Even though the drummer plays the whole kit as a singular instrument, the miking of personel drums and cymbals can make for a very involved mix scenario. The speculate I reference country and rock music specifically has to do with the fact that in these genres the sounds of the personel drums and cymbals are not only singled out by personel microphones located on each of them but also their sounds are exaggerated to generate an even more dramatic effect.
Consider, for example, the tom fills in Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight." By contrast, jazz drums are often treated as a more cohesive, unified sound and it's not unusual to use a simple pair of overhead mics to capture the sound of the whole jazz drum kit.
SONIC BOOM EFFECT
In this article, I'm going to go drum by drum providing Eq and compression settings that will, hopefully, contribute you with a jumping off point to getting great drum sounds in your mix. Because of its all-in-one mixing board channel approach, I'll be using Metric Halo's Channel Strip plug-in with its Eq, compression and noise-gate to expound my comments about various Eq and compression settings.
Kick Drum
As the heartbeat of the contemporary drum kit, the kick drum sound we've grown accustomed to hearing is both boomy and round on the lowest and has a nice, arresting click in the high mid range. It's the balancing act in the middle of Eq and compression that gives the kick drum its capability to stand out in a mix. Beginning with Eq, the best way to accentuate the lows and highs is to remove some low-mids. I'm a big believer in cutting as opposed to boosting Eq to accomplish a desired effect. As a result, I tend to pull somewhere in the middle of 2 to 4db at in the middle of 350hz-450hz. Then, after removing some of this low-mid mud from the sound, I can heighten the clicking sound of the beater hitting the head of the kick drum by boosting colse to 2db in the 2k-3k range. I'm providing approximate dB and frequency range settings because depending on the kick drum, mic placement and, of course the drummer, all of these settings will vary. Use these normal ranges as a jumping off point and then trust your ears.
As far as compression settings go, the trick is to retain the transient assault of the kick drum with a fast but not too fast assault time (9ms in this instance) and then a quick issue (11ms) so the compressor is ready to respond to the next kick drum hit. The ratio I use is a relatively mild 2.5:1 and I adjust the threshold until I hear the kick sound I'm searching for. Finally, in order to give the kick drum sound some disunion from the rest of the kit, I use a noise gate and adjust the threshold to allow the kick sound to come straight through while essentially muting the majority of the other drum/cymbal sounds. Also, while setting the assault to the Channel Strip's fastest "auto" setting, I allow for a long (400ms) release.
Sub Kick
This singular miking trick is one that can be used to bring great low-end presence to the kick drum. By way of explanation, a short stand keeping essentially the woofer of a speaker is located in front of the kick drum and picks up predominantly the low frequencies. When blended with the kick drum mic, the sub-kick generates great power in the lowest part of the frequency.
In order to accentuate the most important elements of the sub kick's sound, I tend to use a low pass filter advent to my Eq that removes all frequencies above 500hz and drops off even more dramatically below 100hz. This is to make sure that only the valuable parts of the sub kick's sound come through. The sub kick should be felt more than it is heard. In terms of compression, a ratio of almost 5:1, a relatively slow assault (120ms) and medium fast issue (57ms) allow the sub kick's tone to stay gift and full underneath the sound of the kick drum's regular miked sound. Then, I'll use a noise gate with a fast assault (20ms) and slower issue (200ms) to keep out any other kit sounds that might otherwise bleed into the sub kick sound.
Snare
Along with the kick drum, the snare drum is valuable for driving a rhythm track. Poor Eq and compression techniques can leave it sounding thin, dull and ordinarily uninspired. In order to accentuate the best parts of the snare sound with Eq, I'll boost the low end of the snare by 2-3dB at colse to 80hz, cut 2-3dB in the middle of 350-450hz and then boost again, if necessary, for more high-end brightness, by 1-2dB at 5k. These three Eq points are a great place to start to sculpt an arresting snare sound.
Compression on a snare is a real balancing act where too much will take away the vigor of the carrying out and too tiny will make it almost impossible to find an thorough level for the snare in the mix. I use a ratio of 2.5:1 with a very quick assault (2ms) and issue (11ms). If you're looking that you're losing the snap of the snare, slow your compressor's assault a tiny but remember that slowing the assault too much will take the compressor too long to grab onto the sound and will leave the snare much less manageable in the mix.
