Drum Mixing question for the seasoned veterans!

[cliftonmiles]

Today I began tracking a single with a young band here locally. The drummer was pretty good, and after they left I edited the drums pretty intensly by hand in Pro Tools. It's not drum machine perfect but its damn close.

After this I started working on a nice kick and snare sample from his kit. I want for the band to have a general idea of what Im going for with there drum mix by tommorow when we start tracking guitars and bass.

This got me thinking about the future of this mix and what I want it to sound like in the end...
As a beginner I am still finding my own techniques and preferences and style, so as part of my learning I do quite a bit of A/B referencing to mixes by Zeuss, Adam D, Bendeth etc...

I think for this particular band I want to give a shot at a mix similar to Zeuss' latest work with the Acacia Strain.

Here is my reference mix:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4755700/02 The Hills Have Eyes.mp3

I absolutly love the drum mix. It sounds enormous. All of the drums are very "in your face" and up front.

Here is what I have:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4755700/BTG_Drum Mix.mp3
All I have is a scratch track (a sloppy one) and the fresh edited drums. There is a home made sample on the kick and snare. I am thinking my kick may be a bit too "clicky" for this type of metal. I am diggin' the snare though....
Overall the sounds are close to how I want them, not final obviously, but the drums just sound so FLAT!

So heres the big question:

Without mention of the fact that we are listening to a better band, and a mastered final version of this particular song...

How does one get from where i am, to a hugeslammin' up front in-your-face drum mix?
Drum Busses? Compressors? Limiters? More reverb?

Thank you for your time.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

good god you quantized those drums, they are still SO far out of time its not even funny. Among other typical things in amateur drummers, he didn't hit shit like he had a pair, and it sounds like hes merely tapping the cymbals. Hate to say it but they need to be re-recorded and he needs to hit a hell of a lot harder.

Even if he plays better, you have to have a good setup. Drums have to be tuned correctly, mic'd up correctly, tracking levels have to be set correctly, then add the sample library that you will blend into the original (or even completely sample replace.

You have to play with conviction to hear conviction, and thats just not the case with your current takes. You could be the best engineer in the world, if the drummer sucks, your mixes won't sound too hot.

 

[JamesNorman]

Yeah firstley retract the cymbals sound like they are being stroked, the key to a good drum mix, to get it good at the source, retract and make the drummer hit his drums.

 

[sk8ersick666]

i can't really hear many cymbals transients so i don't know if this would work but i'm usually able to take drum mixes from "pretty good" to "holy shit" with some compression to a separate aux bus...i usually route my drum mix (minus the kick) to a separate track and compress the beejezus outta it..then use the fader to mix it in.

 

[plague_rider]

Really hate drummers who sound like they're touching up the drum kit...

for the kit to sound awesome, the raw recording has to have balls!!!

I saw an interview with Kevin Talley once, he said to imagine your beating the drumkit like your ex-gf (not that i condone putting one upside a chick, but y'know, adam D says the same about pinches)

I'm not ripping on you at all for what you've done so far... simply expressing an opinion, its why i favour drummers into old school thrash

You may want to consider replacing the samples...

and for future reference... piss off the drummer before he records...

 

[Sam Bottner]

I'm not into the kick at all and he is off time even with the editing. Rerecord.

 

[cliftonmiles]

Which parts do you hear that are off time?

Its unusual tempos, and they switch back and forth.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Which parts do you hear that are off time?

Its unusual tempos, and they switch back and forth.

erm, its even if you have constant changing tempos, hes still way the hell off on his timing.