******I c/p this recipes a while ago, i tried organizing these settings as best as i could, but overtime I just grew indifferent about it. Keep in mind every situation(source) is different. Some of these settings are probably outdated and may be considered revolting to the original poster.*****
Kick:
joeymusicguy-waves transx multi monoKick:
load that on a kick track, load the preset "bass amp"
change the first gain to 6, the second to -6, the third to -6, and leave the 4th alone
dont adjust volume or total make up gain or you'll lose your power
pump that sucker into your master bus compressor for thump
Ermz- Waves SSL E-channel- Kick and snare work great if you turn the shelf into a bell boost. You get more definition and cut from the boosts. 300 to 500hz can be your problem areas if things are a little too muddy.
lolzgreg- Kick- Boost 60, Cut 120, Cut 480, Boost 3khz, Boost 6khz
zvish- Bass Drum EQ: meat is 80-100hz, warmth is in 200-300hz, 2.5-6khz for click
Unknown-Suggested EQ Settings for Kick drums (targeting rock and pop music genre)
You need to have a parametric equalizer in order to use the following settings below:
Cut -9dB Q=3 Center Frequency=400Hz
Boost 9dB Q=1.4 Center Frequency= 100Hz
Cut -6dB Q=1.4 Center Frequency = 50Hz
The purpose of having to cut -9dB on 400Hz is reduce the cardboard sound of the drum and to make the drum sounds more bass. Of course since you are mixing for rock and pop music, the heavy bass guitar sound should occupy the sub bass frequencies (less than 100Hz), so to make the bass guitar sound prominent (avoid muddy sounds with kick), the kick drum is cut at -6dB , Q=1.4 at a frequency of 50Hz.
Now to make the kick drum sound prominent among all instruments including the bass guitar, is to boost it at 100Hz.
Suggested Compression Settings for Kick
Personally in own music production projects, I do not compress kick in the mix because compressing it can reduce its power during the mastering stage. However if you are needing compression settings for kick drums, below are the suggestions:
1.) Set compression ratio to around 4:1
2.) Set release time to 100ms.
Kick drum compression recipes
Subtle kick drum compression
Ratio: 3:1 or 4:1
Attack: 4ms
Release: 200ms
Threshold: adjust for about 3-6dB gain reduction
More “in your face” kick drum compression
Ratio: 6:1
Attack: 3ms
Release: 200ms
Threshold: adjust for about 8-10dB gain reduction
Snare:
zvish: Snare: fat is at 120-400 hz, boxy gunners snare sound 800hz – 1.2 khz, ringing timbre (reggae) 2-4 khz, attack 4-8 khzazzxaa- Waves Rcomp for snare with Arc, electro, warm -attack=6.01, release=45.0 thresh=-30, ratio=20.05, Gain=3.0 then just use a eq and boost some frequencys to get the sound you want
JeffTD- I keep mine [attack] at about 16-20ms,(low release + low threshold = that front end smack you're talking about).
QV- slow attack - play with the release to get the amount of splash you want out of it.
deathtotaliban-try and make your attack longer than your release, this especially helps with snare drums that have a lot of ring on them
JeffTD-boosting with a narrow Q around 175 - really, really smacks you in the balls!
CJWall-I tend to favor [boost] closer to 200hz
Ermz-I like boosting around 150Hz, and making up the rest with a low shelf. Usually use Rcomp on snares. The attack is usually from 20 to 25 ms and release around 100 to 150ms or so
Seizure- I usully just Eq the ringy stuff out with 1 or 2 pretty wide notches and just boost 200/240 and 6 khz.
and then strap a URS 1975 on there with a hard knee and 5/10 attack, 50/150 release. 4;10 ratio.
punkrockacademyfightsong- waves trans-X: 8-10 db's of boost on the attack phase waves R-channel: compression attack 40-50 ms, release 20-25 ms, ratio 1:4-1:6, about 4-5 db's of compression, make it up with the output gain and hit the limiter slightly on the louder hits.
eq wise i usually roll off everything below 80 Hz, boost quite a lot around 160 for the bottom smack, notch a bit around 600 Hz to cut out some ring (if necesarry), boost around 5K with a narrow Q, so you actually hear the rim smack and sometimes a slight high shelf from 8K up. snare bottom of wich i gate and limit the hell out off, just to add a little crisp of the snare on each hit. send kick, snare and all toms to a bus with Rcomp with pretty fast attack and release times (att 4 ms, rel 15 ms), ratio around 1:3, compress abot 3 db's, gives me a nice overal punch in the drums, blend in some dry uncompressed signal to taste
Ermz- Waves SSL E-channel-Kick and snare work great if you turn the shelf into a bell boost. You get more definition and cut from the boosts. 300 to 500hz can be your problem areas if things are a little too muddy.
