This is in response to the discussion started on [url=http://www.wikiloops.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=892&rowstart=20#post_6209]this thread[/url] regarding mixing my drums. I've moved it into it's own thread so that it's easier to find and it's in the correct forum! It's going to be a long post but I hope some find it useful and/or informative.
I, of course, welcome any and all constructive feedback as to how I can improve matters. I'm no expert on mixing, this is just what I've learned over the years and, in particular, through being on here. This is not a how-to, just what I do to get my drums sounding good enough for the Loops. Recording and mixing drums is a highly time-consuming exercise to do properly so a lot of what I do is about shortcuts and time-saving. I just don't have the time or inclination to spend hours perfecting the sound for each loop!
I've chosen about 30 seconds of isolated drums from [url=http://www.wikiloops.com/backingtrack-jam-52452.php]loop 52452[/url]. I've chosen the intro of this one because I hit just about everything on the kit in a short space of time.
I'm not going into the actual recording aspect - I covered that in another thread. This is about mixing them to be fit for upload. The only thing I'll mention is that, at recording, I record at a medium gain - I do not run the levels hot, just below 0db. With digital, you don't have to worry so much about having the best signal-to-noise ratio so I leave a lot of headroom. I'm probably peaking at -7db, maybe -5. My interface is very quiet so induced hiss just doesn't present itself. I do have gentle compressors on the kick and snare during recording to keep the worst peaks in check. There are no noise gates, etc. - they're handled at mix down. I never interfere with the raw capture as you might lose something you want.
I've divided the sound processing of my drums into what appears to be 7 steps, 2 of which are optional to me and depends on the track I'm adding to. For the purposes of this demonstration, I've left the mix faders in the positions they were in at mix down so each stage, the faders are in the same place.
I use a 'template' in Reaper when I record. This has all the correct inputs mapped to the correct tracks for my current setup. It also has all the effects and sends I use set up and ready to use, although everything is disabled initially for recording. I use these settings for all recordings for convenience's sake and my sanity!
Excluding any audio editing, I can go from recording to uploading to the loops well inside an hour thanks to this template. With the exception of altering reverb lengths, etc., there's little else to do.
1 - Raw Recording
This is the initial raw recording, no processing whatsoever on anything. This is 'as is'.
2 - Kick and Snare processing
The kick has Apple's AUDynamicsProcessor (noise gate mode), Reaper's ReaComp and Melda Productions' MEqualizer applied in that order, the EQ using a kick preset but with the low end boost slightly reduced. The snare has Reaper's ReaComp (with make-up gain enabled) followed by Reaper's ReaEQ using their snare drum preset with the default bass boost reduced. Notice I record with quite a bit of ring on the snare. It might sound ringy in isolation but it helps the cut in the context of a mix.
3 - Tom and overhead processing
The toms have Apple's AUDynamicsProcessor acting as noise gates followed by Reaper's ReaEQ tom preset. Note all that ring and boom from the toms when the rest of the kit is being played is gone - it's particularly noticeable when I go into the main backbeat towards the end of the previous examples. The overheads just have Reaper's ReaEQ applied, using a modified version of their default 'overheads' EQ settings except I roll a little less bass off than they do.
4 - Reverb processing
Now it's starting to sound half decent so it's time to switch on the reverbs. I have three reverb sends set up on separate tracks (I don't use them on each audio track as that's just wasting processing power as they're mostly shared):
- A noise gated reverb for the snare (I never gate the snare itself - you lose all those lovely ghost notes)
- A 'no gate' reverb for general ambience. The kit overheads are sent to this, I also sometimes send the loop template to it too to help with blending the kit in.
- A tom reverb. For the toms. I find they need their own reverb as they often need a bigger sound which, if applied to the rest of the kit would make it sound muddy.
All three use the same reverb plugin with different settings which I adjust on a per-recording basis. It's a free plugin called Smartelectronix Ambience. For this example, I'm not using a very big reverb. The reverb sends tend to boost the signal of what's been played so you might notice the snare now comes further forward in the mix.
5 - Master kit processing
The next step is optional but I use it more often than not. The whole kit mix is placed under a 'folder' (Reaper's way of grouping faders) and then a multi band compressor applied to the whole thing. I usually use Apple's own Multiband Compressor from GarageBand as I find it less fiddly to use than Reaper's one. I use this on a case-by-case basis as sometimes the compressor just takes too much 'bite' from the kit sound. In this example, I'm using Apple's 'Sub Control' preset.
