Kicks & Snares (compressors & limiters)

[Mold Inpsektor]

Hey guys, I was wondering how the big names get there drums to sound so clean and not interfere with the mix. I dont necessarily want my drums really loud, I just want them to sound full and not in the way of anything. I know you are supposed to rout all your kicks to one channel and all your snares to one channel, after eqing individually and use some sort of compressor or limiter. My question is what to do with that compressor/limiter to make it sound good. I know half the job is just finding really good samples,but i have no idea where to look to find good samples. Would appreciate some help because my drums are slacking, here is an example.

[SubVox]

I'm pretty sure distance was asked this in an interview or QNA, I don,t remember if he recorded drums live or what but I think it was more to do with sample quality than what he was doing to them, I might be wrong though and I'm looking forward to other peoples responses to this.

[Mold Inpsektor]

Oh really? I'd love to see that interview. Can anyone here help??

[tavravlavish]

I would also like to know this, my kicks and snares need fattening up but I can seem to get that where I want until they are 2 loud according to the decibel meter..

ALLLWAAAYYYSSS struggle with that it's so annoying.

Another thing that makes me curious is sometim for example when I'm eqing a kick and I'm cutting the sub area the decibel meter for my kick gets a lot higher, same with things like claps and hihats and everything just depends on the sample. It is so annoying when something sounds quiet but the meter high. I can't get past this... Compression doesn't seem to help it will always get to loud and when I turn it down it sounds as weak as when I didn't have a compressor on it.

[wub]

Could always peak the snare around the 180/200hz mark with some EQing, then drop out the bassline around the same part to give it some more space. Free up the headroom and give the snare space to breathe.

Alternatively, side chain so that parts are constantly ducking in and out. Play with the attack/release on the sidechain so that every sound hits and is clear.

[danoldboy]

The best way to move your production forward is to understand the mechanic's behind what compression and eq'ing does to your sounds so that you can decide for yourself what it is you need to do to get the sound you want. Have a search, plenty of threads on here that cover the fundamentals.

[serox]

Your not supposed to do anything, do what works for you! different techniques will get different results. Try and do different things when you start a new project. Little things like routing channels to different FX, different FX chains etc

To make things stand out in the mix, use samples that fit! start with the bare basics. Get your drums down and have nothing else playing. Get your drums like you want them and then unmute ur bass. Use the tools within the synth to make the bass (unless using samples) standout or sound how u want it to. Then when ur happy with ur bass/drums then you can do the same with ur sub/fx/atmos etc.

Avoid EQing to try and make things fit. I only use EQ to remove frequencies and that’s only the low end stuff to give my sub space.

If things sound muddy, solo ur kick and unmute one by one. Don’t have too many things going on, its not needed and will just get messy and require more techy work to fix. Keeping things more simple will make ur life much easier.

[Sinisterbeats]

Parallel compression
Reverb
EQ
Layering
Subtle tape distortion
Intial sample choice

All of these things should help with your drums

[serox]

Parallel compression
Reverb
EQ
Layering
Subtle tape distortion
Intial sample choice

All of these things should help with your drums

or you could just use samples that fit in the right freq range.

Those things above I use for creative purposes, not to fix things. Keep things simple...

[paravrais]

Parallel compression
Reverb
EQ
Layering
Subtle tape distortion
Intial sample choice

All of these things should help with your drums

or you could just use samples that fit in the right freq range.

Those things above I use for creative purposes, not to fix things. Keep things simple...

Agreed, my kick/snare are rarely more complicated than a single decent kick sample lowcut, two snares layered with one of them reverbed and slightly quieter and the other dry and a bit louder, both lowcut a little out the way of the kick *if* they need it. Job done, use the right samples at the right level and you won't need all this fancy layering and compression etc

[MikkiFunk]

I know you are supposed to rout all your kicks to one channel and all your snares to one channel

Therein could lie your problem mate. Its always best to use one really good kick than layering like 4 kicks on top of eachother. Same for snare and everything else.

[Sinisterbeats]

Parallel compression
Reverb
EQ
Layering
Subtle tape distortion
Intial sample choice

All of these things should help with your drums

or you could just use samples that fit in the right freq range.

Those things above I use for creative purposes, not to fix things. Keep things simple...

Agreed, my kick/snare are rarely more complicated than a single decent kick sample lowcut, two snares layered with one of them reverbed and slightly quieter and the other dry and a bit louder, both lowcut a little out the way of the kick *if* they need it. Job done, use the right samples at the right level and you won't need all this fancy layering and compression etc

I also agree, sample choice is the most important part. Was just suggesting these things to add if you cant reach the sound your after through sample choice alone.

[serox]

btw, OP. I would remove compressors and limiters from ur mind;) work on other stuff for now and come to them later

[daft cunt]

It's not really Distance's type of drums but there are a lot of great tips drums wise on the Ctrl Z CM masterclass.
Also, check out Andi Vax mixing secrets video. Again, it's nothing to do with Distance but there are lots of great tips as well.

Basicly, like said above great sounding drums come from a combination of good samples selection, layering, EQing, compressing and also making room for them in the frequency spectrum.
These 2 videos should greatly help understanding the ins & outs & how to you achieve that

[therook]

I know you are supposed to rout all your kicks to one channel and all your snares to one channel

Therein could lie your problem mate. Its always best to use one really good kick than layering like 4 kicks on top of eachother. Same for snare and everything else.

Wouldn't 4 un-eq'ed kicks cause phase cancellation resulting in less sub in the kick (because its cancelled out) and louder volume?

[serox]

I know you are supposed to rout all your kicks to one channel and all your snares to one channel

Therein could lie your problem mate. Its always best to use one really good kick than layering like 4 kicks on top of eachother. Same for snare and everything else.

Wouldn't 4 un-eq'ed kicks cause phase cancellation resulting in less sub in the kick (because its cancelled out) and louder volume?

Layering 4 kicks? now I have heard it all.

If you are going to layer kicks I would suggest 2 at the most. One hi passed and the other low passed.

I skip the above and go straight to my folder of 'good kicks'

[therook]

Yeah the first place I visit is my thomas penton smaple folder, then my 808, and then some hip hop packs, and maybe vengence. And that's a big maybe. Most of their stuff is too punchy and the snares sound like air / mt eden

[Sharmaji]

quite, band-passed hats w/ very quite tambourine on beats 2 & 4
very short & bright verb on the kicks
nice chunky snare
long-ish verbs around the rest of the drums, not too bright.

and most importantly-- good programming. whole thing swings.

so nice to not be whomped over the head by yet another vengeance sample pack kick as well.

[moki]

When I was learning to Eq my drums I found that a graphic eq helped me out allot. I could have eq's for all my layered drums up at once and boost/cut accordingly.
Really helped me avoid buildups seeing what was going on across the board.

[Mold Inpsektor]

Thank you guys for the help. But I am still wondering what are some good places to get reall good snares and kick drums from, the majority of everything I get is rather weak and needs fattening. And in terms of compressors and limiters, I was looking for some insight on what ratios/thresholds are good, etc.

*EDIT: Not necessarily real snares, but real good sounding ones.

Thanks,

Moldy