Unknown- I like to get 3-6dB of gain reduction for subtle snare drum compression. Reduction level is not adjusted directly. It is adjusted by lowering the threshold control until you are getting your desired reduction level.
Snare drum compressor recipes
Start here for light snare drum compression
Ratio: 4:1
Attack: 4ms
Release: 200ms
Threshold: adjust for 3-6dB gain reduction
Start here to increase the sustain for a thicker snare drum sound
Ratio: 6:1
Attack: 1ms
Release: 200ms
Threshold: adjust for 6-10dB gain reduction
Snare-
fatness at 120-240Hz
boing at 400Hz
crispness at 5kHz
snap at 10kHz
joeymusicguy- SSL E-Channel
TOP SNARE
threshold : -20 db
attack (leave fast attack off)
release : .100
ratio : 3 or 4
+9db at 8 no bell
+9db at 200 no bell
use expander to cut a little ambience if you need to, gate if its a live kit
BOTTOM SNARE
turn this one up 6 decibels LOUDER than the top snare
threshold: 0
attack (fast attack on!)
release: .100
ratio: 8:1
+3 at 8 no bell (bell if you want a rock sound)
+6 at 200 no bell
use Q1 mono on each track to cut the particular head's "ring tone", a Q of 50 or 100 will do it, -18db of cut wherever the ring is
the RVERB gives the snare body in the mix, because it produces a wide tail
lolzgreg- Snare HP@140 Boost 200, Cut 400, Boost 5k, Boost 8k
punkoroma- SSL comp/EQ(250 hertz area is KEY for punch, and add some around 10k for the high end crack/PSP vintage warmer to make the snare come alive. i blend 3 other samples over the original snare usually. You can use the same processing tips for samples too. Good Luck!
Mike
-P-E: 22 to 30ms attack, ratio and threshold to taste, whatever release sounds good.
Then a bit of SPL transient designer to boost attack and sustain just a bit works out great for me.
MorganC- SPL Attacker is a godsend. A compressor will muffle the attack somewhat, whereas SPL Attacker (or the full version) makes the attack brighter too, which means that when it comes to mastering it still sticks out.
xTomx:The body of the snare drum is usually around 130-250Hz, boost there and cut on other instruments, providing the snare is properly tuned, otherwise you'll just boost the overtones
Andy Sneap?
Snare Compression:
Try dialing in your snare comp by setting the ratio to max, then opening the attack till you get a real pop, then back the ratio back down to 2:1 or 4:1, quick release, then see how its sitting
Toms:
lolzgreg-Toms- HP@80 Boost 110, Cut 440, Boost 3k, Boost 6k (low shelving/low roll of helps a lot-frequencies decrease with drum size)Ermz- WAVES SSL E-Channel-Suck 600 to 800 and 200 to 300hz on the toms, crank the highs with a shelf, and bell boost the lows at like 70hz. Fast attack on the compressor, ratio maybe 3 or 4. Take off around 3 to 6dB, to taste. Instant fatness.
joeymusicguy- oh my god people use max bass on the toms otta just give the answer away these days i swear.
joeymusicguy-start with compression
-20 db threshold depending on the source
4:1 - 8:1 ratio
with about 10 ms attack or less (the less the attack, the bigger it seems)
and 50 - 100 ms release depending on the speed of hits on that particular song
...tom on solo, and start by dropping 800 hz using a Q of 3. if its starting to sound better, raise it back up then drop 500 hz and listen. compare the differences between these two and decide which is best...some toms benefit from dropping 400 hz too...
then for small toms, add 3db - 6db boost anywhere from 100hz - 150hz
for mid toms, 80hz - 100hz
for low toms, 60hz - 80hz
key bass frequencies for drum tones
kick: 60 - 80 hz
snare: 150 - 250 hz
hi tom: 100 - 150 hz
mid tom: 80 - 100 hz
low tom: 60 - 80 hz
popular frequencies for attack:
kick: 3khz - 8khz
snare: 5khz - 10khz
hi tom: 3khz (vintage) - 10khz (metallica)
mid tom: same
low tom: same
... definately need reverb to make the snare and the toms larger than life. if you dont, they're just compressed hits....
