Recording - January 2012 - 48

By MICHAEL NICKOLAS

No, wait, don’t go! You don’t have to skip over reading this article just because you don’t record live drums with your setup. Sure, many of you don’t have the space and microphones needed to record a full drum kit, but there are other ways live drum tracks can make their way into your tune. You might hire out a bigger studio to record drums, then bring the tracks back to your setup for mixing. There are companies selling sample discs that offer live recorded drums split out to individual tracks, and there are drummers offering the service of recording custom drum parts to songs you send them. All of the above give you more control over your drum parts than you would get with a stereo loop, but with this control comes more complexity. Getting good drum sounds in your mix can take patience, and the more experience the better. With this in mind I’m bringing in an expert to help. Many of the tips below came from Frank Basile of Live Studio Drums (www.livestudiodrums.com), a custom drum track recording service. He records and mixes drums on a daily basis and will provide tips based on over 20 years of experience. Put it in perspective The first choice to make is if you’re going to present the drum kit from the drummer’s or the listener’s (audience) perspective. They are opposite of each other; the drummer sits behind the kit and the listener is in front. Knowing how you want to present the kit will determine the panning of the individual parts. For example, from the drummer’s perspective you would pan the hi-hat to the left and the floor tom to the right. One perspective is not any better than the other, it’s just a matter of personal preference. I like to mix from the audience perspective, Frank provides his clients mixes from the drummer’s perspective. The main consideration

Of course eqing is always subjective to the material you are working on at the moment. Frank offers his clients the following tips when eq-ing a kick drum: “...Just because a kick drum has a lot of low end, don’t think you must boost the lows. Actually, chances are that by doing this you will lose the attack of the kick drum and it will just sound mushy in the mix. A lot of times kick drums that sound small with not much punch soloed, sound big in a mix with the other instruments... usually cutting a good amount of low-mids (500–800 Hz) is good. If you want more “click” to the kick, then boosting a narrow band of mids (somewhere between 2.5–5 kHz) usually works... If you really need more bottom, try boosting a little somewhere between 80–200 Hz.”

Just because a kick drum has a lot of low end, don’t think you must boost the lows. Actually, chances are that by doing this you will lose the attack of the kick drum and it will just sound mushy in the mix. Kick drums that sound small soloed can sound big in a mix...
is not to pan to the extreme. Putting the hi-hat 100% to the left and the floor tom 100% to the right makes for an unnatural sound. Keep your panning tight and closer to center for a more realistic representation. Mixing the individual drum tracks could take all the tools in your arsenal. Eq, compression, reverb and gates can all come into play. Let’s take it track by track. Kick Drum The kick drum and the bass instrument of your track are intertwined. Often playing the same rhythmic figure, these two should be tightly in sync—see Sean Shannon’s article in the November 2011 issue for tips on tightening up drum tracks. However, they shouldn’t fight each other or muddy up your mix by sharing the same eq frequencies. Many engineers will determine what the dominant frequency of the kick drum is, and pull down the same frequency in the bass.
48
RECORDING JANUARY 2012

The kick drum track may have bleed on it from the other drums. You can use a gate to clean this up and better isolate only the kick drum hits. In general, an audio gate has only a few simple controls: threshold, attack, and release. Simply put, when to open, how fast to open, and how fast to close. Note that fast attack and quick release times are generally appropriate for drum sounds (but of course it depends on the style of music and desired kick drum sound). After setting the attack and release times, adjust the threshold setting as the drum part is playing and you will hear how it affects the overall tone of the kick drum. Dial in the tone you are looking for. After gating, you might want to tighten up the kick with some compression. Start with a 3:1 ratio setting along with a fast attack and release setting. Lower the threshold to obtain a few dB of gain reduction. The key control here will be the attack setting. A faster attack will add punch, a longer attack will make for a more bassy sound. Finally, the kick drum is usually panned center with no reverb.


http://www.livestudiodrums.com

Recording - January 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2012

Recording - January 2012
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
2011 AES Convention Report
“How I Like To Record My Drums”
Neumann KH 120 A Monitors
Mojave Audio MA-300 Multi-Pattern Tube Condenser Microphone
Recording Drums—Then and Now
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 1: What Is Good?
Drumming and Drummers and Mics—Oh My!
Mixing Live Drum Tracks
Arturia Analog Experience: The Laboratory 49
Readers’ Tapes
Advertiser Index
iOS Music Tools: Analog Synthesis on iOS
2011 Annual Index
Fade Out
Recording - January 2012 - intro
Recording - January 2012 - Recording - January 2012
Recording - January 2012 - Cover2
Recording - January 2012 - 1
Recording - January 2012 - Fade In
Recording - January 2012 - 3
Recording - January 2012 - Contents
Recording - January 2012 - 5
Recording - January 2012 - Talkback
Recording - January 2012 - 7
Recording - January 2012 - Fast Forward
Recording - January 2012 - 9
Recording - January 2012 - 2011 AES Convention Report
Recording - January 2012 - 11
Recording - January 2012 - 12
Recording - January 2012 - 13
Recording - January 2012 - 14
Recording - January 2012 - 15
Recording - January 2012 - 16
Recording - January 2012 - 17
Recording - January 2012 - “How I Like To Record My Drums”
Recording - January 2012 - 19
Recording - January 2012 - 20
Recording - January 2012 - 21
Recording - January 2012 - 22
Recording - January 2012 - 23
Recording - January 2012 - Neumann KH 120 A Monitors
Recording - January 2012 - 25
Recording - January 2012 - Mojave Audio MA-300 Multi-Pattern Tube Condenser Microphone
Recording - January 2012 - 27
Recording - January 2012 - Recording Drums—Then and Now
Recording - January 2012 - 29
Recording - January 2012 - 30
Recording - January 2012 - 31
Recording - January 2012 - 32
Recording - January 2012 - 33
Recording - January 2012 - 34
Recording - January 2012 - 35
Recording - January 2012 - 36
Recording - January 2012 - 37
Recording - January 2012 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 1: What Is Good?
Recording - January 2012 - 39
Recording - January 2012 - Drumming and Drummers and Mics—Oh My!
Recording - January 2012 - 41
Recording - January 2012 - 42
Recording - January 2012 - 43
Recording - January 2012 - 44
Recording - January 2012 - 45
Recording - January 2012 - 46
Recording - January 2012 - 47
Recording - January 2012 - Mixing Live Drum Tracks
Recording - January 2012 - 49
Recording - January 2012 - 50
Recording - January 2012 - 51
Recording - January 2012 - 52
Recording - January 2012 - 53
Recording - January 2012 - 54
Recording - January 2012 - 55
Recording - January 2012 - Arturia Analog Experience: The Laboratory 49
Recording - January 2012 - 57
Recording - January 2012 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - January 2012 - Advertiser Index
Recording - January 2012 - iOS Music Tools: Analog Synthesis on iOS
Recording - January 2012 - 61
Recording - January 2012 - 62
Recording - January 2012 - 63
Recording - January 2012 - 64
Recording - January 2012 - 65
Recording - January 2012 - 66
Recording - January 2012 - 67
Recording - January 2012 - 68
Recording - January 2012 - 69
Recording - January 2012 - 2011 Annual Index
Recording - January 2012 - 71
Recording - January 2012 - Fade Out
Recording - January 2012 - Cover3
Recording - January 2012 - Cover4
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