How I do my drums... Right or wrong?

[BYTEME]

I use Vengeance samples. (Don't give me that "samples are for noobs" lecture please.)
I pick a bassdrum, a short cymbal, and a snare. I don't do claps very often because the vengeance claps suck.

The bass kick:

Add the preset "Vintage mix" compressor in FL Compression.
Add my own reverb preset on the FL Reeverb.
Add two Equalizers:
One being high-end enhancer an the other being a sub bass enhancer.
Then I go to the mixer's EQ. Middle all the way down, treble half up and bass kept normal.

This makes the bass sound wider for anything under it to pass through without noise cancelation..

For the cymbals I add the same compression, 1 EQ being high-hat sizzle.
Then the mixer EQ on it have the bass down half way and the trebble up a little from normal. And sometimes I raise the middle so it sounds more muffled.

For some odd reason this allows it to be heard fainty and fill in empty spaces without even being noticed.

The snare. I want it to be clean, no reverb, and be a hard punt to the face.
Same vintage mix compression, two EQ's:

Snare drum enhancer and either Notch Filter or Phone.
Then mixer EQ, middle half up and the bass half up.

Anything to make then better.

[Sean Vonzie]

I mean, this all depends on the track dude, so I can't really give you a straight answer. Your eqing should be dependant upon the samples your using--Also I wouldn't enhance the sub on the bass drum (Assuming were talking things less than 50-60hz here) because then it'll muddle up your sub you feel me? But You've got the right idea--just make sure each element of your track has enough room to breathe and cut through the mix! If two samples muddle too much, its probably better to just choose another sample than attempt to eq it to death.

- What's the values for your compressors? Attack, threshold, release, makeup gain
- Snare usually sounds good with a bit of gated reverb!
- I'm a bit confused here, why are you using the native fl mixer eq if your already using (what I assume) is the Panametric EQ 2? That thing is miles better--8 bands, plus spectrum analysis

Oh and one last thing: don't worry about using vengance samples, even the pros use em haha. I usually just layer them with other samples so they don't sound lifted straight from the pack.

[wub]

There is no right or wrong for anything to do with production.

And I think most of the people on here use samples in one way or another, so don't see anyone ripping on you for that.

[Sharmaji]

turn off the plugins and make the drums groove. The classic drums that folks are always emulating-- the amen, the PSK, funky drummer, etc-- are all really un-processed recordings, be it from a drummer or an sp1200.

[wub]

I always try and fit my drums around my tune, instead of making the drums and then trying to shoehorn a tune onto them.

[Box Head]

First off I hope your tweaking the presets on the compressor because no two sounds will need the exact same settings. I'm slightly confused as to why your using three different EQs on your kick you should only need one unless your putting one before and after the compressor. And one EQ being a "Sub bass enhancer" is that also a preset on the EQ? If so same story as the compressor presets, tweak them they are not to be used exactly as they are. Although there is no right or wrong, be careful with reverb on kicks as it can easily clog up the mix, and it may be an idea just to apply it to the mids and top end letting the low end pass unaffected.

"This makes the bass sound wider for anything under it to pass through without noise cancelation.."

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I think somewhere along the line you may be confusing some information, If it is actually phase cancellation you mean then widening lower frequencies and adding reverb to low end is the cause of that.

As for your snares pushing the low end probably will not benefit them, as most of the lower frequencies are usually attenuated to help them fit in the mix. And a notch filter might be a bit to destructive and take to much out of your snare but it is really hard to tell without hearing the drum loop you are talking about.

I think you need to read some articles on compression and really find out what it does to your signal, and different types of compression and their uses. Read up on EQ as well as you seem to be using multiple EQs on one channel which shouldn't really be needed, if it is then maybe your sample selection is wrong and you should find a better sound to use.

Another thing which will also help you improve your drums is the use of busses so you can compress or limit your drums as a whole to help keep the levels more constant and help your drums gel a bit more.

