Getting fat drums without eating your headroom!

[antman]

Hey dubstepforum fam, been a while since I asked a question.

Ive been making a lot of tunes lately and realizing my drums are rather thin. When I listen to other peoples tunes their tracks are well mixed and their drums sound fat as hell!

I seem to struggle with getting my track loud enough and also allowing the drums to punch through.

What are some things you guys do to let your kicks and snares punch through? Sidechaining?

[bennyfroobs]

compress em n that n be better at mixdowns ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

def sidechain
and maybe play around with chains where you keep the original drum rather untouched so you can add room and all that and check for the volume while doing it

and the samples you use can change alot
i like to find some vinyl crackle to just put them on top of a bassdrum or a clap just tiny bit sounds nice

[curmee]

Loud,loud,louder...people we need bring back dynamics,loud is soooooo 2013

[press]

if i feel everything is balanced and mixed well amongst the other sounds, i just turn everything else down and let the drumz ride in the front of the mix a lil more. hard to tell what someone may need without specific examples but im willing to bet the problem is more in levels and or sound selection over needing to compress or duck shit.

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

ah dunno its about loud really but as far as i can tell antman is about this snappy requake etc sound which i def like but you cant say its quiet lol
and its not like real brostep either its a own thing but its still as hard as brostep but imo cleaner

[ChadDub]

Side chain and pick better samples. Mostly the second one.

[AxeD]

'Ah I can't get a good mix, what do I do?'

Uhm, sidechain, multi-band, analogue tape, compression.

[m8son666]

what do you suggest then genius

[antman]

'Ah I can't get a good mix, what do I do?'

Uhm, sidechain, multi-band, analogue tape, compression.

No no, see this isn't a mix down thread.

This is a "how do I balance a heavy hitting snare and kick WHILE maintaining a proper mix.

I can create a clean crisp mix but I find that many songs have drums that hit hard and ALSO keep a clean mix. I find my tunes being eaten alive by drums if I try to get them as crisp and loud as others.

[Hex047]

Loud,loud,louder...people we need bring back dynamics,loud is soooooo 2013

Agree with this, Loud music is ear fatiguing.

[AxeD]

what do you suggest then genius

I don't suggest a single 'trick' because I know there's hundreds of other things that
affect this and it's depending on the mix in question. You learn about all these things in an audio engineering course for example.

I'm no genius, but that's very flattering

Yeah so I disagree, I'd say it is a mix down question.

[bennyfroobs]

definitely a mixdown question

[ChadDub]

AxeD you're fucking retarded and mad. Sidechaining (which is a vague term), and compression DO help your mix. Of course it's not the only answer though. The key to a good mix is the right set of sounds used in a good song. I've had beats that were just missing something. I changed the kick drum sample and it was 100% better and it completed the track.

[AxeD]

Thanks for your reply. I hope you don't mind I stopped reading after you called me retarded.
I know I said I am not a genius, but still..

[ChadDub]

but still... You're fucking mad

[curmee]

just do your thing.......

[AxeD]

I agree I would have been mad if I ever said what you accuse me of saying.

[NinjaEdit]

Having a smile-shaped frequency response sounds louder, so try boosting the fundamental of the kick, removing some lower mids, and boosting the highs of the snare.

[123kidd]

On top of eq and compression, saturation and parallel compression( does eat up headroom, so just balance the volume at the end)