Mixing Drums in Pro Tools
Hey guys,
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Realise this might not be the correct place to post, but it's drum related so thought i'd try my luck!
Looking for some info/help on mixing drums in Pro Tools.
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My band went into the local studio and recorded a few tracks, as a favour to our mate who is doing an Sound Engineering qualification at college. Part of his course requires him to record a band, and mix the track.
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He’s already submitted his mix, but we’re now going in over the summer to work with him on how we want it to sound.
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Due to him being only in his first year, and with no tutors around to offer advice, I wondered if anyone could suggest some stuff for us to try, to get the drums sounding a bit better. Part of my uni degree involved using Cubase quite extensively, and I am also fairly good with Reason, so I’m fairly comfortable with packages similar to Pro Tools, but obviously don’t know my way around it too well.
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The drums sound a bit flat, and lack some punch and depth. They’ve been EQ’d slightly and sound a bit better, but really want the bass drum to sound a bit tighter and punchier. The toms sound really flat, they need some depth to them. Can’t think of any other way to describe the sound of the toms, hope it makes sense to folk. It kinda sounds like there’s been a blanket thrown over the drum sound, muffling them slightly.
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I know that a lot of this may come down to how they were recorded in the first place, and we may be limited as to what we can do, but any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Cheers
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Keir
If you post a solo, and in the mix, version of the drums I can give detailed pointers.The drums sound a bit flat, and lack some punch and depth. They’ve been EQ’d slightly and sound a bit better, but really want the bass drum to sound a bit tighter and punchier. The toms sound really flat, they need some depth to them. Can’t think of any other way to describe the sound of the toms, hope it makes sense to folk. It kinda sounds like there’s been a blanket thrown over the drum sound, muffling them slightly.
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To start though - consider the style of music, and find a track that you can use as a reference. If it's modern metal then you'll have a replaced kick that is as loud as the vocals.
If it's blues, then the kick will be more natural and sit 'in' the mix.
When mixing the drums from the start, there are several schools of thought. Here is one that I recommend when the recording of the drums are a bit dodgy.
Start with the overheads. Bring them up to 0dB, pan them and leave them. They will be the mainstay of the drum mix.
Next, introduce the kick and snare - slowly raise them until the sit where they should for that style. Listen to the OHs / Kick / Snare relationship. What does it sound like? What's missing? Is the kick too wimpy, or too honky?
this is where you EQ and compress. If there's far too much low end going on, take some out of the Overheads. If the snare keeps disappearing, add compression.
Fill in toms, hi-hats, cowbell as required - using strip silence or gates. By using gates you won't be stepping on the foundation of the drum mix when, before and after, they play a fill.
You've now (quickly) mixed a drum kit. But it still sounds really upfront and dry. Fix that with reverb. Choosing where, how much, what type and how perceivable it is depends on the type of music. Rock music means a HUGE reverb on the snare and toms. Metal music means about 1/3rd of Rock Verb, and only on the snare. Blues means that you could buss the entire drum kit to reverb and give it a 'sound'.
I'd suggest having a read on a few other forums [Sound on Sound, The Womb, Andy Sneap's, Gearslutz] and posting a clip though!
Cheers!!
It's your average rock band, nothing anywhere near heavy or metal!
I've got loads of tracks that have similar sounding drums to how I think ours should be sounding.
Will take these pointers into the studio and see how we get on!!
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