Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week's Knowledge Wednesday tip is on drum editing, particularly in pro tools but the principal can be applied to all DAWs.

When using beat detective or other similar quantizing tools, keep in mind that the best results are achieved when applied to drums that are slightly late or behind the beat. 

Another important tip when quantizing drums is to focus your attention on the overheads after you have quantized them as these will show the audio artefacts, if any and then you can apply appropriate crossfades.

Check back next week for more tips!

If you are looking for editing, mixing or mastering services, then head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page.

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week's Knowledge Wednesday tip is to cut frequencies on your drum overheads before boosting.

Drum overheads can present a large amount of harsh frequencies and also create an excessive build up in the mid-range depending on mic placement, drum tuning etc, so it is a good idea to start EQ'ing by cutting in these problem areas to smooth out the overhead sounds to set you on your way to achieving a great drum mix.

Check in next Wednesday for more great tips!

If you require editing, mixing or mastering services, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch about your project via the contact page.

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week's Knowledge Wednesday tip is to always check phase coherence on your drum tracks.

Not checking phase can be a common cause for loss of low end and punch on drum tracks, but the good news is that it can be rectified quite easily.

Firstly, you can ensure the transients from the kick and snare line up with the overheads. 

Also, check the bottom snare mic is phase coherent with the snare too mic and this can be done by inserting a plugin with a phase switch and toggling between between the two sounds. One should sound immediately different because the low end and punch will become clear.

Phase can be a complex topic but by following the two simple steps above, you will be well on your way to achieving a punchy a low end full drum mix which may have been lacking before without careful attention to the phase coherency.

Check back next week for more tips!

knowledge wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week's Knowledge Wednesday tip is to manually remove silence and bleed from your Tom drum tracks. 

This method is much cleaner than gating and it is usually easier to achieve your desired result. 

Using careful editing and smart fades, you can achieve Tom drum tracks with unwanted silence and very minimal bleed and by doing this, you can focus your EQ and compression decisions because you will only be hearing the Toms being hit.