Cymbals compression + EQ

[kaamosprod]

Hi

i'm try to achieve a good drum sound, punchy.

but i realise that my snare and kick are punchy, but the hit hat, ride, crash and overhead are very very weak... very very weak...

i use metal foundry cymbals. while snare + kick are replaced 100%

For the velocities i use 95 /105 randomly.

For compression and eq, i have no idea to start with...

The only thing I use for the moment is that :

- 12 db à 250 Hz
- 6 db à 800 Hz
- 2 db à 2kHz
+ 2 à 4 db à 8 kHz

For hit hat, overheads and ride, crash.

For compression i don't know...


can you give me a start idea please for cymbals and hit hat compression + EQ in order to have a punchy cymbals ?

 

[greyskull]

depends on the source mate. couldn't say without hearing it.
however for more metal stuff you probably want a hipass from around 150 - 500 hz, maybe pull out a little more of the low mid if its bothersome, and then hi shelf from 8-10 k up. often if the Ohs are REALLY bright, it can be beneficial to LOW pass them around 12 k(insane i know) apparently Andy Wallace does something like this. Helps to emphasise the beef of the Cymbals and not the fizziness/spittyness... if that makes sense.... or record them with Royer 121's.... dream.

I don't normally go for the ludicrous hipassing these days.. but will often pull out or boost something in the mids to bring the snare up if its sounding good in the Oh's or to tone it down if it isn't.

Oh and i rarely compress oh's

 

[Deadstar]

just hp somewhere between 440 - 700 with some small cuts at 800 and 1400/1500 and the 6000hz area
no comp, just a touch of parallel comp and velocity at 127

 

[kaamosprod]

velocities at 127 !!!! ???

it won't sound too "fake" ?

 

[Deadstar]

velocities at 127 !!!! ???

it won't sound too "fake" ?

as fake as 110 since the number of samples is by default the same

 

[kaamosprod]

as fake as 110 since the number of samples is by default the same

lol i undertstand but i've said that i use the random velocity tool with a range of 95 to 115

it's an error ?

 

[Deadstar]

lol i undertstand but i've said that i use the random velocity tool with a range of 95 to 115

it's an error ?

sorry i didn't mean to confuse BUT the way superior works is different from standard VSTi's since the random thing is already part of superior. Using random velocity within the DAW is useless unless u have set on superior not to randomize samples, just check the manual to understand how it handles samples

 

[kaamosprod]

sorry i didn't mean to confuse BUT the way superior works is different from standard VSTi's since the random thing is already part of superior. Using random velocity within the DAW is useless unless u have set on superior not to randomize samples, just check the manual to understand how it handles samples

Sorry, i didn't know that point...

I'll check that and try to start with your advices

thanks a lot deadstar

 

[Deadstar]

Sorry, i didn't know that point...

I'll check that and try to start with your advices

thanks a lot deadstar

no prob dude

 

[theRev]

Well, Sd2.0 has lots of samples for velocity (it may vary with the way you setup it)but still have slight differences in velocity it's essential to obtain life like performances... Dynamics and # of samples per velocity are two different things...

 

[kaamosprod]

Yeah i understand.

but in fact there is two differents things, because i have two differents pb.

first, my cymbals lack of punch. too weak.

AND, it sound's too fake.

1 - So, if i push off the sd2 "random button" and put random velocities from 95 to 115, will my cymbals sounds more realistic ?

2 - the EQ boost and cuts are the only way to give more punch to my cymbals ? (deadstar spoke about parallel compression, for information i use a C4 on the drum buss and a oxford comp + a gclip)

 

[Moonlight_Seeker]

Well, parallel compression on overheads can be sexy. When I mix drums I open 3 new busses/group channels, 2 have all the drum pieces and 1 has only overheads. For the 2 "all drums" busses, one is naked, one has 2 mild compressors cuz I prefer 2 mild compressors then 1 intense. And for the overhead bus I compress it quite a lot. I tend to enjoy a long release but I never mixed like death metal with constant blast beats. But this is for a real drum, surely it cant suck too much for midi drums????

 

[Vandyn]

hp@500, cut 800, boost 8-10k (shelf). and no compression.

i'm using the erkan's samples, and this works great for me.