Telewanger
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Trying to get a decent drum sound
People have been telling me that my drums are too compressed, sound bad, and have dynamic loss. I am using Superior Drummer 2.0 I have been trying out a few different things to see if they get any better. I am not sure if this will be an instrumental or song with lyrics yet. Let me know what you think! Thanks! Drum Test
post edited by Telewanger - 2011/09/07 23:47:37
" You are either in key or out of key, choose the first option. If it sounds good, play it. If it sounds bad, move on to the next note! " Michael E. Lynch
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kine321
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/06 18:54:37
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I only took a quick listen. An issue that stands out immediately is that the mix is completely out of balance. The guitar parts are far louder than the drums which naturally makes it seem more squashed than it is. I think the fact you're mixing it yourself, leans a tendency to want 2 make certain that the guitar stands out & is heard loud & clear. One way to solve your issue is not to mix it yourself if that's possible. Got to make sure they hear every lick! 
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timidi
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/06 19:19:47
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People have been telling don't listen to them. it doesn't matter.
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rscain
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/06 20:16:05
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I agree somewhat with both the previous posters. The drums sound fine to me in the intro but when the guitars kick in the drums are pushed back in the mix a bit. I think the more you record the more you'll begin to get used to hearing your playing as it fits into the context of the song and your mixes will get better and better (at least that's how it was for me, my early recordings sounded like everything but the guitars were in another room....far down the hall, LOL)
But I also agree with Tim, what matters is how it sounds to you. If you're not happy with it then most likely no one else will be.
BTW: I really liked the track, you play really well and and it's a nice arrangement. And you got some GREAT tone on the guitars!!
My Tunes On SoundClick AMD FX9350 @4 gHz, 16 gb ram, 240 gb SSD, 2 1Tb SS/Hybrid HDs, 1 Tb Fantom External HD, Windows 10 64 bit, Sonar Platinum 64 bit, Studio One 4 Pro, Harrison Mixbus, Izotope Neutron 2 Advanced and Ozone 8 Advanced, ARC 2, NI Komplete 11 Ultimate, TC-Helicon VoiceLive 3, Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP, Focusrite Octopre MkII, KRK Rokit 8 monitors, Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones, MidiMan Oxygen 8, Behringer X-Touch, guitars and stuff
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BenMMusTech
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/06 21:17:11
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Ok listening through my Beyerdynamic DT990's. I can't really hear too much wrong, the guitar could come down more and the drums slighty up but everything seems to be there.
Ignore the guy who says don't mix yourself, all the greats helped mix their music. There are no rules, if everything is where it is suppose to be, that is I can hear everything in the mix, whats the problem???
Peace Ben
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Metaphasic
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/06 22:31:19
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I just went through this myself, and what I learned is that compressors have a threshold control for a reason. Try zeroing out all the tracks at -6db, and the busses at 0. Adjust things so that it sounds right, and only then start adding small compressions on individual tracks that truly need it, and one "mastering" compression on the master buss. I think you'll be well pleased with the result.
Another thing I've learned is that you don't have to have things popping orange in the meter to sound good. Even if every track you have is in the green, a buss might just peak red, depending on how many tracks are fed into it. So it's OK to rollback the starting db's for tracks.
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BENZOFOG
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/06 22:37:32
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Exactly been I heard this and thought Crap give me a shot I wanna sing something to this...I like the mix! At first I heard this bit of reverb added to the toms and was very impressed keep it up skipper man that boat keep floating...lol I have no idea!
Danny
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kine321
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/06 22:49:33
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Ignore the guy who says don't mix yourself, all the greats helped mix their music. There are no rules, if everything is where it is suppose to be, that is I can hear everything in the mix, whats the problem??? I don't literally mean never mix yourself- however, it's not something 4 everyone if you rather be a musician than an engineer. It can take time to learn this art. A good quality mix vs a bad one can make a major difference in how your music is perceived, thus the comments he's heard about his drums. The problem is most people listen to commercially recorded music and will have a tendency to judge home recorded music on this standard. A mix with obvious issues will trump an otherwise good performance. But, it also depends on whether you want your music to have a polished studio sound or you're fine with it sounding like an amateur home recording. Obviously, telewanger must care about the way his music is sounding to others... or he wouldn't have made this thread.
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kine321
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/07 00:40:31
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Took another listen and the track sounds pretty good. Just needs some minor work on levels. Sounds like the levels were reworked from what I initially heard. Did U update the file on sound-cloud 2 a newer version?
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Chappel
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/07 01:00:25
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Pretty cool track. I had to turn the bass up a bit to get a balanced sound but I generally keep my sub-woofer down to keep peace with my neighbors. I thought the snare drum lacked snap... seemed a bit muffled. Could just be me.
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Telewanger
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Re:Trying to get a decent drum sound
2011/09/07 08:45:07
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Cool and Thanks! Here is what I always do. After I totally complete a song, I will post it on at least 10 recording and songwriting forums. I will mix it over and over until at least 50 to 75 percent of the people say that it is good to go. There will always be people who will never like the song in the first place no matter who records or mixes it. I will work on it more this week. Here is what I have heard so far and agree with now: I will install some better more complex fills, make the snare crack harder, lower the compression more, maybe work on the kick drum some more etc. Update: I worked on the drums some more tonight. I am not a drummer and have only played the drums a few times. This might be better sounding or worse. I am using parallel compression, but only a little compression. I am using the Abbey Roads RS124 compressor set on 2 with medium release. Medium and slow release on that compressor doesn't seem to be much different. It is hard for me to choose a snare sound. I like so many of them. This one sounds like a snare with a touch of wood block or something. I am using a little eq on the drums and gates to keep them from ringing on the Superior Drummer Mixer, but no compression on that mixer, just small amount of compression on the parallel drum buss. I may need to change some fills here and there after the vocals or guitars if it turns into an instrumental song.
post edited by Telewanger - 2011/09/08 00:06:28
" You are either in key or out of key, choose the first option. If it sounds good, play it. If it sounds bad, move on to the next note! " Michael E. Lynch
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