All toms are one stereo file...

[JayB]

I'm working on a session where I was sent files for mixing, and the tom samples are all in one stereo file. I know this isn't ideal, but what would you do in this situation processing-wise? Like for instance what should I do as far as hi and lo pass? Does anyone else out there print all toms to one stereo track?

 

[RedDog]

Call em back and have them sent off properly. If nothing, cut em up or smash em together. It's not your fault if sometime can't do their job correctly.

 

[jarrysopa1984]

If the performance of the drummer is even and the toms were tuned well a simple compressor and little lowcut to tame the lowest tom should work. If that's not the case, you might replace them anyway. That could be not that easy but possible. Ask them for a seperate tracks in any case.

 

[StefTD]

I mixed the album of my former death metal band a few years ago...drums weren't recorded to a click and I got ALL the
drums on one stereo file, tracked with 5 mics...it was the horror.

What actually worked quite well was the following process:
I copied the track a few times, tried to get the bassdrum right on one and did loads of surgical cuts on that track so
you won't hear alot of the other stuff, did the same for the snare, the toms and all the cymbals, than I mixed those
tracks together with the original track and than eqd and compressed it altogether.
Still sounded like shit, but compared to the origianl track it was gold, in your case it's probably harder because all of
the toms are in a similar frequency area and so on, but it might work, besides that, some surgical cuts and some
compression should work quite well.

What kind of music is it? For fast death metal where the toms should be really precise and stuff it's probably hard,
for stoner rock...I wouldn't bother at all.

 

[Fandus]

If all else fails just midi that shit and sample farts to teach them a lesson.

 

[Skinny Viking]

if they sound bad, start chopping

 

[JayB]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[JayB]

I mixed the album of my former death metal band a few years ago...drums weren't recorded to a click and I got ALL the
drums on one stereo file, tracked with 5 mics...it was the horror.

What actually worked quite well was the following process:
I copied the track a few times, tried to get the bassdrum right on one and did loads of surgical cuts on that track so
you won't hear alot of the other stuff, did the same for the snare, the toms and all the cymbals, than I mixed those
tracks together with the original track and than eqd and compressed it altogether.
Still sounded like shit, but compared to the origianl track it was gold, in your case it's probably harder because all of
the toms are in a similar frequency area and so on, but it might work, besides that, some surgical cuts and some
compression should work quite well.

What kind of music is it? For fast death metal where the toms should be really precise and stuff it's probably hard,
for stoner rock...I wouldn't bother at all.

It's pretty fast metal, I think I'll just replace them with SSD. But wow, all drums on 1 stereo file sounds like a true nightmare!

 

[Sloan]

If all else fails just midi that shit and sample farts to teach them a lesson.

 

[Machinated]

how do they sound?

if they dont sound good, then its kind of annoying theyve done that.

id go through and paste in the right hits with new samples. you could start making midi, but triggering the right toms and getting the phase right will be annoying.

paste them in and your phase is still kept good, and its triggered right.

 

[if6was9]

I'd go through it chopping it up and moving each tom to their own track. Use your ear to tell which tom is which. Once you get used to what each tom sound like you'll fly through it. Then treat them however you would normally

 

[Arsenu,]

I mixed the album of my former death metal band a few years ago...drums weren't recorded to a click and I got ALL the
drums on one stereo file, tracked with 5 mics...it was the horror.

What actually worked quite well was the following process:
I copied the track a few times, tried to get the bassdrum right on one and did loads of surgical cuts on that track so
you won't hear alot of the other stuff, did the same for the snare, the toms and all the cymbals, than I mixed those
tracks together with the original track and than eqd and compressed it altogether.
Still sounded like shit, but compared to the origianl track it was gold, in your case it's probably harder because all of
the toms are in a similar frequency area and so on, but it might work, besides that, some surgical cuts and some
compression should work quite well.

What kind of music is it? For fast death metal where the toms should be really precise and stuff it's probably hard,
for stoner rock...I wouldn't bother at all.

I'm surprised you're alive, i'd kill myself if i had to do that.

how do people and up in those situations anyway? what kind of a retard can track drums and not be aware that the mixing engineer would want them on separate tracks? it makes perfect sense even if you don't know jack shit about audio engineering.

 

[Harley Barley]

Pretty sure most of the big time mixer mix tom's from stereo files i know CLA does. if it really bothers you split into mono and process each separately just make them do what they need to i dont think its a huge deal i usually just process my toms in stereo anyways.. auto mate eq in different places too.

 

[amarshism]

Mult

 

[cfh11]

i know its not ideal, but does it really matter that much? are your EQ and comp settings that different on each tom? as long as they were tuned right and tracked well (and panned, obviously) i dont see a big issue here.

 

[JeffTD]

i know its not ideal, but does it really matter that much? are your EQ and comp settings that different on each tom? as long as they were tuned right and tracked well (and panned, obviously) i dont see a big issue here.

Can't automate each individual tom level, can't control amount of reverb on each tom, compression will effect a group of them differently than individually, and YES eq can/should be different for each tom considering they're tuned to different notes and have different fundamental frequencies.

When your toms are tuned right and tracked well, do you send them all to one stereo bus for processing?

 

[cfh11]

i know eq/comp/automation would be different in an ideal scenario but my point was it shouldnt ruin your drum stem - it IS workable

Pretty sure most of the big time mixer mix tom's from stereo files i know CLA does.

interesting... i havent heard that before. source?

 

[bryan_kilco]

When your toms are tuned right and tracked well, do you send them all to one stereo bus for processing?

I do this, but only after processing them individually first, then send them to a group for light comp, maybe saturation, etc.

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

When your toms are tuned right and tracked well, do you send them all to one stereo bus for processing?

Actually, yes