Panning/Mixing drums
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Posted on Dec 02, 2008 09:46 am
JDOD
Brother Number One
Member Since: Jan 22, 2008
At present I always use drum loops (not sure whether thats particularly relevant) but I was wondering how everyone else pans and mixes drumss. At present I just find an acceptable volume and leave the whole kit in the centre. Does anyone do anything different? pan parts of the kit in different places or give differnt drums different levels? ANyone add any effects to drums.
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Dec 02, 2008 09:51 am I try to duplicate the sound if I was standing in front of it...having the snare and hihat a little bit off to the right, the toms going across from right to left and cymbals scattered about.
I have found it adds a lot, particularly in tom rolls and such as you can hear the sound of the roll moving across the stereo image.
I never pan anything hard one way or another, just subtle, but enough to be heard if you are paying attention.
As far as levels, I again, just try to duplicate reality with their levels compared to each other, then bus them into a sub group and control the over-all level with the group fader.
JDODBrother Number OneMember
Since: Jan 22, 2008
Dec 02, 2008 10:17 am That sounds cool, pretty much what I'm planning on doing anyway.
I'm not sure if you can have REAPER open twice at teh same time (I think you can) I want to have it open on one screen for building up my beats etc and mixing them then adding them into a project on the other screan. Also, not sure if you can copy and paste from one REAPER window to another, in fact it would be nice to divide up the project itself into two windows purely for this sort of thing.
Dec 02, 2008 10:41 am Yeah, I pan like dB does. But also make it relevant to if I want it to sound like I'm sitting with the drummer or in front of him. Usually, it's not the latter. But, I do like to take the over heads at least and pan them hard left and hard right. Since they are a general picture of the kit, it really widens them up.
If I'm not happy with the room sound, I'll bus them out to a reverb. And then also, if I am going to compress them at all, I'll do a parallel bus type compression instead of inline. Just seems to fatten them up instead of squashing the crap out of them.
Dec 02, 2008 10:42 am With overheads, yeah, I'd agree with that, since I mostly use drum sequencing, well, overheads aren't a concern of mine personally, which explains me excluding them from my technique(s) :-)
BeerHunterwww.TheLondonProject.caMember
Since: Feb 07, 2005
Dec 02, 2008 11:12 am I pretty much do the same thing... pan according to how it would sound standing in front of the kit. However, I will pan OH's and room mics hard l/r and I will exaggerate the toms by panning about 60% or so to get a cool stereo image during fills.
JDODBrother Number OneMember
Since: Jan 22, 2008
Dec 02, 2008 11:46 am I suppose it doesn't matter which way round you pan the kit? Couldn't you just assume the drummer is left handed?
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Dec 02, 2008 12:09 pm I think that's totally up to you. Depends on whether you want to be in front of the kit or behind the kit. I don't really notice much of a pattern when I listen to commercial CDs.
Personally, I usually pan it as if I'm sitting behind the kit.
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Dec 02, 2008 12:13 pm I tend to treat the snare and kick as the center and align my OH's based off that imaginary line. Also, I mix as if looking at the kit from an audience perspective.
Kick - 0
Snare - 0
OH's - Anywhere from 50-100 panned left\right.
Toms - I experimented with making this sound natural for quite some time. I had my drummer do a bunch of rolls on a 5 piece and then we sat and panned until it sounded right. We ended up with...
Floor Tom - L25
Rack Tom - L5
High Tom - R15
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
Dec 02, 2008 06:36 pm i think leftys just play the hats wid da left hand but leave the hats on the right though.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Dec 02, 2008 09:19 pm Nope. lefties play from the left. I'm an Ambi and can play both from the left or right. Now I just wish I could learn to play guitar left handed. Maybe I'd be better at it. :-0
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
Dec 02, 2008 11:09 pm hmm, i've never seen a lefty on the drums then.
oh man, that would be sore for the brain.
more so than a lefty on guitar i reckon.
I've tried it, forget it, man its hard on the head, and im a but of a ambi myself, not in this case though for sure.