*notsure*-I'll mute the toms between hits, compress them a bit and also give them a boost around 4 to 6 K and a dip around 300 400hz., then you'll have to ride the hits to get them out, I'll sometimes trigger also and mix with natural sound, depends on the player really. Also I'll use a bit of room verb on there, maybe a short plate on the toms also.
Overheads/hats:
lolzgreg-Overheads- HP@500, Cut 800, Boost 8-10k (shelf)Ermz- Waves SSL E-Channel- -Hit the overheads with fast attack compression, 4:1 ratio, but VERY LIGHTLY. I'm talking barely any movement at all. Just something to add a bit of excitement.
zvish-Hi hats: sizzle 8-12k, ringing 1-6k
Room:
lolzgreg- Room- HP@120, Cut 500, LP@8kErmz- Slam the living shit out of the room. Like 10 to 20dB, all buttons in on an 1176 style plug-in if you have one. This will effectively turn the room mics into reverb ambiance. Just a wash of awesomeness to fill out the back and add air. Use the mid and far field room mics too. Throw the snare into them - no need for anything else.
-Consider cutting the cymbals and hats from the room mics a fair bit. Also consider cutting the hats from OHs if you need. EQ to taste. Then slowly bring it up into the back of your drum mix. It will unify everything and virtually negate the need for a reverb.
-Kicks sometimes like a 50 or 60hz sinewave side-chain gated to them. Just enough to fill out the subs. If I'm not mistaken, Randy is still fond of this. It's a similar thing to using Joey's harmonic enhancement suggestion.
Drums:
- Jarkko Mattheiszen-
All drum tracks are sent to Drums bus and Drums Paracomp bus.
- Drums Paracomp is mutilated with a compressor and sent to Drums bus.
- Room tracks (and OH's if needed) are also sent to Room Paracomp bus and smashed to hell and back, preferably with a 1176 variant, and then sent to Drums bus.
- Snare and toms (and kick if needed) are also sent to Drums Reverb bus, processed with a nice plate or room verb and sent to Drums bus.
- Apply some mild compression on the Drums buss, slow attack, fast release, just 1 or 2 dB GR.
- Mix and match. Leave the smashed buses on minimum (or out) if you want a clean sound, bring up the Room Paracomp and Drums Paracomp to give things some dirty mojo.
-cut out some highs from the Drums Paracomp bus or things will get messy and the attack of the drumkit gets fucked up.
lepersmeesa- The chain usually is gate, compressor, eq.
lolzgreg-
Compression for most individual drums:
-15 Threshold
4:1 Ratio
15ms Attack
80ms Release (for metal IMHO)
Make up gain is up to you
Subtractive eq before compression, additive after.
Use reverb on toms/snare with nice pre-delay.
Send Kick/Snare/Toms/Cymbals/Rooms to different busses. Limit and clip there if needed.
Cut out silence between tom hits and fade nicely.
The most important thing is to close your eyes and raise and lower compression attack and release. You'll know where you like it best with your ears. I just like those settings the most.
Room- HP@120, Cut 500, LP@8k
Slate(pertaining SSD drums): I'll send the NRG Room, the SSD Room (for this kit only the snare was in the SSD Room), and all the cymbals minus the hi hat to a bus or group. On this group I'll add a FET compressor at 4:1, medium to slow attack and very fast release. I'll take off about 4-6 db. Now the cymbals decay has been brought out, and the room's character is really enhanced.
Next, I'll add the group back in with the kick, snare, and toms. This combined drum mix will go to ANOTHER compressor, again I like FET 1176 style, and I'll use a very slow attack to let a lot of the transient in, and a very fast release, with about 4 db of compression.
So now the drums are really sounding big, and the resonances and room tones are more present. . Last, the whole drum mix (along with the rest of the mix if this were in a song) go to a VCA mixbuss comp. Medium slow attack, fast release, and just moving the needle a bit to glue the bottom a bit and add some upper midrange focus.
dwdrums- -blend with sample/s
-boost/cut frequencies
-compression
-transient designer [snare]
-better drum/head/tuning/player
smy1-All the drums were panned positioned the following way:
KD: C
SD-T: C
SD-B: C
RT1: L35
RT2: L15
RT3: R35
FT1: R50
FT2: R56
HH: L59
OH: L82/R82
AMB: L82/R82
"drum ambience" aux to create a front/back feel.
