EQing Drums ?

[skwiggo]

whilst hi hats and shakers etc. can have a lot cut out of them make sure you dont cut too much low end out of your snares or kicks. you'll lose power which turning up the volume wont be able to bring back.

You could use a spectrum analyser on your drum hits to find the main frequencies your sounds hit at and low cut using EQ8 below these freqs.

I usually cut kicks around 70hz-90hz although this is dependent on the sample and how i want it to sound. I usually cut snares around 100hz-125hz.

[DJ Crackle]

i7

Gross :p

[Tiger Blood]

What is the best or most widely used analyser available for ableton ? I don't currently have one.

Is this stuff as complex as it sounds or is it ok to pick up? It sounds very overwhelming but I am going to start on it tomorrow

So I'm trying to get a punch from all my sound and cut off after? And then reduce the low in all the sounds ? And I replace this with the sub base line? Just trying to get to grips with all this info I'm having to learn

[Tiger Blood]

i7

Gross :p

Lol pc construction is an interest so I try to keep my hardware up to date !

[skwiggo]

What is the best or most widely used analyser available for ableton ? I don't currently have one.

Is this stuff as complex as it sounds or is it ok to pick up? It sounds very overwhelming but I am going to start on it tomorrow

So I'm trying to get a punch from all my sound and cut off after? And then reduce the low in all the sounds ? And I replace this with the sub base line? Just trying to get to grips with all this info I'm having to learn

Yeah low cut your drum samples using EQ 8 so it doesnt sound bad when you incorporate sub bass whilst maintaining a good sample sound with punch/dynamics etc.if that makes sense.

Spectrum should be in the audio effects folder which comes with Ableton which is a decent analyzer.

its really hard but you will pick it up with practice. I am nowhere near good at mixing tracks down but by following tutorials and practicing with decent speakers you will definitely see results

[Tiger Blood]

I have some sennheiser hd 25s I dj with that I use for my production, I get what your saying about the sounds, its just learning what dials control what sounds etc now I guess. I'm sure this will be a nightmare to learn ! : /

[Grime Syndicate]

What is the best or most widely used analyser available for ableton ? I don't currently have one.

Have a look around the web man. KVRAudio.com is a great start. I use Voxengo Gliss EQ alot since it has a simultaneous EQ and spectrum analyzer function.

Is this stuff as complex as it sounds or is it ok to pick up? It sounds very overwhelming but I am going to start on it tomorrow

Yes. To a degree. It is rather complex. That's part of the art man. Like any art, there are techniques involved. And nothing is a rule, just many ways to skin a cat. That's why you watch tut's and read guides before checking on here. Also, there's a great advanced search function and production bible on this forum. Use them. You'll save yourself time and energy in the long run.

So I'm trying to get a punch from all my sound and cut off after? And then reduce the low in all the sounds ?

I assume we're talking about kicks and snares here? shape the sound to your liking. Do you want kicks and snares that slap you about the chest and neck? Or you looking for a more mellow sound? This all affects what techniques you're gonna wanna be using. What you need to be thinking of here is not just the drums, but the entire mix. The whole mix should fit together well, with little frequency clashing. You generally do this by carving unnecessary freq's out of everything. (or some things or just things that clash, again, no rule.) You can also boost freq ranges, but is generally not as pleasing to the ear, especially on anything other than the best EQ's. So you carve space out to make room for other things. So like has been said, generally cut your snares (before or after layering, i prefer before mostly, but then you can do it after as well if you've effected them heavily and are afraid of low freq's popping up unexpectedly) around 250Hz, and your kicks around 70-100Hz.

And I replace this with the sub base line? Just trying to get to grips with all this info I'm having to learn

[/quote]

Not necessarily, but yes, usually you wanna leave room for your sub bass, unless you play your melody around the kicks, your bass is side-chained to your kicks, or you want your kicks to be the sub bass line. Again, there is no answer that's correct all the time.

Now go learn something.

[Grime Syndicate]

I have some sennheiser hd 25s I dj with that I use for my production, I get what your saying about the sounds, its just learning what dials control what sounds etc now I guess. I'm sure this will be a nightmare to learn ! : /

I guess if that's how you look at it... It's a joy to learn, I think. I don't think I'd keep going if that's what I thought of it.

[Depone]

I dint get it, everyones spouting numbers and hz as if that a set standard for any audio...

It will come with time, but you will realise what needs Eqing and ware... All these frequencies everyones saying is like a guideline to their own tracks, or they have heard 3rd hand from someone else.
sorry to bomb on you guys, but saying all these things aren't helpful and maybe harmful in developing production skills, let him learn himself...

My protip for Drums EQ... Find excellent source material, that wins half the battle for you

[serox]

I dint get it, everyones spouting numbers and hz as if that a set standard for any audio...

