How To

Drums are somewhat defined by the fact that they generate extremely dynamic and transient sound waveforms. As such, dynamics processing tools are fundamental to controlling and enhancing drum recordings in the mix. In many respects, the volume fader is the simplest form of dynamic processing tool, allowing us to manually adjust the amplitude levels of a track. We can either set … [Read more...] about Track, Bus and Parallel Compression for Mixing Drums

In this post we explore how to mix drums and a guide to understanding drum frequencies. One of the most commonly used mix tools is the equaliser (EQ), which allows us to manipulate the volume of different aspects of an audio waveform’s frequency spectrum. Beware, the equaliser is rarely used in mixing for making things “equal”, though! That was its original intended … [Read more...] about Mixing Drums? Know your drum frequencies!

It’s true, drum tuning can be quite daunting for a new drummer. It takes a number of years for most drummers to develop the required understanding and hearing skills in order to tune drums without help. Many drummers, even those with lots of professional experience, find drum tuning a challenge, and find it difficult to understand what changes in the setup or tuning will … [Read more...] about How to Tune Drums?

Drums are one of the most challenging instruments to tune, because they have so many different components which all affect the overall sound – a drumhead has 5, 6, 8 or 10 tuning lugs, doubled up on both the batter and resonant sides. Not to mention that each drum in the kit deserves to be tuned to its own particular pitch, so that drum rolls and phrases sound stylistic and … [Read more...] about The Best Drum Tuning Tips: How To Master Drum Sound