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 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.

Parallel Compression on Drums By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

In this post, I'm going to cover parallel compression on drums and how I use the technique in some of the mixes I do.  

Let's consider that your individual drums are mixed and sounding the way you want them to but they just aren't quite cutting it in the overall mix, something is missing...enter parallel compression. 

The first thing I do is send each track to an auxiliary channel, which is what will have the compression on. I send these pre fader so that any adjustments on the individual tracks (levels or plugins) don't affect the auxiliary channel. Some people like to send everything all at the same level, but personally I like to control the levels before hitting the compressor.  

I usually have the kick send between -10 to -15dB and this because I don't want it to dominate the compressor and cause heavy a heavy pumping effect. I leave the snare and toms a 0bB because these are two major elements of the drums that I want to accentuate with the compressor. I keep the overheads send quite low as well between -8 to -12dB because I don't want overly washy cymbals. Finally, the room mics are sent between -5 to -8dB, just enough for the sound of the snare and toms in the room to be caught by the compressor and minimising some of the cymbal sound. 

I've now achieved the blend of drums that I want the compressor to work on. The compressor plugins I use vary between the Waves CLA-76, API 2500, FabFilter Pro C2 and Slate Digital Buss Compressors however, the principles are the same whichever I choose to use. 

I start with the attack which I set to the fastest setting possible to ensure that all the transients are being squashed consistently. I then move onto the release and apply a fast setting (slightly slower than the attack to avoid distortion) so that the compressor recovers quickly in time for the next transient.  

I usually set a high ratio, anything between 6:1 to 20:1 and then pull down the threshold and listen to the compressor working, usually aiming for -10 to -20dB of gain reduction. Once I've achieved the sound I want, I make sure I've used the make-up gain appropriately to make sure the output level is matched to the level of the input (this is easily checked by bypassing the compressor). I then blend the auxiliary channel in with my main drum tracks to taste.

Something else I like to do on the auxiliary channel before hitting the compressor is add an EQ with a low and high shelf. I usually add about 3-4dB on each end of the spectrum to create more of a HI-FI sound as this is what I want the compressor to react to the most.

Parallel Compression, also know as New York Compression enables you to achieve a greater sustain and character on the drums and ultimately gives them that 'larger than life' sound that helps solidify the foundation that they set for a song. There's no limit to how much parallel compression can you be used in conjunction with your main drum tracks however, I recommend blending the effect in whilst listening to the whole mix so that you know whether you have achieved the best balance. 

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

Knowledge Wednesday By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Drum samples are easily accessible today and there is a large amount of variety out there.  

Sample replacement is probably the most common association with drum samples but they have another very musical use and that is sample enhancement. 

Sample enhancement can be achieved by carefully choosing sounds to complement your source tones and add more content to the areas that the source might be lacking in. 

Sample enhancement can also be achieved with layering to create new sounds, sometimes more exaggerated than the original sound, but it might be just what the song needs.

Experiment with snare, kick, toms, other types of percussion and even reverse sounds to enhance your drum tracks on your next mix!

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

A Great Video On Composing Drum Parts By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

This week I want to share content from an inspirational drummer and musician, Matt Halpern of Periphery.

His approach to playing, composing and business is truly inspiring and unique and this week he did an online session on writing drum parts both on the acoustic kit and with programmed drums. It's just over 30 minutes long but the amount of content in there is invaluable. I highly recommend you take the time to watch the video if you're looking to develop your drum writing skills. Click the link below...

Writing Drum Parts With Matt Halpern Of Periphery

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

Snare Drum - Key Frequencies By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Here are some key frequencies of a snare drum to pay close attention to when mixing. Keep in mind that fundamentals can change depending on the material, dimension and depth of the drum as well as other variants such as the type of head, snares, sticks and range of tuning.

160-250Hz - low end, weight, punch ( the weight of a snare is found in quite a wide spectrum because it depends on the size and material of the drum, as well as the tuning) 

300-400Hz - woodiness (an interesting area that I sometimes boost and other times cut depending on whether it's needed)

500-800Hz - snare ring (dependant on type and tuning of the snare, gently cut here if needed but be careful as this can remove a lot of character from the drum, try using moon gel at the recording stage to reduce unwanted ring) 

1.5-2.5KHz - attack, crack (mid frequency smack and stick definition, another area I gently boost or cut depending on what i'm listening for) 

4-6KHz - snare wires (can be very brittle sounding, but with careful boosting can help the snare cut through) 

7-12KHz - air, brightness (add for extra sweetness but be careful of increasing cymbal bleed if you haven't used a gate)

Use these frequencies as a guide and use your own ears to decide what works best with the source you have recorded. 

