Problems with the drums

BLoodstaiN`

Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Location
Bruges, Belgium
And here i am again with another question,
I've been messing around getting my drums outstand my synths, My snare is alright, but it doesn't make that 'Clash' sound enough, My kick just plainly sucks, and my hats, well i haven't even come to that because i'm messing with my kick. and layering is still a clue for me in FL.
My kick is: Not punchy enough, and i can't get it loud enough without is starting to distort which is not good!
 
Layering another snare underneath with a nice high end can give you the clash. Layering an EQ-ing the kick can make them louder and more on top of the rest.
 
punchy drums can be a pain, layering will help allot, usually when my drums are starting to get sucked into the track, I zero everything, bring up the kick and snare and tweek the compression till theyr sounding fat again, bring up the bassline, retweek, add the hihats back in, retweek, then slowly bring everything else up, tweeking all the way, balancing the compression is probly the hardest part, I like to route my kick and bass line into a single channel and compress them togther (after sidechain).

some eq tips that might help, lowpass your kick @ around 80hz, a little boost @ 100hz, and a little boost @ 200hz on the snare, compress it all up and it shuld be fairly close to fat, then layer in other hits if u need it.

check your drum hit tails aswell, cutting a few ms of a snare can really bring it to life, with the right level of compression and mixdown for course
 
punchy drums can be a pain, layering will help allot, usually when my drums are starting to get sucked into the track, I zero everything, bring up the kick and snare and tweek the compression till theyr sounding fat again, bring up the bassline, retweek, add the hihats back in, retweek, then slowly bring everything else up, tweeking all the way, balancing the compression is probly the hardest part, I like to route my kick and bass line into a single channel and compress them togther (after sidechain).

some eq tips that might help, lowpass your kick @ around 80hz, a little boost @ 100hz, and a little boost @ 200hz on the snare, compress it all up and it shuld be fairly close to fat, then layer in other hits if u need it.

check your drum hit tails aswell, cutting a few ms of a snare can really bring it to life, with the right level of compression and mixdown for course

How should i get the high part of the kick then? it's really this, i did what you told me, but there's no strength or high part in it
 
How should i get the high part of the kick then? it's really this, i did what you told me, but there's no strength or high part in it

need to start out with a good sample of course, and then bring out the bits you want by eq and compression
 
easy mate... went through what you are going through very recently... only just about got my snares now, kicks i have nailed finally!

for me, the kick is all about the quality of the original sample... after that, some compression with very quick attack & release at about 3/4:1 ratio tends to bring it out (obv these settings depend on each application) and finally, eq, i normally use a spectrum to see where the kick is hitting (usually around the 75-95hz for the kicks is use) and then boost a couple of db here, and then a few cuts/boosts else where to ehlp it out (this you learn with time,l no quick fix i'm affraid)

snares, as i said i'm still struggling with to a certain degree and experiment on each track to get the effect i need... but again, i find it easier now i know what snares to combine to get the feel i want. normal process is a thuddy, almost hollow one for the lower punch and a splashy type sound for the top to give it the slap... again compression needs to be applied, but here it really really varies for me, and finally eq... can be done to each individual or the whole things bussed together buuuuut, as a rule of thumb around 250hz = punch, 1000hz = slap & 3-6000hz = fizz

hope that helps bud (y)

oh yeah, check my soundcloud... listen to reefer madness, then go back and listen to like penut butter and hear the difference :D
 
easy mate... went through what you are going through very recently... only just about got my snares now, kicks i have nailed finally!

for me, the kick is all about the quality of the original sample... after that, some compression with very quick attack & release at about 3/4:1 ratio tends to bring it out (obv these settings depend on each application) and finally, eq, i normally use a spectrum to see where the kick is hitting (usually around the 75-95hz for the kicks is use) and then boost a couple of db here, and then a few cuts/boosts else where to ehlp it out (this you learn with time,l no quick fix i'm affraid)

snares, as i said i'm still struggling with to a certain degree and experiment on each track to get the effect i need... but again, i find it easier now i know what snares to combine to get the feel i want. normal process is a thuddy, almost hollow one for the lower punch and a splashy type sound for the top to give it the slap... again compression needs to be applied, but here it really really varies for me, and finally eq... can be done to each individual or the whole things bussed together buuuuut, as a rule of thumb around 250hz = punch, 1000hz = slap & 3-6000hz = fizz

hope that helps bud (y)

oh yeah, check my soundcloud... listen to reefer madness, then go back and listen to like penut butter and hear the difference :D

Aww i was kinda hoping someone would say my drums are "Okay" so i'm on the right track, I've got My kick lowpassed, and a kick on top of that highpassed, My snare is boosted too: little bit on 100 & 200 Hz, fair bit on 500, en pretty much on 1000 & 2000
Thought that was they way to do it. looks like it's not
 
Dont put the EQ too high! its very sensitive, EQ it a LITTLE bit, and boost it with compression, dont over compress it though, 2~4 db is good usually
As for your snare, same story
 
Aww i was kinda hoping someone would say my drums are "Okay" so i'm on the right track, I've got My kick lowpassed, and a kick on top of that highpassed, My snare is boosted too: little bit on 100 & 200 Hz, fair bit on 500, en pretty much on 1000 & 2000
Thought that was they way to do it. looks like it's not

sorry, havent actually listened to anything to judge by... personally if i'm layering the kick (which aint often tbf), i use something from an amen cut out to give the kick a slappier feel (y)

thing i found is i haven't changed my tehnique or drum selection very much, its just the application of the above i've gotten better at... keep plugin away bud!

