms more. Sometimes I'll compress the shit out of them.
Click to expand...

It would probably be better to remove the shit from the toms manually before you play :D

...and its called a bathroom... oy :p
 
I cant open your player from the link you sent.
Can you post the song page link rather than the player link?

Cheers,
Eck
 
Do you like your kick drum resonating that much? I've always liked a more deadened kick, but to each his own I suppose... It just sounds too high for a kick to me.

Also, the ringing snare can get outta control if it's alone in the mix...But again, I like crisp cracks, and not much afterwards...I normally gate my drums anyways.

Sounds good though
 
NTK88 said:
EQ tweaks I always start with and test.

All +/- 3db

Bass Drum-
Hi Pass 50 hz
boost 80 hz
cut 400 hz
boost 2.5 khz
Click to expand...

BTW this recipe works really will with all Bass drums, Gretch, Yamaha, Sonor, 22", 24", single head, double head, double heads with hole cut out in the back head, with wooden beaters, felt beaters, really... it's a good recipe. It even works well with Linn and Roland electronic drums.

And that's just the kick. Imagine how well the rest of the stuff works.

Oh no, I didn't forget about the micing options ;)
 
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