Drum Mix...

[aj633]

Do you have Overheads? It sounds like just close mics...

[JettBlack]

The overheads are definitely in there, though significantly lower than the room mics.
I mostly used them for a little top end clarity.
The room mics were much more open and spacious to me.

Thanks for the perspective aj633.

[jimcroisdale]

I think you've got this backwards to be honest.

Is the drummer riding a crash cymbal in the first few bars?

If so, the cymbal shoudl be a lot louder than this.

I would start with the overheads first as these give a balanced impression of the whole kit.

When you come to mix, you usually find that the kick needs more low end and the snare needs to be louder/punchier. THIS is where the close mics some in, and you can add them to taste.

I'd be curious to hear JUST the overheads/rooms.

Cheers,

Jim

[JettBlack]

Just to clarify, I'll list my setup:

- Room Mics - 2 BlueBirds, 10 feet behind the drummer, XY pattern
- Overheads - 2 Oktava MK-012, 5 feet over center of kit, XY pattern
- Snare Top - SM57
- Snare Bottom - SM57
- Kick - D112, inside drum
- Rack Tom - Sennheiser e609
- Floor Tom - Sennheiser e609

All of these are going through API 3124 preamps.

Yes, the drummer is riding a big thin ride cymbal in the first few bars.

I went back and listened to my Overheads and Rooms.

The Overheads were kinda weird sounding to me. Did I pan them too far?

As for the rooms, I think maybe the snare was poking out too much. So, I couldn't really turn them up (relative to the close mics) to hear the cymbals/ambiance without getting that trashy snare sound. I tried throwing a fast limiter on the room mics with about a 160ms release and shaving off about 3dB. I think this gives the rooms a much more round and big sound, and I was able to turn them up a good bit more.

Here are some clips;

- Overheads
- Rooms without limiting
- Rooms with about 3dB fast limiting
- 2nd Drum Mix (with limited rooms)

Thanks for the input fellas. Keep it coming!

[jimcroisdale]

I think the new full mix is 500% better!

A few eq tweaks and you're there!

Will comment more tomoz - bedtime now!

Cheers,

Jim

[JettBlack]

Great!

I'd be interested to hear your input on those EQ tweaks you mentioned...

[jimcroisdale]

Difficult to eq drums when they're not in the mix.

However....

Id say the snare needs more top end/less bottom (whichever works)

-6db at 400hz on the kick (pretty standard thang)
+some at 80-100hz on kick for more bottom.
+some at 3-4khz for a bit more beater to cut through.

Jim