---------- Post added at 15:26 ---------- Previous post was at 15:24 ----------

just had a listen... that 'bassline' is way to distracting to comment on the drums effectivly! but, to me it might sound over compressed and eq'd (one of the phases i went through in the seardch for oomph)... somethings not right about the dynamics of the audio anyway, very flat
 
sorry, havent actually listened to anything to judge by... personally if i'm layering the kick (which aint often tbf), i use something from an amen cut out to give the kick a slappier feel (y)

thing i found is i haven't changed my tehnique or drum selection very much, its just the application of the above i've gotten better at... keep plugin away bud!

---------- Post added at 15:26 ---------- Previous post was at 15:24 ----------

just had a listen... that 'bassline' is way to distracting to comment on the drums effectivly! but, to me it might sound over compressed and eq'd (one of the phases i went through in the seardch for oomph)... somethings not right about the dynamics of the audio anyway, very flat

It's giving me a headache, I didn't even compress my drums in that sample you heard, and it's really giving me a headache because if i compress it, i don't have any drums to listen to!
and i'm going mad xd really. everyone says, compress your drums, but then i don't hear anything of them even when my threshold is 0.0 db my ratio is 0 I'm using fruity Compressor, and i've use fruity multiband compressor, both same results
 
on the cant hear my drums if i compress note, are you bussing your drums? ifso try this to get your drums punchy be warned your kick and snare will be come very spikey ratio 2:0 threshhold minus 13 db attack 3.10 realease 50ms and your output plus 6db or what ever. personally i dont do this any more but you might like the results. your kick sounds okay btw
 
If you can't even hear your drums with the compressor settings at zero you're doing something wrong. I don't know fruity, but ask someone who does.

Have you tried saturation/distortion. Something like Tal-tube (free), find a setting that is just starting to warm/add some grit to your kick/snare then copy and paste the vst 2 or 3 times into the chain. Again, I wouldn't profess to be an expert, but something that sounds a bit overdriven comes across as more punchy than something overly clean in my opinion.

Also, throw a limiter on to an individual kick or snare track (not your whole drum bus) and drag the threshold back. Will thicken up a sample to a degree.

PS: add this to what everyone else has said, not instead of..
 
Careful EQ and Compression, if you dont know how to use compression id leave it off tbh

Few nice layers, with good clean hits

Also using more unprocessed single drum hits can help to get a better sound without peaking it through too much eq

One or two kicks and snares layered over a couple of breaks, with some extra hats and rides to boot ;)
 
need to start out with a good sample of course, and then bring out the bits you want by eq and compression

+1
its all about starting with really really good samples.
go into your drum folders.
get rid of the junk.
pick what you think are a few good kicks snares hats whatever and only use them FOR NOW.
do the same with your breaks.
get rid of the junk.
then practice and practice some more.
AB a shit load and brush up on your techniques and learn your EQ, Compression, Gate, Limiting, Envelops....ETC

Don't give up.

Dauntless
 
If you can't even hear your drums with the compressor settings at zero you're doing something wrong. I don't know fruity, but ask someone who does.

Have you tried saturation/distortion. Something like Tal-tube (free), find a setting that is just starting to warm/add some grit to your kick/snare then copy and paste the vst 2 or 3 times into the chain. Again, I wouldn't profess to be an expert, but something that sounds a bit overdriven comes across as more punchy than something overly clean in my opinion.

Also, throw a limiter on to an individual kick or snare track (not your whole drum bus) and drag the threshold back. Will thicken up a sample to a degree.

PS: add this to what everyone else has said, not instead of..

I'm not bussing my kick,
and i thought compressing went like this
Treshold: Choosing the decibels from where your Compressing starts.
Knee: How hard your sound is going to be compressed
Attack: how much time it takes for your compressing to reach it's top
Release: How long it takes to get from top compressing to zero compressing
Ratio: How much decibels get compressed to 1 decibels

But i think i got a way to fix it,
I compressed both samples, but now i left out the compression on drum with the high part. I also compressed my hats, which were appearantly way to loud and kinda ruined my drums (Don't know if that second thing sounds logical)
 
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right, understanding compression is a thread on its own... there was actually a really good one a few months back that showed (with waveshapes) what doing what does to the sound.

but compressors main functions (that i use) are a) bringing out the beef in drums but cutting the transinet (or spikey bit if you will) down so more of the thump is heard (kicks & snares) or b) glueing sounds together. very light compression applied to a group of intruments (such as your drum buss) helps them fit together better and sound more like a complete kit, rather than a series of different sounds. (y)

i'll try and find that thread re compression too...
 
right, understanding compression is a thread on its own... there was actually a really good one a few months back that showed (with waveshapes) what doing what does to the sound.

but compressors main functions (that i use) are a) bringing out the beef in drums but cutting the transinet (or spikey bit if you will) down so more of the thump is heard (kicks & snares) or b) glueing sounds together. very light compression applied to a group of intruments (such as your drum buss) helps them fit together better and sound more like a complete kit, rather than a series of different sounds. (y)

i'll try and find that thread re compression too...

http://soundcloud.com/subtitude/under-construction

Before you comment on it, i'll tell you what i did
Compressed the Synths (Pretty heavy) could maybe use some more?, Eq'd Them
Compressed both my kicks that are on top of eachother. EQ'd them too
Snare in a different channel and i Just Eq'ed it
Hats in a different channel and Just Eq'ed

Then a Multiband Compressor on the master.
 
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