Adjust the threshold settings until things sound right to your ear. This basically allows you to settle how much wide compression you'll be applying. Don't overdo it or the drum will lose its vigor but don't go too lightly or the snare won't stand up in the mix. Gating the snare is a trial and error process as well. Depending on either the snare advent in the song is aggressive or soft will have a lot to do with your threshold settings. Like on the kick drum, I use the very fast "auto" assault and a slower issue on the gate in an endeavor to keep out the ambient sounds of the cymbals, toms and kick.
Hi-Hat
While obviously a cymbal, the hi-hat is often used more as a rhythmic element than a tone color like some of the other cymbals in a drum kit. Manufacture sure it has its own sonic space and speaks clearly without being too loud and distracting is what Eq and compression are about in this instance. For Eq, I'll again use a shelving advent at colse to 200hz that will effectively clear out low-end data that is non-essential to the hi-hat sound. If I'm concerned in bringing in a bit more high-end shimmer and sizzle, I'll boost in the middle of 1-3dB in the middle of 6k and 8k again using my ears to tell me what's working. In general, I tend to stay away from compression on the hi-hat as it tends to find is own dynamic range without too much supplementary help.
Low (Floor) Tom
A well-mixed set of toms can make all the disagreement in the middle of drum fills that are arresting and those that go by without catching the listener's ear. Beginning with the low tom, I tend to look for the places in the frequency range that bring out both the boom and the snap (similar to the way I advent the kick). In order to accentuate the low capability of this drum, I've found that a dramatic cut (12dB) at colse to 500hz allows the drum to speak clearly. Also, to add the high-end snap, a semi-aggressive boost of in the middle of 4-6dB at colse to 3k will do the trick. Compression also adds a lot to this equation. A ratio of colse to 4.5:1, a slower assault of 120ms and medium slow issue of colse to 90ms will help the sound remain full and resonant. For the threshold, I naturally adjust until the tom rings properly. Gating is another major factor for toms as the large diaphragm mics located on these drums tend to pick up a lot of the extraneous sounds from the rest of the kit.
I set the gate with the quickest "auto" assault and a slow 400ms issue and then adjust the threshold until I'm hearing only the low tom come straight through when it's hit. For the "tweak heads" among us there's a slightly more correct and labor-intensive way to do this. By going into the actual sound files in your Daw and deleting all but the tom hits themselves, you can generate a perfectly gated tom track.
High (Rack) Tom
Like the low tom, the high tom has it's own frequencies that should be cut/accentuated to bring out the sweetest parts of the sound. For Eq, I'll do another big cut of colse to 10dB at 600hz and I'll make a similarly big boost of colse to 7dB at almost 2k. For compression, I use a slightly more aggressive 6:1 ratio slower assault (100ms) and a quick issue (25ms). As with the low tom, I'll gate the high tom using the selfsame gate assault (fastest "auto") and issue (400ms). The key to the threshold is to adjust it until only the high tom punches straight through keeping the channel essentially muted for the rest of the time. A final note on the toms, as all tom sizes, tunings and even drummers are different, you'll need to play with these settings until you find the sweet spots.
Overheads / Room Mics
Given that we've made a real endeavor to detach and heighten each of the personel drums in the kit, overhead mics serve the dual purpose of capturing the cymbals and integrating the blended sound of the kit back into the sound of the drums. I pay attention to three exact Eq points in order to give the overhead mics a clean, balanced tone. First I'll use a high pass filter (shelving Eq) at the very low frequency of 40hz to clean up any unnecessary sub-sonic rumbling. Then I'll pull colse to 5dB at in the middle of 100 and 200hz to forestall any low-mid buildup. Finally, if necessary, I'll heighten the wide glow of the cymbals/kit with a small 1-2dB boost at colse to 5k. For compression, I'll set the ratio at about 3:1, the assault at colse to 110ms and the issue at a slightly quicker 70ms. The threshold should be adjusted to make sure that the overhead/room sound blends with the wide kit mix. Finally, adjust the volume of the overhead mics in the mix until you pick up just sufficient of the room to put some air and depth back into the kit.
Limiting the Sub Mix
A final trick to add punch to the wide drum kit is to send all of the personel tracks to a stereo sub mix and place a limiter like the Waves L1 on that stereo auxiliary track. By adjusting the threshold until the attenuation is in the middle of 5-7dB, you'll find that the kit has a of course satisfying wide punch and presence.
Conclusion
While I've been painfully exact about Eq, compression and gate settings, it's important to remember that every mix situation is different. Use all of these settings as a jumping off point and then use your ears to tweak the sounds until you're happy. Good luck!
Eq and Compression Techniques For Drums in Mixing
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