Kick: no verb
Snare: goes to Snare Plate with long pre-delay for added "tail"
HiHat: no verb (it's right next to you)
Racktom 1: a good amount of plate
Racktom 2: a bit more plate than Racktom 1 because it usually is a bit further from the drummer
Racktom 3: a bit less plate than Racktom 2, cause it is a bit closer than 2, but further than 1
Floortom 1: a lot less plate than Racktom 2, even less than Racktom 1, because it is closer to the drummer
Floortom 2: almost no plate, because it is closest
OHs: also got some plate, because they are not very close to the drummer either
Guitars:
the basher-
Frequency wise it's usually around 8-10 khz for the air 4-6 khz for the bite area, usually 1.5 khz for the in your face effect, 400hz for the note of the guitar, and around 70-100 hz to pick out the weight of the cab.The boost amount just depends on what has been recorded, just turn it till it sounds good. This method has worked on many albums i have worked on including Heartwork Carcass, Burn my eyes Machine Head, Chimaira self titled, Bullet for my valentine, The Poison.
Andy- I'll usually filter from 60 hz down, what I do use alot on gtrs these days is the C4 Compressor with PT's with just the low mids compressing and compress that area between 120- 300, that really pulls the gtrs into shape and stops any low end jumping round, if you have your mac linked to internet and C4 comp, I'll gladly send you the preset.
With your gtrs filter from 60/80 hz down and also from 12 k up, see if that helps.
Gtrs I'll only compress if they are a little out of control with the low mids, I'll use a bandwidth compressor and compress around that 160/250hz problem area and leave the rest alone. Hope this helps and good luck.
Unknown?-Acoustic Guitar: 80-120 for weight, boom 200-300, clarity 2-5, 5-10 sparkle
Electric Guitar: can vary a lot! Hp 80 always, warmth 125-250, crisp 3-5 and to get ultra crisp slash style, get a harmonic enhancer out.
Bass Guitar: weight 80-100 warmth 100-300 attack (boxy) 500-1500, jangly :2-5k boost, airy tone 2k high shelf
SOURCE ATTACK RELEASE RATIO HARD/SOFT GAIN RED
Acc guitar 5 - 10ms 0.5s/Auto 5 - 10:1 Soft/Hard 5 - 12dB
Elec guitar 2 - 5ms 0.5s/Auto 8:1 Hard 5 - 15dB
Shadow Walker- OK , just for you guys, cause you keep me entertained, heres the Loomis settings from the nevermore album
Silicon / Bold
Master 10 oclock, presence 12.30, bass 11.30, mid 10 o clock, treble 11.30 , gain 12.30
Red Channel
Tube screamer drive 9 oclock, tone 10 o clock, level 12 o clock
This was a brand new dual, out the box.
This was through a standard 75 wt Marshall cab and a gtr with emgs, obviously it's never going to sound the same, and don't take these settings as gospel, just try them see if they get you in the ball park
Hope this helps
Dandelium- Just hipass at 120Hz; lowpass at 11khz.
-Waves REq 6 bands: hp on 96hz 1.41Q; -4.4dB on 608hz 0.49Q; +3.7dB on 11396hz 0.80Q; lp on 14778hz 1.41Q
BenVesco-
The kick drum big three: boom, smack, click
These are three key elements that can be used to describe the sound of a kick drum.
Boom is where the low end thud of the kick drum comes from. You can find a cleaner, modern sound boosting around the 50-60Hz area. A more traditional, ringing boom will be found a bit higher, perhaps in the 100Hz range. I typically use a normal, peaking band for the boom but you can experiment with a low shelving band here if your kick drum is lacking girth. Be careful not to overdo it with the shelf though, things can get blurry fast in the sub frequency ranges.
Smack is the primary attack of the kick drum. This is the frequency range that helps the ear identify individual kick drum hits. I like to start my search for smack in the 3-5kHz range. Microphones specifically tailored to kick drums will often have a bit of a presence bump somewhere in this range. I always use a peaking band for the smack and keep the Q parameter in the 1 to 1.5 range.
Click is exactly what you think it is. At first thought you might not attribute click as a quality desired in a kick drum sound. Click works in conjunction with smack to help bring a kick drum through a dense mix. This is the sound of the beater actually hitting the drum head. You can find the click up around the 6-8kHz range. A peaking band works well on the click (Q around 1.5) but a high shelf can be used to enhance the bleed of the snare wires in the kick drum mic.
