Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Mix Tips in terms of Space (Panning, Delay, Verb, Ambience)

Harris_FTp · 16th November 2006

Greetings!

I love to deal mixing drums on a 3Dimensional pespective.

Drums in reality are positioned on a 3D space, magnifying that sense to a mix makes drums sound round and full- while leaving more and clear (better defined) space in the mix for other instruments.

3D mixing is of course different for every music genre- metal music has many more elements interlapping each other than a blues or a jazz mix.

A couple of tips I can give are the following:

1. Mix drums (i.e choose the appropriate drum kit, eq sound, sound character) first in mono and then spread in stereo...
Then, with the other instrument tracks included, pan accordingly.

2. When spreading (panning) the kit elements, try not to overdo it- not all drummers are tall enough (long arms and legs) to enter Guiness records for the height.

3. Don't be afraid to keep everything in a sense of mono- even the overheads..Especially if you have been allured to extreme mixing settings by your big effect rack (reverbs and delays) and that led you to phasing problems.

4. Panning the hihat to one side and a delayed signal on the other is a common technique- mainly used to hiphop i think.
In general, this trick is called "fattening" (when used for instance on guitars) while it is actually "cheating" your brain...:
A short 10ms delay will confuse your audiotory perception and you'll think the sound appears further away (in terms of left and right>>stereo field, that is)

Finally, don't be afraid to use panning settings to direct signals but use mono room or overhead mics-especially when you want to heavily compress the latter.

That's about it.

A nice practical way to learn/deal with such "drum positioning in the mix" is using multichannel software like BFD or DKFHS.
Trying the tricks above within their engines is a very educative process.
In case you want to know more about drum mixing decisions that share the above philosophy, visit the link below:

www.ftponweb.com
(click on the NEW icon to preview content)
There is a chapter in there called "3D Drum Placement in the Mix"- for a diversied set of music genres.
Enjoy!

Regards,

Harris M.

16th November 2006	#10
Harris_FTp Gear interested Joined: Nov 2006 Location: All around the globe Posts: 6	Greetings! I love to deal mixing drums on a 3Dimensional pespective. Drums in reality are positioned on a 3D space, magnifying that sense to a mix makes drums sound round and full- while leaving more and clear (better defined) space in the mix for other instruments. 3D mixing is of course different for every music genre- metal music has many more elements interlapping each other than a blues or a jazz mix. A couple of tips I can give are the following: 1. Mix drums (i.e choose the appropriate drum kit, eq sound, sound character) first in mono and then spread in stereo... Then, with the other instrument tracks included, pan accordingly. 2. When spreading (panning) the kit elements, try not to overdo it- not all drummers are tall enough (long arms and legs) to enter Guiness records for the height. 3. Don't be afraid to keep everything in a sense of mono- even the overheads..Especially if you have been allured to extreme mixing settings by your big effect rack (reverbs and delays) and that led you to phasing problems. 4. Panning the hihat to one side and a delayed signal on the other is a common technique- mainly used to hiphop i think. In general, this trick is called "fattening" (when used for instance on guitars) while it is actually "cheating" your brain...: A short 10ms delay will confuse your audiotory perception and you'll think the sound appears further away (in terms of left and right>>stereo field, that is) Finally, don't be afraid to use panning settings to direct signals but use mono room or overhead mics-especially when you want to heavily compress the latter. That's about it. A nice practical way to learn/deal with such "drum positioning in the mix" is using multichannel software like BFD or DKFHS. Trying the tricks above within their engines is a very educative process. In case you want to know more about drum mixing decisions that share the above philosophy, visit the link below: www.ftponweb.com (click on the NEW icon to preview content) There is a chapter in there called "3D Drum Placement in the Mix"- for a diversied set of music genres. Enjoy! Regards, Harris M.