It will come with time, but you will realise what needs Eqing and ware... All these frequencies everyones saying is like a guideline to their own tracks, or they have heard 3rd hand from someone else.
sorry to bomb on you guys, but saying all these things aren't helpful and maybe harmful in developing production skills, let him learn himself...

My protip for Drums EQ... Find excellent source material, that wins half the battle for you

This^

I have no idea where I cut things and only do it if I think I need to, not because other people do. Each drum hit is different and requires different work, if any.

I agree 100% that a lot of the info in this thread and others will hold you back from making music! you may have a nice polished turd but no one is dancing to your music.

[Tiger Blood]

hey can you guys help me real quick, im using glissEQ for the drums now as the ableton one requires an EQ8 and a separate analyser. Ive grouped all my kicks into 1 midi note and went to drag the glissEQ onto their slot in the drum rack and all the sound they made stopped, after deleting the EQ i still cant get the sound back.

So how do i apply EQ to a group of drums / or am i doing something wrong.

thanks !

[Sharmaji]

My protip for Drums EQ... Find excellent source material, that wins half the battle for you

i'll add mine: use less EQ and more dynamic control; compressing your hats can help cut out the harshness, and using a big saturated compressor on your snare can help bring out the meat.

to be fair, i tend to like a lot of vibe-y low end on my drums; i WANT some 100hz in my snare, and a good amount of 60hz in my kicks. the drums are the star of the show; the bass fills in the rest.

[jaws]

yeah, snares need to push air or they sound like tin cans to me. If I have to highpass a snare, I should probably take the time to find a sample that sounds really good and needs no treatment. +1 for snare compression, medium attack (to let the transient through before the compressor starts compressing) and fast release. mess with different compressors because different ones definitely work better than others.

also, be careful stacking kick samples to get a stronger kick sound. it's pretty easy to get the low end of your kick muddied up because the low end of the respective kicks are out of phase. again, take the time to find a really good sample before stacking more samples or adding eq.

I would say use your ears more than anything. if it sounds good, stick with it

[Tiger Blood]

thanks, where would the best place be fore kick samples ? i see a lot of people mention them but i only have the ableton presets at the moment.

[jaws]

check your email

[Susceptor]

Also, try to remember to always cut those annoying resonances that might be in a sample. Hun them down and kill those ear rapers.

[jaws]

+1 for that, especially in snares you can get a ring sometimes that isn't desirable. if you find the fundamental freq that the ring is at, remember you can also do small eq cuts at the octaves of that freq to hide the ring without having to do a huge cut at just one freq. this is because the ring has overtones that usually reside in the octaves around it

for this you need to have an eq where you can boost it and sweep through the frequencies until you hear the ring of the drum jump out. when you find it, bring the gain down and cut the frequency until it sounds right. you find the octaves by doubling the freq for each octave, for example 440's octaves are 880, 1760, and so on

[youthful_implants]

I dint get it, everyones spouting numbers and hz as if that a set standard for any audio...

It will come with time, but you will realise what needs Eqing and ware... All these frequencies everyones saying is like a guideline to their own tracks, or they have heard 3rd hand from someone else.
sorry to bomb on you guys, but saying all these things aren't helpful and maybe harmful in developing production skills, let him learn himself...

My protip for Drums EQ... Find excellent source material, that wins half the battle for you

This^

I have no idea where I cut things and only do it if I think I need to, not because other people do. Each drum hit is different and requires different work, if any.

I agree 100% that a lot of the info in this thread and others will hold you back from making music! you may have a nice polished turd but no one is dancing to your music.

lol to be fair if I'd started a thread asking for advice on a specific subject and all people could tell me was learn it your own way and good luck - I'd feel a bit short changed.

The fact is, there are guidelines for which frequencies drums should be hitting in music production in general and you can pretend you dont need them if you like, but I bet your songs aint sounding that good.

As I blatantly already stated on page 1 of this thread, having good sounds to begin with is key. Learning to EQ your sounds, however, is probably the most crucial skill in achieving a half decent mix.

I would advise this bloke to watch some tutorials and see how people do it, intead of floundering around, blindly experimenting. Its not so fun when you want to write music and you have no idea how to.

[Tiger Blood]

thanks for the email.

So when im applying the EQ if i have separate midi sections for each drum instrument, i drag the EQ8 onto the midi section then use a spectrum analyser and EQ8 to set it all up ? my issue is i dont understand how to use the EQ8 properly im looking for tutorials at the moment but i cant seem to get the sound im meant to be

[thedefinition]

Like Depone stated, good source material will help you out. Although, I personally like to sample noises of all types and use them in my drum patterns. Watch your EQ to see where the main elements of your track are hitting and just make sure you don't put an overwhelming number of drums in that frequency.

Also, I just find it particularly funny that this thread has gotten all the positive feedback in such a small amount of time. I know it had to have been killing everyone else here that genuine questions that don't involve answers related to X artist, or how does X artists get "this" sound.