6 - Master mix processing
Right, pretty much done. Lastly, I apply a couple of effects to the actual master mix fader. The first is Voxengo's free 'Overtone GEQ'. This puts a little bit of shine on the whole sound (including the loop template) and I'm using the 'Stereo Sheen' preset. Secondly, and finally, Thomas Mundt's free Loudmax plugin is applied. This is just a gain maximiser/compressor with only two sliders! I don't use this aggressively, just so that the very highest transients trigger the compression limiter.
For the HD versions of the upload, I disable the reverb sends to offer completely dry drums, mute the loop template and run the mix again. Nothing more, nothing less.
7- Mixing
For actually mixing the kit, I do it in this order, after enabling all the above effects first.
1) Dial in the overheads to 0db on the faders
2) Bring up the kick drum
3) Bring up the snare (I'm aiming here to add 'punch' and 'power' without removing too much of the ambience the overheads give)
4) Bring up the toms
5) Adjust the reverbs to match the ambience I want
6) Enable/disable/adjust the master multi-band compressor
7) Adjust the drums group fader to blend the levels in with the loop template
The key for me is to mix the close-miked parts of the kit (kick, snare and toms) to the stereo overhead mics. The relative mix of the overheads give the drums character. A high overhead mix gives an open, jazzy sound. A low overhead mix will give a tight, dry sound. It's also to try and achieve a good blend with the cymbals.
8 - Stereo processing (very optional)
There's an optional plugin I have set up on the master fader but I very rarely use it these days. It's Melda Productions' MStereoExpander plugin. It's fantastic and really widens the stereo soundscape. But I find there's a heavy price to pay and that's subsequent adds and uploads sound a bit 'phased' and start to fill up with digital artefacts, especially if someone else applies a similar effect. So I use it sparingly, if at all these days.
So that's it. As you can see, I don't do mixes and then separate mastering stages. This is all to do with time. I've 'preset' as much as I can so I can get on with the process of recording and not dreading losing half a day mixing it.
Hope this is helpful :)
Thanks for listening (reading).
Edited by mpointon on November 06 2015 16:23
I, of course, welcome any and all constructive feedback as to how I can improve matters. I'm no expert on mixing, this is just what I've learned over the years and, in particular, through being on here. This is not a how-to, just what I do to get my drums sounding good enough for the Loops. Recording and mixing drums is a highly time-consuming exercise to do properly so a lot of what I do is about shortcuts and time-saving. I just don't have the time or inclination to spend hours perfecting the sound for each loop!
I've chosen about 30 seconds of isolated drums from [url=http://www.wikiloops.com/backingtrack-jam-52452.php]loop 52452[/url]. I've chosen the intro of this one because I hit just about everything on the kit in a short space of time.
I'm not going into the actual recording aspect - I covered that in another thread. This is about mixing them to be fit for upload. The only thing I'll mention is that, at recording, I record at a medium gain - I do not run the levels hot, just below 0db. With digital, you don't have to worry so much about having the best signal-to-noise ratio so I leave a lot of headroom. I'm probably peaking at -7db, maybe -5. My interface is very quiet so induced hiss just doesn't present itself. I do have gentle compressors on the kick and snare during recording to keep the worst peaks in check. There are no noise gates, etc. - they're handled at mix down. I never interfere with the raw capture as you might lose something you want.
I've divided the sound processing of my drums into what appears to be 7 steps, 2 of which are optional to me and depends on the track I'm adding to. For the purposes of this demonstration, I've left the mix faders in the positions they were in at mix down so each stage, the faders are in the same place.
I use a 'template' in Reaper when I record. This has all the correct inputs mapped to the correct tracks for my current setup. It also has all the effects and sends I use set up and ready to use, although everything is disabled initially for recording. I use these settings for all recordings for convenience's sake and my sanity!
Excluding any audio editing, I can go from recording to uploading to the loops well inside an hour thanks to this template. With the exception of altering reverb lengths, etc., there's little else to do.
1 - Raw Recording
This is the initial raw recording, no processing whatsoever on anything. This is 'as is'.
[url=https://copy.com/neEWmfoNLBuISkUT]Raw Drum Recording[/url]
2 - Kick and Snare processing
The kick has Apple's AUDynamicsProcessor (noise gate mode), Reaper's ReaComp and Melda Productions' MEqualizer applied in that order, the EQ using a kick preset but with the low end boost slightly reduced. The snare has Reaper's ReaComp (with make-up gain enabled) followed by Reaper's ReaEQ using their snare drum preset with the default bass boost reduced. Notice I record with quite a bit of ring on the snare. It might sound ringy in isolation but it helps the cut in the context of a mix.
