12 more tips for processing drums
MEMORY LANE
Give different sections of your drum track a unique sound by processing them using mixing techniques from different decades. Dialling in a 1950s-flavoured mono sound in the verse followed by a cutting edge, super shiny 2010s tone to the chorus will give your drum track an original twist.
IN EFFECT
Want to make your drums sound radically different for a breakdown? Try bouncing them to audio, uploading to Dropbox or similar, then record them being played back from your phone, speakers or car stereo. Simple yet effective!
SUPER SHINY
Looking to add brightness without high frequencies shredding your ears? Dynamic EQ is your friend. By using dynamic EQ rather than regular ‘static’ EQ, you can add high frequency sparkle that then reins itself in when treble heavy hi-hats, cymbals and rides are in the mix.
ON THE ATTACK
Using transient shaping on your drum reverb is great for shaping your beats in a noninvasive way. Adding attack will give your drum sound extra snap without majorly increasing the peak volume. Taking attack away can give the reverb a smoothed out, syrupy sound that compliments an attackheavy drum kit perfectly.
BOLD EQ MOVES
Making one of your drum parts purposely sound different to the others is a trick for giving your beats a unique identity. You could make your snare really bright to bring out its attack; roll the tops off a kick drum to give it a muddy, sampled flavour; or even add a dash of low-mids to hi-hats for a chunky feel.
PARALLEL WEIRDNESS
Ever used a plugin and just thought it was plain weird? Next time you’re mixing beats, slap it on an FX return before using it for some parallel processing. We found that SlyFi’s Kaya (modelled on a one-off reel-to-reel tape machine that’s had the preamp wired directly to the tape head) can do wonders for boring stock percussion, for example.
’ VERB VARIETY
Anyone who’s heard music from the 80s will know the sound of a massive gated reverb on snare and toms. Twist this technique round by sidechain compressing your drum reverb bus using the dry hits from your kit as a trigger. This’ll give your drums a dry yet spacious sound that can be embellished with saturation placed before the compression.
BREAK THE RULES
Next time you reach for an Amen, Think or Apache break, try picking one part of that break and placing it on another channel before applying the most wacky processing you can think of. Crazy stereo width on an Amen crash or 8-bit crunch added to a snare from an otherwise crystal-clear break are just a few ideas.
EQ YOUR SENDS
Sometimes, a less invasive way of getting the tone you’re after from a drum mix is to add some EQ to your parallel processing returns. A high-frequency shelf boost on an NY compression bus can add density to the highs without making the overall sound too fizzy, for example.
PAN’S PEOPLE
Add a unique twist to a mono snare by sending it to a mono reverb bus before panning the wet and dry signals apart by opposing amounts. Keep the panning subtle for a cohesive sound, or go crazy to really put your stamp on it.
REVERSE SIDECHAINING
Instead of using your drum hits as sidechain compression triggers on bass, synths and such, try using a musical element as a trigger for compressing your percussion tracks. Using your bass as a sidechain trigger over rides can give the whole mix an overloaded, ‘surpressed’ sound for perceived weight.
REVERB ROULETTE
It’s common knowledge that sending all of your drum parts to a reverb bus helps with gluing them together, but have you ever tried using a different reverb for individual drum parts like kick, snare or hats? This can give a unique sound when done with care.