Job offer: Drum editing

[jimbo09]

Hey everyone, long time reader/lurker here...

I'm working on an 8-song metal production that's in need of some drum editing. I already started working with a drum editor from this forum, but his main production project is taking over all of his free time. He was only able to edit 1 song before his availability ran out, so I'm searching for someone that can step in and finish the project.

So, with one song already done, I now have drums for 7 songs that need quantized, dynamics evened out (particularly on kick and snare), and fills/rolls edited to sound their best. The drums were tracked under the gun and the drummer isn't consistent, so there are some tempo and dynamics issues.

Here are the tracks that were recorded:

• Kick (inside)
• Kick Trigger
• Snare Top 1 (SM57)
• Snare Top 2 (i5)
• Snare Bottom
• Snare Trigger
• Rack Tom Top
• Rack Tom Bottom
• Rack Tom Trigger
• Floor Tom Top
• Floor Tom Bottom
• Floor Tom Trigger
• Hi-Hats
• Ride
• Overhead L
• Overhead R
• Room Mono
• Room Figure8

Kit is a 4-piece (kick, snare, high rack tom, floor tom). Genre is melodic death metal, I suppose (think In Flames-ish riffs), but the drums are more classic metal... no crazy fast double kicks here and nothing machine gun-ish. We are going for a more organic drum sound, so we want the drums to not sound too artificial, either in tone or playing.

The band is on a tight budget, but they also aren't aren't in need of a rush job with a tight deadline... there's plenty of room to work here.

If interested, drop me a PM here with your rate, either per-track or for the entire project. I'd like to do a single track first to test the waters (for both of us), and then do the remaining tracks if both sides are happy.

Hit me up if there are any questions. Thanks!
Patrick

EDIT: Ignore the request for evening out the dynamics. I was under the idea that was commonplace in drum editing.

 

[zer0_c00l]

PM'ed!

 

[JeffTD]

Just curious... what does "dynamics evened out" entail? Drum editing doesn't usual mean anything other than quantization and maybe midi creation and/or spot mic clean-up - dynamics processing is a mix issue. I'm curious because I've gotten this request from a few people and nobody seems to be able to describe it in a way that makes sense for editors to do.

 

[RedDog]

^ probably midi'ing out without flatlining velocities.

 

[jimbo09]

JeffTD: It could just be ignorance and lack of experience with outsourced drum editing on my part (this is the first project I've ever had someone edit the drums), but I thought that drum editing either did or could involve evening out inconsistent hits.

When it comes to wild dynamics like this, you can squash the life out of them with a single compressor, tame them with a series of compressors, or even them out manually and do most of the work so that the compressor doesn't have to work as hard. I've had better experiences with the latter. Certain quantization programs, such as Melodyne, have the ability to increase the amplitude of specific hits. After that, you can throw on a mild SSL- or VCA-type compressor to give it a little thump, and it'll still retain most of it's life. It's not ideal, of course, but nothing's really ideal other than the player nailing it in the first take... and we know how rarely that happens, haha.

So, yeah, it can be handled in the mix stage and treated as a mix issue, but I just figured it was something drum editors regularly did based on my own approach to doing drum edits. And like I said, that could just be flat out wrong on my part.

 

[zer0_c00l]

You could also make a one-shot hard hit sample from the kit itself to trigger and blend with the hits later.

 

[Skinny Viking]

So, yeah, it can be handled in the mix stage and treated as a mix issue, but I just figured it was something drum editors regularly did based on my own approach to doing drum edits. And like I said, that could just be flat out wrong on my part.

I'll only do that stuff if I've also been hired to replace the drums after editing. I've also gotten this request a few times and was given much the same answer. Doing that is based more in mix decisions, should be treated and quoted as an additional service

 

[jimbo09]

It makes sense, good to know. Thanks for the reply, Skinny Viking. Do most drum editors feel this way as well?

 

[Melb_shredder]

It makes sense, good to know. Thanks for the reply, Skinny Viking. Do most drum editors feel this way as well?

I'll jump in and take an educated guess at yes

 

[DanLights]

Yeah, "evening out dynamics" is part of the mix, I wouldn't do it if I weren't doing the whole mix. That said, I will pm you with my rates.

 

[JeffTD]

Yeah, that evening dynamics part is just not an editing thing. If it were like "oh fix this one weak snare hit between 8 other super hard hits by copy/pasting from another part" then that's one thing, but adjusting region gain per-part is a bit nutty.

 

[mstone564]

I think evening out the dynamics is entirely dependent on how consistent the drummer is while tracking. No other workaround IMO.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I think evening out the dynamics is entirely dependent on how consistent the drummer is while tracking. No other workaround IMO.

there's no "not smug / not full of myself" way to say that opinion is wrong

but it does cost extra

 

[Skinny Viking]

It makes sense, good to know. Thanks for the reply, Skinny Viking. Do most drum editors feel this way as well?

anyone I know does ... thats all I can really say for sure

 

[zer0_c00l]

jimbo, did you get to see my PM? just checking because I saw you posting and you didn't answered it.

I also asked about those dynamics issue so, yeah, I also felt that way about it.

 

[jimbo09]

Hey zer0_c00l, I did get your PM. Thanks for dropping me a line -- sorry I haven't replied yet. I received a bunch of PM's from the folks here, so I'm gathering them all and seeing what's the best fit for the band. I'll follow up with you shortly.