[url=https://copy.com/EWRAVkgQp3bsOJ2X]Drums with Kick and Snare processing[/url]
3 - Tom and overhead processing
The toms have Apple's AUDynamicsProcessor acting as noise gates followed by Reaper's ReaEQ tom preset. Note all that ring and boom from the toms when the rest of the kit is being played is gone - it's particularly noticeable when I go into the main backbeat towards the end of the previous examples. The overheads just have Reaper's ReaEQ applied, using a modified version of their default 'overheads' EQ settings except I roll a little less bass off than they do.
[url=https://copy.com/4SSFuifeqv4E2YKJ]Drums with all EQs, noise gates, etc., applied[/url]
4 - Reverb processing
Now it's starting to sound half decent so it's time to switch on the reverbs. I have three reverb sends set up on separate tracks (I don't use them on each audio track as that's just wasting processing power as they're mostly shared):
- A noise gated reverb for the snare (I never gate the snare itself - you lose all those lovely ghost notes)
- A 'no gate' reverb for general ambience. The kit overheads are sent to this, I also sometimes send the loop template to it too to help with blending the kit in.
- A tom reverb. For the toms. I find they need their own reverb as they often need a bigger sound which, if applied to the rest of the kit would make it sound muddy.
All three use the same reverb plugin with different settings which I adjust on a per-recording basis. It's a free plugin called Smartelectronix Ambience. For this example, I'm not using a very big reverb. The reverb sends tend to boost the signal of what's been played so you might notice the snare now comes further forward in the mix.
[url=https://copy.com/ZgnfTx2FsexLslzO]Kit with reverbs enabled[/url]
5 - Master kit processing
The next step is optional but I use it more often than not. The whole kit mix is placed under a 'folder' (Reaper's way of grouping faders) and then a multi band compressor applied to the whole thing. I usually use Apple's own Multiband Compressor from GarageBand as I find it less fiddly to use than Reaper's one. I use this on a case-by-case basis as sometimes the compressor just takes too much 'bite' from the kit sound. In this example, I'm using Apple's 'Sub Control' preset.
[url=https://copy.com/rj2soqMFHEvSitDc]Kit with master multi band compressor applied[/url]
6 - Master mix processing
Right, pretty much done. Lastly, I apply a couple of effects to the actual master mix fader. The first is Voxengo's free 'Overtone GEQ'. This puts a little bit of shine on the whole sound (including the loop template) and I'm using the 'Stereo Sheen' preset. Secondly, and finally, Thomas Mundt's free Loudmax plugin is applied. This is just a gain maximiser/compressor with only two sliders! I don't use this aggressively, just so that the very highest transients trigger the compression limiter.
For the HD versions of the upload, I disable the reverb sends to offer completely dry drums, mute the loop template and run the mix again. Nothing more, nothing less.
[url=https://copy.com/2kUsnQCsxZwjCOUb]The final mix[/url]
7- Mixing
For actually mixing the kit, I do it in this order, after enabling all the above effects first.
1) Dial in the overheads to 0db on the faders
2) Bring up the kick drum
3) Bring up the snare (I'm aiming here to add 'punch' and 'power' without removing too much of the ambience the overheads give)
4) Bring up the toms
5) Adjust the reverbs to match the ambience I want
6) Enable/disable/adjust the master multi-band compressor
7) Adjust the drums group fader to blend the levels in with the loop template
The key for me is to mix the close-miked parts of the kit (kick, snare and toms) to the stereo overhead mics. The relative mix of the overheads give the drums character. A high overhead mix gives an open, jazzy sound. A low overhead mix will give a tight, dry sound. It's also to try and achieve a good blend with the cymbals.
8 - Stereo processing (very optional)
There's an optional plugin I have set up on the master fader but I very rarely use it these days. It's Melda Productions' MStereoExpander plugin. It's fantastic and really widens the stereo soundscape. But I find there's a heavy price to pay and that's subsequent adds and uploads sound a bit 'phased' and start to fill up with digital artefacts, especially if someone else applies a similar effect. So I use it sparingly, if at all these days.
[url=https://copy.com/bLNcvXErGWtoI2nm]Kit with stereo expander[/url]
So that's it. As you can see, I don't do mixes and then separate mastering stages. This is all to do with time. I've 'preset' as much as I can so I can get on with the process of recording and not dreading losing half a day mixing it.
Hope this is helpful :)
Thanks for listening (reading).
Edited by mpointon on November 06 2015 16:23