Mud is not one of the big three because it is a bad thing! We want the opposite of mud in our mix, especially on the kick drum. You remove some of the mud and clean up your kick drum sound by cutting a thin band in the 250-300Hz range. I will often use a peaking band with the Q set to around 3.
Kick drum big three eq quick chart
More boom (modern) +6dB at 50Hz
More boom (solid, classic) +6dB at 100Hz
More smack (attack) +7dB at 3.5kHz
More click (beater) +6dB at 6.0kHz
Kick drum eq recipes
Start here to get a solid, full kick drum sound with plenty of click
Band 1: +6dB at 55Hz
Band 2: -9dB at 275Hz (narrow)
Band 3: +7dB at 3.7kHz
Band 4: +8dB at 6.2kHz shelf
Start here to get a more traditional kick drum sound
Band 1: +6dB at 100Hz
Band 2: -10dB at 800Hz (narrow)
Band 3: +6dB at 1.5kHz
Band 4: +6dB at 7.0kHz shelf
Start here to get a ringy bottom end with less attack
Band 1: +6dB at 100Hz
Band 2: -5dB at 250Hz (narrow)
Band 3: +3dB at 4.0kHz
Band 4: +3dB at 10.0kHz shelf
Pulse describes the part of the snare drum that smacks you in the chest and makes you want to dance. Another good word for this part of the sound is body. You can often get some extra pulse out of the drum boosting as low as 100Hz but that can start to affect the kick drum and bass sounds so I like to look a little higher. You can get some clean pulse out of your snare drum by looking in the 200-400Hz area. I like using a regular peaking band of eq to boost the pulse. A Q setting (bandwidth) of about 1.0 should be fine. If you don’t get quite enough pulse out of the snare drum you can try making the band a bit wider (lower Q, higher bandwidth).
Smack should work in conjunction with the pulse to really help identify the snare drum hit within the mix. Some other common descriptions would be bang or crack. You will find most of your snare drum’s smack around 900Hz-2.0kHz. A peaking band works well here and I will often reduce the bandwidth (Q) to 1.5 or so. A narrower bandwidth here can help pinpoint the smack without taking up too much space in the already crowded and vital midrange frequencies.
Wires are exactly what they describe. The snare wires under the drum help to give it much of its characteristic buzz. The snare wires can be found in the 3-5kHz region. A narrower bandwidth can work well here just as in the smack band (see above). While bringing out the snare wires can help the drum sound very exciting, you will have to be careful not to overdo it. This frequency can get buzzy and fatiguing in a hurry. Be sure to evaluate the sound of the drum the way it sounds in your recording. Many snare drums will naturally accentuate the wires enough that you won’t have to boost them. If you have recorded your snare using a dual mic technique (see below) then you might do all the boosting of wire sounds on the bottom snare mic.
Head is just what it sounds like, the head of the drum. Imagine the sound of a snare played with a brush. That swishing sound of the brush is the timbre I mean when talking about the head sound of the snare drum. Played with brush or stick, your snare drum still makes a head sound in the 6-10kHz range. Boosting this frequency can give a lot of extra texture to your snare drum sound. A peaking band will often do plenty of work for you but you can try high shelving band too.
Snare drum big four quick eq chart
More pulse (body) +4dB at 200Hz
More smack (bang) +3dB at 2kHz
More wires (buzz) +6dB at 5kHz
More head (texture) +6dB at 7kHz
To eliminate kick drum bleed and rumble use a high pass band at 80Hz
Snare drum eq recipes
Start here for subtle snare drum shaping with mild cut through
Band 1: 150Hz high pass
Band 2: +3dB at 200Hz
Band 3: +4dB at 4.0kHz
Band 4: +4dB at 7.0kHz
Start here for a solid, traditional snare drum sound
Band 1: +5dB at 250Hz
Band 2: +6dB at 2.0kHz
Band 3: +4dB at 5.0kHz
Band 4: +8dB at 10kHz
Start here for a snare drum sound with a thick body and smooth top
Band 1: +6dB at 180Hz
Band 2: +4dB at 250Hz
Band 3: -4dB at 800Hz (adds clarity)
Band 4: +6 at 3.0kHz
Band 5: +8 at 7.0kHz
Start here for a deep and punchy snare drum sound
Band 1: 80Hz high pass
Band 2: +9dB at 200Hz
Band 3: +3dB at 2.5kHz
Band 4: +1dB at 3.5kHz
Band 5: +8dB at 8.0kHz
Thank you to everyone that posted. I hope some of you find this useful.
