ZEAL DRUM TUTORIAL FOR YOU GUYS!

Zeal

Ohm/C2D/Dark Asylum/Ennex
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Aug 8, 2007
Zeal Drums Tutorial

First of all, everyone has a different style or sound to their drums.
This is just how i like to have mine as my prefernce and thought that it might help someone out in their quest!

With things like compression, the only thing i can say is that if you dont know how to use compression properly, then its probably best not to use it.

Dont limit your tunage either, as most tunes end up so squashed they dont cut it

Kick Drum:

I usually use 2 kick drums, i tend not to use any more as adding too many can make it harder to mix down
its nice to have one with a real low thud on, so i would find myself a low end kick drum sample and boost around the 70 - 80hz mark.
i think its also very important to have a nice snappy / middy type kick drum that helps cut it in the mix more. finding a nice snappy kick drum i would boost arounf the 500hz mark

Snares:

With snare drums i pretty much use the same methods as my kick drums. I use no more than 2 if i cna help it. I like a really thumping snare with good body to it, so finding one and boosting it around the 130-200hz mark can really give it some oomph
You need to be careful boosting there though as it can get muddy there very easily
After that i would layer a really snappy hi end snare over thtat, to give it that definition and cut through the mix easier

Breaks:

With the breaks used, i would try and disguise the breaks as much as i can, as using breaks that have been rinsed can really take the supprise out of the tune
If you have a break with soe real nice hi end, i would eq the rest out and just use the high end. With the high end i like to use imaging on it to give it a really nice and wide feel

To me the best rule with breaks is to keep layering and layering untill it sounds full.

Dont forget to try and give each element its own eq space so everythig doesnt get moulded together.

Nice bright hats and rides dont forget! ;)

Hope this helps some to people. if not then ignore it and carry on as you were hehehe :)

ENJOY!

:grouphug::fuckinpc:
 
Brilliant man! if anyone takes there production serious there know that this advice is vital as your drums man.... well.... you are defenetly one of the best out there for me, copied, pasted AND SAVED! TWICE!

much appreciate this zeal, big up dude.


peace
 
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well.... you already know i needed this mate. gonna print this out and stick it on my wall.
thanks a million fella, more for you for sharing what you know.
massive respect, you have set a bar for peeps to aspire to in this forum.
peace
 
Just wanna help all i can if any boys :)

Everyone starts somewhere init, and i know how hard it is to get ur drums right. I still struggle at times too with them, but its a point in the right direction.

Big ups boys!! :)
 
do you use reason zeal?

or the synth massive? im finding massive a bit of a shit to work out how to use.there arent many tutorial's about for it.

do you know anything about it?
 
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good stuff there zeal (y)

massive tutorials would be good innit, somebody should do it :teeth: been working on it myself for some time now but tips could always turn up usefull ya know
 
Zeal Drums Tutorial

First of all, everyone has a different style or sound to their drums.
This is just how i like to have mine as my prefernce and thought that it might help someone out in their quest!

With things like compression, the only thing i can say is that if you dont know how to use compression properly, then its probably best not to use it.

Dont limit your tunage either, as most tunes end up so squashed they dont cut it

Kick Drum:

I usually use 2 kick drums, i tend not to use any more as adding too many can make it harder to mix down
its nice to have one with a real low thud on, so i would find myself a low end kick drum sample and boost around the 70 - 80hz mark.
i think its also very important to have a nice snappy / middy type kick drum that helps cut it in the mix more. finding a nice snappy kick drum i would boost arounf the 500hz mark

Snares:

With snare drums i pretty much use the same methods as my kick drums. I use no more than 2 if i cna help it. I like a really thumping snare with good body to it, so finding one and boosting it around the 130-200hz mark can really give it some oomph
You need to be careful boosting there though as it can get muddy there very easily
After that i would layer a really snappy hi end snare over thtat, to give it that definition and cut through the mix easier

Breaks:

With the breaks used, i would try and disguise the breaks as much as i can, as using breaks that have been rinsed can really take the supprise out of the tune
If you have a break with soe real nice hi end, i would eq the rest out and just use the high end. With the high end i like to use imaging on it to give it a really nice and wide feel

To me the best rule with breaks is to keep layering and layering untill it sounds full.

Dont forget to try and give each element its own eq space so everythig doesnt get moulded together.

Nice bright hats and rides dont forget! ;)

Hope this helps some to people. if not then ignore it and carry on as you were hehehe :)

ENJOY!

:grouphug::fuckinpc:

Very good bro.... that should help alot of peeps!
 
Cant help on the massive side of things ive got it but havent used it much yet as of using reason. Will be upgrading thigngs soon so will mre than likely post up a how to on it soon hehehe ;)

@Frantize thats sounding clean dude, keep layering breaks imo get more to it, and really fill it up, id add some hi end rolling breaks to that give the tops some real definition

@Filtersweep, amens are pretty simple really dude, what u using? If using reason then just edit the rex how u want them, and apply the same techniques i stated in this thread to thicken it out more.

@everyone else, just glad i can help :)
 
@Filtersweep, amens are pretty simple really dude, what u using? If using reason then just edit the rex how u want them, and apply the same techniques i stated in this thread to thicken i

yeah man i'm a Reason user too :D my 2 cents - with Amens in the Rex player yeah play about to get different variations in the sequencer, if ur donig jump up obviously the amen will be the main focus of the beat, but i also find the amen great for adding just a subtle layer to a bigger DnB break that im making, so try putting some high pass on it, cut the low end and play around with the ASDR on the rex loop player, cut the sustain make it nice n choppy, u probably wont recognise it as an amen anymore but it works great for me just to get more movement in my beats ;)
 
yeah man i'm a Reason user too :D my 2 cents - with Amens in the Rex player yeah play about to get different variations in the sequencer, if ur donig jump up obviously the amen will be the main focus of the beat, but i also find the amen great for adding just a subtle layer to a bigger DnB break that im making, so try putting some high pass on it, cut the low end and play around with the ASDR on the rex loop player, cut the sustain make it nice n choppy, u probably wont recognise it as an amen anymore but it works great for me just to get more movement in my beats ;)

Yeah thats the best way cos using an amen as an upfront break will pretty much straight off make the tune sound tacky, imo anyways. But i know a lot of people frown on it, best to make ur own out of various breaks like you said.

Thicken then up with some fat ass kicks n snares n BOOOM onto a winner!:rslayer:
 
yeah totally agree Zeal, when i first started producing i used to just copy n paste a basic Amen and that was my beat lol but ur just gna end up sounding like 1000 other tunes out there if u do, amen is wicked as a tool to much more fo sho!!!
 
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