Super Clean Drums, eq and percussion..

J

JungleFever

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How do you make drums sound so clean?

I beleivethe key to clean drums are 1. the sample and 2. eq

1. sample

samples of any type of drum should be of good wav. quality

2. eq

beat samples should be cut and boosted through a spectrum anylyzer kick cut at 60 hz and boosted were needed and snare cut at 200 hz and also boosted and layered if need be..

Is there any other tips of tricks to get it sounding punchier, I know that overdrive is really a must in my case but be carefull as too much can be harsh and unpleasant sounding.

Hope this helped somebody..

I was also wondering about percussion I know your meant to buy instruments and record through a microphone but I havnt the money any one know of the names of the instruments or good websites for free sample hosting.. I have only so far found woodblock which sounds pretty kl with some processing..

thanks
 
200hz is a pretty high cut for a snare imo, need a bit of the bottom end for punch.

Plus the British Hi preset on Camel Phat works wonders on drums :typing:

iZotope plugins are amazing too
 
Elements said:
200hz is a pretty high cut for a snare imo, need a bit of the bottom end for punch.

Plus the British Hi preset on Camel Phat works wonders on drums :typing:

iZotope plugins are amazing too
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True that!

I never EQ my drums and snares the same in each track I write, it all depends on the samples I'm using. Sometimes I'll cut a snare around 150hz, but other times it may be lower, or higher, depending on what sound I'm after, and what samples are being used, same with all my percussion elements ; kicks, snares, hats etc etc. All different every time.

Subtle (and I mean subtle) overdrive on snares can help make them snap more, and be more in your face, if thats what you want them to do. But again, I wont religiously do this every time.
 
Next to that you could use parallel compression to beef up drum sounds, use saturation or transient shapers to enhance it even further. But yeahhh, it really depends on what you're going for.
 
groelle said:
to add something to point one and two.. PITCH! - dont underestimate the power of right pitched drums.
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Oh hell yeah, I've only recently started doing this, but really wish I'd bothered sooner. Nothing worse than having your main riff play in D while all your drums are sitting in C!
 
ye ive also found that pitching up drums helps the punch I saw it in the loadstar tutorials.. I rarely layer kick drums, although i havnt bothered in a long time, nor have I used compression. and thanks on the tips about eq with the snare i thought it should always be cut at 200hz for the sake of interference with bass :)
 
200? the snare should peak around 200hz,its should be cut more like kick around 60hz,stuff around 100hz is still very important for snare just like 200hz still important for kick


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFykqOXnZlg&feature=fvwrel
this tune is fine example how important are freqencies under 150hz for snare,when cutting to high you loose ale the fatness and raw bacon that there
 
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Good samples are definitly the most important aspect, as for punchyness, Parallel Limiting, on a well mixed down break, with sum compression on the end can really bring a break to life

I'm going to do a tut on crystal percussion later this eve, i'll post it up! when my fuking website deciedes to come back to life
 
Sometimes distortion helps too, it makes drums sound more lively and in ur face, but it can mudden up the mix if overdone
 
herb N derp said:
200? the snare should peak around 200hz,its should be cut more like kick around 60hz,stuff around 100hz is still very important for snare just like 200hz still important for kick


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFykqOXnZlg&feature=fvwrel
this tune is fine example how important are freqencies under 150hz for snare,when cutting to high you loose ale the fatness and raw bacon that there
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Ive made tunes in the past with low cut on the snare and they always seem to interfere. seems like the best way is to fill the spectrum so your sounds have there own space to give them that clean sound if you have a low end on a snare and a low end on kick and bass it may not interfere but it wont sound as clean as it should, you need to think about the sound coming through monitors or a club system. headphones can also be very misleading.
 
Why would the low end of a snare clash with a kick? They never hit at the same time?

I think you are really over complicating things for yourself mate
 
Mr Fletch said:
Why would the low end of a snare clash with a kick? They never hit at the same time?

I think you are really over complicating things for yourself mate
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Snares and kicks can conflict with each other but its normally the higher frequencies that are problematic.
I rarely have a kick played at the same time as the snare unless I'm making house...
I have the snare played over a lowpassed version of the kick instead of full kick.
 
as for amens looped samples it is hard to EQ properly as when you do your effectign the whole sample aswell rather than the one part you want to eq. Either try and make the amen with single hits and eq each part seperate or spectrum anaylse the loop see what needs amplifying. another good tip if you have the neccesery plugins is try fluctuating white noise over the high end of an amen to bring out that snap and brightness of them.
 
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