[Earjax]

Well I can't say your doing it right, there is no right way its really down to personal preference and the songs needs, you don't seem to be doing anything wrong though. I'd advise experimenting a lot more with layering, effects you might not normally use and definitely with different compressors so that you can start to get a feel for what certain compressors sound like and what compressor your gonna want to put on a sound. Try not to pigeon hole yourself into one system every time

[Shekul]

There is no right or wrong for anything to do with production.

[hudson]

If it sounds good, do it.

[BYTEME]

This sometimes how I do my drums, but I know I used a terrible snare and a weak kick for this.
I got distracted making this weird bass. Can someone help me understand what the hell I just mad? o.o?
I just connected like a bunch of random 4 macros to a few stuff in Massive. Then I made some pitch automation and filter automation.

What do you think of this and how can I make it better and remove that static noise it has?

Soundcloud

[Electric_Head]

post it in the correct thread for feedback

[RandoRando]

this is why i dont like using templates, it sounds like you do the same thing everytime you load a kick or snare, only apply those EQs or the compression "preset " if needed, every sample and tune calls for something different.

I remember when i used presets, read up on your stuff and youll get better results making your own settings

[BYTEME]

May I have an FL Studio Sound Mastering teacher?
Or direct me to the FL Studio mastering guide for Dubstep. I don't see many FL Studio users..

[BYTEME]

I've extremely curious as to how people get their drums so clean, rich and clear. Mine sound like their right up in the speaker, weird and off beat or something....

[wub]

May I have an FL Studio Sound Mastering teacher?

Do you mean Mastering, or Mixing Down your track?

Or direct me to the FL Studio mastering guide for Dubstep. I don't see many FL Studio users..

There are more FL users on here than anything else, from what I can tell.

[RandoRando]

I've extremely curious as to how people get their drums so clean, rich and clear. Mine sound like their right up in the speaker, weird and off beat or something....

1. Parrellel compression works wonders on the drum bus, and eq the compresses audio of the drums for even more punch, but also to gel it together.

2. Mix your other elements AROUND the drums (depends on the tune of course)

but those are my 2 best secrets for typical slap you in the face brostep drums

[Point Blank Music]

Hey,

I saw parralel compression mentioned above - this is a really great way to give 'body' to your percussion and really fill them out, check this video from our mastering course tutor Doug Shearer -

[wormcode]

I've extremely curious as to how people get their drums so clean, rich and clear. Mine sound like their right up in the speaker, weird and off beat or something....

Use better samples. Vengeance are pretty bad, and already processed and pushed with compressors and PSP Vintage Warmer. A lot of the samples are also taken from other tracks (mastered). That's the reason a lot of people like them, they are pre-processed. Adding more will just make them sound worse most of the time. They are better used to compliment other sounds really.

[Eat Bass]

samples are for noobs

[subwrecka]

I've extremely curious as to how people get their drums so clean, rich and clear. Mine sound like their right up in the speaker, weird and off beat or something....

actually dont worry about mastering and compression and stuff like that yet. after listening to your track theres some basic "rules" (its in speech marks because rules dont need to be followed of course but still) that most producers in these genres follow when it comes to drums. the basic formula is a kick drum with the bass eq'ed out hitting at around 80hz. so you can just put a high pass filter on the channel and cut at something like 50hz because this is where you want the sub bass to sit. then its usually layered with a kick which has a nice top end which adds the crispness to it. what I do is I take a punchy kick and layer it with a hi hat. idk if thats a real technique or anything but I like the presence that it gives the kick.

next the snare usually should hit at around 200hz and should sound fairly low and dull. then you may want to layer it with a clap and maybe with a nice long snare which you can add a bit of reverb to, this will make the snare fatter because it will hit more frequencies. the main body will hit at 200hz but the clap and the reverb will fill in those higher frequencies.

so what you have is a kick with top end and a snare with low(ish) end, this is what makes the drums sound tight and crisp. of course to do all this you will need a frequency analyzer to see where all the samples are peaking and then use eq (I dont recommend presets) to adjust accordingly.

THEN after you are at this stage you can learn about compression and think about using it to tighten up the drums and give them that bit of extra energy. this is just how I operate when building the initial kick and snare of a track, I know theres other factors like tuning, overdrive, more detailed layering etc but this is just the basics.