Working with programmed drums

[Heabow]

Lately, I had to buy some new packs for EZ drummer as I have some mixing sessions to come with e-kits or programmed drums - which I don't like at all tbh. I usually bounce every pieces + room and I bounce separately hihats, cymbals and ride as I do when I track real drums. Pretty classic actually. But even with Metal Machine, Metalheads and Metal!*, I cannot get good overheads. They always sound very fizzy, thin and simply unpleasant. Mixing them is a real fight to get them sit well both with the drums and in the mix. As I heard pretty good stuff with EZ/SD here, I wonder if I do something wrong or if some of you could recommand me more realistic cymbals I could use within EZ Drummer.

* I didn't mention the Staub pack - which sound dirtier and better to me - because the metal bands usually are not very down to earth and "play" absolutely ALL the available cymbals in MM for example and I don't want to rewrite the overheads parts to fit a smaller (realistic?) kit if I don't get extra payment for this.​

Edit - If you want audio examples, check out my two threads My current mix (used Metal! + Metalheads for the ride) and My latest work (I received the cymbals in audio files, so I didn't use my sound banks)

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

The EZX's, and particularly the metal-oriented ones, tend to basically be already eq'd sufficiently for the mix most of the time, at least in my experience. All I usually do is high-pass them and make small cuts where the snare/kick are, and maybe boost the super-high frequencies with a small shelf, then mix the room mic in with if the cymbals don't have enough body. But if you're doing a bunch of EQ work you may be overdoing it and making them too treble-y. The Superior Avatar cymbals are much more natural sounding and need more work, but if you were willing to pay for the crossgrade (it's pretty cheap for what you get), you could tailor them more to your liking.

I'm far from the world's greatest engineer, but I used Metal! on the first of these and Metal Machine on the second:




But hey, maybe mine suck and I just don't realize it

 

[crillemannen]

Well you will always struggle to get sampled drums sit in the mix more then real ones. It's just something about the separation, that it's to good.actually With real drums you get separation and glue through all mic's + automation. I think some MM cymbals sounds fine and the good old avatar cymbals although you can recognize them in any mix if you're used of them. I usually use more saturation on midi drums then real just to dirty them up a bit, there just to clean to begin with.

Here is one of my better mixes with midi drums i think it is MM cymbals, reamped/mixed/mastered:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5djioAOsbw4

 

[Deadstar]

Well, i think metalheads Oh are too thin /fizzy too. Also metal! cymbals sound very bad IMO. I always end up using Metal Machine or Metal Foundry Cymbals if I really have to use programmed drums. CLA expasion for SSD has the best cymbals I ever heard though they're not always a perfect fit for heavy productions.

 

[Heabow]

It's just something about the separation, that it's to good.actually With real drums you get separation and glue through all mic's + automation. (...) I usually use more saturation on midi drums then real just to dirty them up a bit, there just to clean to begin with.

Can't listen to your clip right now but I will! Yes, I add tons of saturation to make them sound less clean but the character is still the same. I also tried to play with reverbs to simulate the bleed and glue the kit but it just blurred the mix.