how do i get this big drum sound

[nmarch92]

how can i get my drums to be nice and loud but clear like in this track..

https://soundcloud.com/seven-lions/days ... ghts-seven

tell me if im wrong,....

but on my kick channel i put a transient shaper, on my snare channel i put a transient shaper and eq, on hats i put eq and send them to a small reverb, on percussion i put eq and send to small reverb, then i send them all to a "drumbus"

what should i have on my drum bus? compression and eq im guessing?.....what volume levels should each drum element be at? i have no idea. some one please give me some guidelines..

thank you

[Huts]

Pick good samples, after watching all of these recorded videos http://www.livestream.com/emperordnb i'm pretty blown away by how over complicated everyone makes 99% of this shit seem around these parts. He literally just drags drops and EQs/envelopes some samples and has some of the fattest drums I've heard, with little regard for all the "rules" of mixing. Seriously watch all 7hrs or whatever of those videos where he just randomly starts making tunes

[billybuxton]

Pick good samples, after watching all of these recorded videos http://www.livestream.com/emperordnb i'm pretty blown away by how over complicated everyone makes 99% of this shit seem around these parts. He literally just drags drops and EQs/envelopes some samples and has some of the fattest drums I've heard, with little regard for all the "rules" of mixing. Seriously watch all 7hrs or whatever of those videos where he just randomly starts making tunes

Yeah they are great videos, i like how he doesn't give a fuck about any rules and keeps it simple

[Shock Rx]

Exactly right, pick good samples! With the right sounds from the start, you won't have to over process to get a good sound. I will normally low cut my kick and boost between 100-200hz. Also boost the snare around 200. You can mess around with limiters to crush the hell out of your drums, that works nice on a bus. If you find yourself killing yourself to get your drums bumping, pick new samples. There are tons of great free ones out there.

[Sparxy]

As the rest have mentioned its all about starting with good samples. You can't polish a turd but you can find one that's already shiny Processing on the drums doesn't need to be overly complicated, it's usually subtle. A teeny bit of compression or saturation on your kick can do wonders. Make sure you EQ it into it's own frequency space. There are other little tips for getting the drums to sit on top of your mix as well. Some people will run the entire drum kit on a paralell send with the gain right down, witha teeny bit of reverb. Just helps push them forward in a busy mixdown. Snares need to be layered and compressed.

The rest is mixdown. Gain structuring is hugely important. The drums are the loudest thing in any track, but only hit for a split second. Set your drums at around -10 to -12db and mix each element of your tune in so they sound loud enough in comparison with your drums. That's effectively all mixing down is tbh.

[nmarch92]

Great responses. I always look for the best drum samples in my library to use before i start a track. Im gonna keep messin with mixing my drum loops today. I guess i just gotta realize that my shit is not gonna sound as good as a professional track that has been mastered at a professional studio and then released on beatport lol. I just wish i knew what to listen to, to know "ok this track is mixed good enough to be sent to an audio engineer"