Mixing output from Superior Drummer(47 audio outs)

[ElDiablo1878]

Hey guys,
I got audio files from a band I'm helping mix.The screenshot shows the files for 1 song for drums only. It's got 47 different files(the ones in the attachment and 3 more snare top cond close, snare top dyn bleed and snare top dyn close.

The projects ive mixed earlier had perhaps 16 channels worth but thats about it.

Superior seems to isolate the bleed and close mic. The 'ambiance' files I guess are room mic simulations.

I'd love to hear how you guys would approach mixing something like this.

I'm considering splitting into 4 main groups
The close mic(isolated hits)
Room
Overheads
Bleed mics(although I'm not sure what to do with it except bring it up slightly when need things tg lue together)

Some parts also have condenser/dynamic micing options.

Should i go less is more and not use some files?

Your advise is much appreciated.

 

[Manicompression]

I wouldn't feel compelled to use all of that. I would just use the close mics and know that if you want some bleed or room tracks they are available.

Even if the band recorded drums in a proper studio and sent over the files, as a mixer you can choose to not use some of whats been recorded. From what I've read over the years in SOS that seems like normal protocol. Why didn't they just send over the MIDI file is my question? Less is definitely more in terms of building your drum structure from something like that.

 

[ElDiablo1878]

I wouldn't feel compelled to use all of that. I would just use the close mics and know that if you want some bleed or room tracks they are available.

Even if the band recorded drums in a proper studio and sent over the files, as a mixer you can choose to not use some of whats been recorded. From what I've read over the years in SOS that seems like normal protocol. Why didn't they just send over the MIDI file is my question? Less is definitely more in terms of building your drum structure from something like that.

I was expecting that question - they want me to work with the audio files for some reasons I'd rather not get into, working with audio is fine by me. I'm probably going to use trigger to blend in some samples in either case. It does make life more difficult for me but what the hey.

I do appreciate the advise. Thats probably what i'm going to do in terms of using the close mics and blending in room and bleed slowly (add to taste).

I'm still trying to read up on condernser vs dynamic mics for drums and how to mix them separately

 

[mva801]

Can't they re-bounce it from Superior in a more concise manner? Why the hell are the bleed files separate? I didn't even know it could do that.

You don't need to read up on anything about condenser vs. dynamic on drums. Pull both those files in, and blend them in whatever way makes them sound good. It's quite common practice to use a dynamic and condenser on a kick or snare. The condensor is usually a little more focused on the high end and the dynamic on the mids/ upper miss. just blend to taste. I wouldn't even import the bleed tracks.

 

[Machinated]

don't feel like you need to use ALL of the micing options. having the close mics and bleed separated is an option in superior, if the music's quite heavy then it can be quite nice to process the close mics without worrying about the effect it has on the bleed.

I mix the close mics like normal and bus all the bleed channels straight to the drum bus. they're great for adding cohesion to the drum sound. Other than that, I'd just pick which mic's you like the sound of and delete the ones you don't need. really its a production decision, not a mixing one, but whatever, its 2015.

 

[ElDiablo1878]

Can't they re-bounce it from Superior in a more concise manner? Why the hell are the bleed files separate? I didn't even know it could do that.

You don't need to read up on anything about condenser vs. dynamic on drums. Pull both those files in, and blend them in whatever way makes them sound good. It's quite common practice to use a dynamic and condenser on a kick or snare. The condensor is usually a little more focused on the high end and the dynamic on the mids/ upper miss. just blend to taste. I wouldn't even import the bleed tracks.

Thanks man, I guess its supposed to help me not gate it out

Good to know about condenser vs dynamic, you guys are basically saying what my gut was telling me but i doubted myself...first time im working with superior so i figured maybe the entire industry uses these many files..I'm just gonna do what i usually do with acoustic files

 

[ElDiablo1878]

don't feel like you need to use ALL of the micing options. having the close mics and bleed separated is an option in superior, if the music's quite heavy then it can be quite nice to process the close mics without worrying about the effect it has on the bleed.

I mix the close mics like normal and bus all the bleed channels straight to the drum bus. they're great for adding cohesion to the drum sound. Other than that, I'd just pick which mic's you like the sound of and delete the ones you don't need. really its a production decision, not a mixing one, but whatever, its 2015.

I think this is exactly what i was thinking so thanks for the reply, good to know i was on the right path

 

[Fluffbot]

Sorry to go a bit tangental, but total noob question here: you can bounce out the ride/cymbals onto a separate track? I have been limiting myself to them being all in the Overhead track with the Hihat on a separate one. I always thought I was fairly well-versed in SD2 but I didn't know about this. How do you assign a separate out for say a ride cymbal?

Also as far as your situation goes I also recommend keeping it as simple as possible, separate bleed tracks for every track seems like a goddamn nightmare.

 

[ElDiablo1878]

Sorry to go a bit tangental, but total noob question here: you can bounce out the ride/cymbals onto a separate track? I have been limiting myself to them being all in the Overhead track with the Hihat on a separate one. I always thought I was fairly well-versed in SD2 but I didn't know about this. How do you assign a separate out for say a ride cymbal?

Also as far as your situation goes I also recommend keeping it as simple as possible, separate bleed tracks for every track seems like a goddamn nightmare.

I have no idea how they did it but its pretty useful thats for sure....

I was playing around with it yesterday and didnt really find much use for the bleed tracks. Does anyone ever use bleed tracks?

 

[mva801]

I have no idea how they did it but its pretty useful thats for sure....

I was playing around with it yesterday and didnt really find much use for the bleed tracks. Does anyone ever use bleed tracks?

They bounced the files from inside Superior instead of printing the outputs to audio tracks. There's a bounce tab right there next to the settings and groove mapping, if you click on it there's a checkbox for separating the bleed tracks and/or the overheads. That's why I was asking if they could just go in and re-bounce it without that option checked. Forgot you could even do that until I opened it yesterday.

There's usually only a little bit of bleed on some of the tracks by default. I don't know why anyone would want to mix all of the bleed tracks separately. Like I said, I probably wouldn't even import them and just use the overheads/ rooms for the cohesion of the kit. Simplify and destroy.

 

[ElDiablo1878]

They bounced the files from inside Superior instead of printing the outputs to audio tracks. There's a bounce tab right there next to the settings and groove mapping, if you click on it there's a checkbox for separating the bleed tracks and/or the overheads. That's why I was asking if they could just go in and re-bounce it without that option checked. Forgot you could even do that until I opened it yesterday.

There's usually only a little bit of bleed on some of the tracks by default. I don't know why anyone would want to mix all of the bleed tracks separately. Like I said, I probably wouldn't even import them and just use the overheads/ rooms for the cohesion of the kit. Simplify and destroy.

yea definitely agree, i find that with drums the more tracks , the more messy it gets for me

 

[ElDiablo1878]

FYI, I didn't end up using the bleed tracks in my first mix.

I was trying to get superior to sound as big as possible to see what is possible before i start mixing.

This is what my first pass at getting a bigger drum sound sounds like

Original superior sound
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Z_kj_l10ixSTV0WU1XMU1YTTA/view?usp=sharing

With some processing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Z_kj_l10ixRWxJWlFRWGNRS1k/view?usp=sharing