Making my drums stand out?

[Sparxy]

Sidechain compression is a bit of a cheaty way out. If you want the "breathing" effect in your tunes, by all means do it. But if you're having EQ and mixdown issues you're better off steering clear of sidechain compression. You're sweeping a problem with your tune under the carpet rather than fixing it. If you learn to EQ and mixdown properly it will pay dividends to you in the long run.

The best way to explain EQing is to think of your tune as a big empty box. Each element of your tune should have a place in the box and your elements should not overlap. Everyone structures their EQs to their own taste, so it's best to experiment and listen to what works in your tune. Personally, I tend to high roll sub bass around 60-70hz and sometimes give it an EQ boost to add warmth. I low roll my mid range bass around 80-90hz, which gives a nice space between the sub and the mid for my kick to sit. If the kick is still struggling to punch through in the mix, then i'd layer it with a kick with lots of high end, or perhaps EQ boost a bit higher up for some crunch. The same goes for your snare. You want it to be peaking at 200hz - so EQ your snare to taste, consider boosting around 200 and also cut a notch in your mid range bass at 200 to give your snare some breathing space. Do this for every element of your tune - its important frequencies dont overlap each and munch up that room.

When it comes to mixing down, your gain structure can help bring different elements to the front of your mix and likewise, put other elements at the back of your mix. There is a thread on here called the moneyshot thread which containts pretty much everything you need to know about gain structuring. But as a general rule of thumb, your sub bass and drums shuold be the loudest (i.e at the front of your mix)

[Sparxy]

nope

don't read into that because it wasn't aimed at you

half of these people on here are sooo tech saavy to the point they are paralyzed and can't finish shit

not my bag, just saying that I don't split frequencies or over-analyze my tunes to the point of hating on them

EQing your tunes properly isn't over-analyzing them, it's being a good producer IMO.

[monte-m]

When you guys do an EQ cut about how much do you cut out? 3db? 6db? I have been experimenting trying to find a good balance but just curious how much everyone else generally does

[Wrigzilla]

I've searched the forum, and a lot of posts say to use sidechain compression, high/low pass filters, parametric EQ, you name it. The problem is that most of these posts don't actually explain how it works or how it will affect the sound.

Even if you found posts describing exactly what these effects do it's better to sit down and mess about with them yourself and hear what they do. That way when you listen to a tune and want to get a similar drum sound you can say "oh that snare sounds like it's got some heavy compression and maybe a bit of distortion on it" etc.

Try adding a bit of subtle distortion, it can work wonders. That and what the others said.

[FSTZ]

nope

don't read into that because it wasn't aimed at you

half of these people on here are sooo tech saavy to the point they are paralyzed and can't finish shit

not my bag, just saying that I don't split frequencies or over-analyze my tunes to the point of hating on them

EQing your tunes properly isn't over-analyzing them, it's being a good producer IMO.

uggg

16 years producing, I know how to EQ my tunes

so all the "bigger name" producers who sidechain are cheating??

w/e

I cannot believe I have to defend sidechaining in an electronic music forum thread

[Sparxy]

I get what you're saying mate. But if you listen to the OP's tune he has issues far too deep for sidechaining to fix. Don't you agree it would be better for him to learn the proper way, then consider sidechaining as a technique once he knows what he's doing?

What i'm getting at - sidechaining isn't going to magically fix a noob's tune is it? he needs to learn and implement sidechaining when the tune needs it. Not just throw it on your drums to make them sound "louder" because technically they're not any louder, your sub is just getting quieter!

NO ONE IS KNOCKING SIDECHAINING. Just saying noobs should learn stuff properly

[FuhNetIk]

I cut my kicks low end completely around 120 hz, and bost about 6 db at 150-200, and boost treble freqs about 3 db. Snare i cut below ~150 hz and boost the shit out of 200, and again raising treble slightly. this usually makes for some super punchy drums.

[Janke]

nope

don't read into that because it wasn't aimed at you

half of these people on here are sooo tech saavy to the point they are paralyzed and can't finish shit

not my bag, just saying that I don't split frequencies or over-analyze my tunes to the point of hating on them

EQing your tunes properly isn't over-analyzing them, it's being a good producer IMO.

uggg

16 years producing, I know how to EQ my tunes

so all the "bigger name" producers who sidechain are cheating??

w/e

I cannot believe I have to defend sidechaining in an electronic music forum thread

Sidechaining is quite cheesy, listen to deadmau5 h3h3h3h3h3h3.

But the order of events for you requirement of side-chaining, would be to EQ the horrible/clashing frequencies THEN to side chain.
It's not a plaster, blud.