9 drum mixing tips Computer MusicMay 22, 2012, 9:16 GMT Mixing drums is one of the most challenging

aspects of music production !ith so many "aria#les, you can$t %ust fly at it &illy'nilly and hope to get good results (ere are nine tips that &ill help you to ma)e your drums sit #etter in your trac)s *or a complete guide to drum mixing, chec) out the May 2012 issue of Computer Music maga+ine ,CM1--. /e"er# inserts 0lthough you can use a single #ussed re"er#, there$s no reason not to use inserted re"er#s on your separate channels 0 short, dar) $"er# on the )ic)1 a longer, #righter one on the snare1 etc 2f you choose to do this, though, #e careful not to ma)e it sound li)e each of your drums is in a totally different space to the others ' unless you$re going for deli#erate &eirdness, that is 3arallel compression 3arallel ' or $4e& 5or)'style$ ' compression is simply the act of mixing compressed and uncompressed "ersions of the same signal in order to reduce the dynamic range #ut retain all those punchy attac) transients 6ither #us your drum group through an auxiliary trac) &ith a compressor plug'in inserted and mix it &ith the original1 or use a compressor &ith a &et7dry mix control 8idechain the o"erheads 0 range of cool effects can #e created #y putting a compressor7gate on the o"erheads channel and )eying it from the )ic), snare or hi'hats 9ey a fre:uency'conscious gate from the snare to emphasise the airy o"erhead signal &ith each snare hit1 or compress the o"erheads "ia the )ic) to dra& the sides in &ith each )ic) hit ;"erhead processing 0pplying a stereo &idening plug'in to the o"erheads channel can &or) &onders for the sense of #readth T&o things to a"oid &ith o"erheads, though, are o"erly hea"y 6< #oosts a#o"e 10)(+ and compression ,though a touch of compression can #e effecti"e for a "intage'style sound. 0nd if your o"erheads sound unexpectedly &eird in any sense alongside the close mic channels, don$t forget to try flipping the phase =ring the noise 2f the &ires on your snare drum aren$t ma)ing their presence felt strongly enough, &hite noise can #e used to add a synthesi+ed #ac)up layer >oad up any analogue synth &ith %ust a &hite noise oscillator acti"e and tune it :uite high ?ra& in a single M2?2 note for the duration of your drum trac) and insert a sidechain'a#le gate plug'in onto the synth$s mixer channel 9ey the sidechain from your snare trac) and set the gate threshold and en"elope parameters so that the synth only triggers &hen the snare hits, then fades out :uic)ly and smoothly 9eep the le"el of the fa)e $&ires$ lo& in the mix and #e a&are that it might need muting during fills The same tric) can #e used to add sheen to hi'hats and e"en ' using a sine &a"e ' su#'#ass to )ic) drums @ust a phase =ecause a drum hit &ill ta)e slightly longer to reach the o"erhead mics than it does the drum$s o&n close mics, its timing &ill #e slightly smeared across the channels This is part of the sound of recorded drums, and it can help to create some cool tones as &ell as smoothen sharp

transients (o&e"er, too much can sap punch, po&er and clarity 5ou may #e a#le to manually ad%ust the timing of the recordings to impro"e their com#ined sound 2n some cases, a su#tle increase in lo&'end solidity can #e created #y mo"ing the snare #ottom mic can #ac) in time #y a#out Ams, so that the $meat$ of the &a"eforms is more neatly aligned &ith that of the snare top mic /emem#er that you can typically only align one drum ,the snare is your #est #et. as the timing offsets &ill "ary due to each piece of the )it #eing at different distances from the mics 0nd don$t get too o#sessed &ith aligning your trac)s ' they might sound #etter messyB Ta)e the #uss 5ou can process e"ery mic channel separately, #ut com#ining related drums7cym#als in group #usses can #e #oth con"enient and sonically #eneficial *or example, grouping all your toms on one #us and inserting a compressor, an 6< and a re"er# into that, rather than gi"ing each separate tom its o&n treatment, can ma)e them sound more cohesi"e, as &ell as placing them all on one handy le"el fader and sa"ing on C3C cycles =argainB 8ample magic !hile the idea &hen mixing a drum )it is to ma)e it sound li)e the #ringing together of a set of simultaneously played elements to create a cohesi"e single instrument, there$s no point ma)ing life unnecessarily difficult for yourself in the name of )eeping e"erything organic 2f your drummer neglected to hit an essential crash cym#al at the end of a )ey fill, don$t dri"e yourself mad trying to paste in a cym#al from else&here in the o"erheads trac) ' %ust thro& in a crash from your sample li#rary ,on a separate trac), other&ise it$ll sound li)e a dodgy punch'in. 8imilarly, if your snare$s %ust lac)ing a #it of top #ut is other&ise ;9, dou#le it up &ith a high' passed sample 3lay &ith the mix settings, 07= &ith some &ell'chosen reference material and trust your ears more than your eyes 8ingle hits *urther to the pre"ious tip, #e sure to capture your drummer hitting each piece of the )it on its o&n a fe& times at hard, medium and soft stro)e strengths Then, if you do need to layer in any $o"erdu#s$ ,or e"en replace any sounds completely., you ha"e a set of perfectly matched sounds &ith &hich to do it