If you're in need of editing, mixing or mastering services, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page. 

Kick Drum - Key Frequencies By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Here are some key frequencies of a kick drum to pay close attention to when mixing. Keep in mind that fundamentals can change depending on the material, dimension and depth of the drum as well as other variants such as the type of head, the beater and the range of tuning. 

60-80Hz - low end punch, fundamentals, weight 

100-200Hz - boominess (cut here to increase low end definition and make room for bass guitar 

300-500Hz - boxiness (cut here to reduce the cardboard like sound, common for rock and metal kick drums) 

1-3KHz - attack and snap (boost here to help cut through the mix, particularly guitars) 

4-6KHz - beater, click, definition (boost here for extra beater definition, common on metal kick drums) 

7-8KHz - air (gently boost here if needed for extra air but be careful with bleed, unless you have used a gate)

If you're interested in any editing, mixing or mastering services, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page. 

Parallel Compression on Drums - Demonstration By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

Check out the below video to see the impact of parallel compression on drums. Keep in mind that this is camera mic audio but you can still hear the difference!

For any editing, mixing or mastering enquiries, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page.

Toontrack drums By: DAWsopenat7 No comments

I’ve been playing guitar since the age of 7, but song production is something i only began to pursue when i was in college and Toontrack drums have been with me since that point.

I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to record live acoustic drums on many occasions and this has given me a great knowledge and understanding of the importance of microphone placement, drum tuning and the standard of the drummer. Unfortunately, as a home studio owner i don’t always have the facility to record real drums and neither do some of the clients I work with, but there was no reason for this to hinder my creativity and stop me releasing high quality mixes.

Enter Toontrack drums. I started off with EZ Drummer (Pop/Rock) with multiple choices on snare, kick, toms, hi hat, two crash cymbals and a ride cymbal. It was great to have such high quality sounding samples and be able to program them into a piano-roll or play them from a midi controller. This improved my productivity and also gave me a massive confidence boost when writing and producing songs because i knew i didn’t have to worry about the sound of the drums.

It wasn’t long before i upgraded to Superior Drummer 2.0 and from that point on, i have never looked back.

It was quite overwhelming at first because the amount of choice on the drums and cymbals is incredible and that’s before even looking at the configuration options in the built-in mixer. I’d like to mention that i have used this software from different angles – choosing drums, tweaking sounds and adding layers and sticking with a preset and simply programming drum patterns for a song. Spending time sculpting the drum sound was time well spent because I got to know the software, how to add layers (X-Drums), how to use the tune dial, how to adjust the ADSR, how to adjust the bleed on individual tracks and how to use the velocities to trigger different samples at different numeric values. Equally, time spent programming drum patterns to create a song was time well spent because I developed my ability to compose and nothing has improved this more than simply writing songs.

I spent a couple of weeks experimenting with Superior Drummer 2.0 before i started work on another song because i wanted to learn the software and create my own preset so that i could produce my own songs with ‘mix ready’ drums. Once i had this, my productivity increased to a level that i did not expect because i was able to focus on composing without leaving my studio and i was able to listen to a mix by the end of a session. Aside from programmed drums being a great convenience, it always gave me a sound that i could be proud of because i knew i could put out a mix without people questioning the quality of the drumming or the sound.

I’m not an official endorser of Toontrack but, i can’t speak highly enough of them because their products have given me a palette of endless high quality drums to chose from, all on a platform that encourages productivity and creativity, not to mention the inspiration it gives me when i’m starting something new.

If you haven’t used Toontrack software before or you are currently making up your mind, I strongly suggest you invest in either EZ Drummer 2 or Superior Drummer 2.0. If you are a home studio owner and a composer, Toontrack products are simply the best value in terms of the amount of drums you get for your money. As well as this, take into consideration the experience of the engineers that recorded all the samples using the highest quality microphones, preamps and mixing consoles all in some of the greatest sounding live rooms in the recording studio world. I can’t personally put a price on any of that.

Even if you aren’t interested in all of the drums sounds that are available, it could still be an invaluable tool in your home studio because it gives you a drum kit ready to go immediately in your DAW. It’s simply one less thing to worry about and you can just focus on doing what you love, creating music.

Overall, Toontrack have been one of the greatest benefits to me as a home studio owner and artist because they have given me quality drum sounds with a user friendly interface and endless configurability options enabling me to make music in the height of creativity. They also enable me to offer the same standards to clients that are also limited with their drum writing or recording facilities.

If you haven’t already done so, check them out at www.toontrack.com/drums

If you’re interested in editing, mixing or mastering services, head over to www.jwaudioproductions.co.uk and get in touch via the contact page.