Songwriters who are new to producing - and some who are not so new - often do not understand how IMPORTANT drums are to the overall sound of a song.
So...let's talk about that a little.
We grow up writing songs on our guitars (typically). So what we hear is our song with guitar. Voice and guitar. That's what matters, we think. "Yeah, that's how I wrote it!"
That's great. BUT... That is seldom how a "radio song" is produced.
Guitar players (writers) don't even HEAR drums in a song, generally. They only hear the guitars. Because that is what they know. And their guitars are, quite often, too loud in a full mix. I often tell people "the drums could be a bit louder". And "old guys" often say "I don't like loud drums".
If you stopped listening to music around 1979 (which a lot of "old guys" did), then you likely don't "get" drums. Music prior to that had pretty wimpy drums compared to today's music. A lot of people continue to listen to only the music they grew up on (if at all).
Since then, drums have been getting louder. And louder. And LOUDER.
But 1979 guys still don't hear them. They are GUITAR GUYS.
Get a current record (or any made in the last 20 years) and put it on your iPod (if you have one). Or find a new record on YouTube (or any streaming service) and listen to the whole thing - with headphones or earbuds. Anything after 1990. And PAY ATTENTION to the drums. Listen to the record ONLY listening for the drums. After a while you should finally "get it". It is ALL ABOUT THE DRUMS (and a little about the bass).
START your mix with DRUMS. Get them LOUD. Then add your bass. Get it to play nicely with your drums. Then add your vocal. You can have had all your other instruments involved earlier to track your vocals... but after that, do your FIRST FULL MIX with just DRUM, BASS and VOCAL. THAT should sound really good. Then add those other things - guitars, piano, mandolin, strings... UNDER that basic track of DRUMS-BASS-VOCAL. Add them one at a time. Let them "add some flavor", not "take over". Drums, bass and vocal should rule.
When you get everything you want in there (your mix, that is), if you are "hitting the red", mute the drums. Likely you will no longer be in the red. If that is the case, don't worry about it. I know that will cause a flurry of "rules guys" to start citing those rules they live by, but most of those rules are held over from analog tape days. If the cause is the snap of that snare, who cares? You likely will not hear any distortion from it - it's a fraction of a second. It will not distort everything else. Give it a try and see. And, that little bit of red on the snare can actually give it a small amount of "warmth" - even in the digital world.
Give it a try. Pick a song that you have mixed that might have the drums low. And TURN 'em UP! One way to accomplish that is the simple make a duplicate copy of the drum track and add it in. If that is TOO loud (unlikely), turn that one down a bit...
(Guitar guys often mix pianos too low, too... but that is a different discussion...)
What do you mean there is more to music than a guitar?
Seriously I agree with you. The hardest thing for me was to actually listen to other instruments when mixing a song. I was so used to either listening to the guitar and/or the chord progression. Of course the guitar is still the main instrument but the other instruments deserve some space, I guess.
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START your mix with DRUMS. Get them LOUD. Then add your bass. Get it to play nicely with your drums. Then add your vocal. You can have had all your other instruments involved earlier to track your vocals... but after that, do your FIRST FULL MIX with just DRUM, BASS and VOCAL. THAT should sound really good. Then add those other things - guitars, piano, mandolin, strings... UNDER that basic track of DRUMS-BASS-VOCAL. Add them one at a time. Let them "add some flavor", not "take over". Drums, bass and vocal should rule.
floyd,
I've never tried the above approach before! I'll definitely give it a shot with the present song I'm working on. Thank you for taking time to write your thoughts down.
For what it's worth, part of my plan of attack with mixing is that I always listen to tracks in pairs to make sure that there are no audio conflicts that need resolving. For example: bass + drums; bass + guitar 1; bass + piano; guitar 1 + piano; etc. While the above takes a little time, I find that it's time well spent. Also, low frequency audio clashes such as those that can occur between bass and drums, and piano (or guitar) and bass, can seriously impact the overall quality of the arrangement/production.
Regards, Noel
P.S. I think I'm one of those 1979 guys (maybe earlier even)!
Good info floyd! You and a few others here have “the” drum sound on the forum and, yep, it sounds like what I hear listening nowadays to multiple genres of music from various sources. And you nailed it regarding the snare red lining. That was/is hard for me to overcome due to my analogue mixing days - recording and gig house/monitors. I’m in the midst of remixing some of our earlier BiaB productions and the first thing I notice on them is the lack of drum presence and in particular the snare.
Thanks for highlighting this issue.
Bud
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I just recently picked up a trick from David Snyder on another forum post to enhance your drum tack. I used it in my last song which I will be posting here in the forums soon. I trippled the drum track then EQd one of the tracks to isolate the kick and one to emphasize the snare then mixed the three to my liking. It really helped to bring out the thump of the kick and the snap of the snare.
Ok, this is hilarious. I was analying an old song with software to "match the EQ" and the sound of it using IK Multimedia's Master Match.
I chose Carolina in my Mind (1979 version) by James Taylor because I was looking for a good acoustic mix reference/EQ match.
I could have SWORN that song had a very lush, warm, midrange in your face acoustic with everything else WAY in the background.
But NO. All you hear in the beginning is some pretty thin and tinny sound picking and then a HUGE FAT BASS that dominates everything, with moderate drums. And some little tinkly piano stuff way in the background.
I am like--Is that REALLY what I heard all those years ago? Yes. But in my imagination I remembered something totally different.
Weird man! If Floyd's rule applies to Carolina in My Mind (which it apparently does) God Help Us All on Death Metal.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
My mixing sessions start out with the drums and the bass. I mute everything except the drums... I EQ the drums for clarity and definition.... I want that kick to kick and the snare needs to have snap in it....as much as is possible using the real drum tracks. Often if that doesn't work and if I'm not in a hurry, I will turn to midi sampled drums to get that drive I want.
Bass is a close second IMHO.... what a properly EQ'd and mixed bass & drum track and a good singer, you have a song that will stand on it's own. guitars and keys, and everything else is filler. I always like to point to this song as an example of this in action.
And the secret with adding the filler is to only add what is absolutely essential. Many folks make the beginner mistake of thinking that...well, they took the time to record the tracks so it'd be a shame to waste them, so we'll just put all 20 of them in the mix and make it sound "full". Wrong. It makes it sound like a beginner mixed the song.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
TBH I liked this better. I see you have the same issue with certain RDs that I do; there is a ringing in the bass drum that could have been muffled a bit for my taste. It introduces mud in the bass/low-mids for some stuff. That track sounded good on it's own, but I suspect it may need taming in a mix.
May be just a preference thing. I dunno.
I've been working on documenting how we record live drums, both the recording method (3 mic, 4 mic and 8 mic) and post recording processes. We have some years behind us so maybe someone will learn or maybe I'll get schooled.
Getting the right amount of ring from all drums is tricky .. from the bass drum, to toms (that often need control) to snare (I love a ringing snare), and even the ring of the ride bell. It can easily be too much, but you gotta have some.
Then there's phasing (mic placement and choice), etc Recording live drums can get pretty complicated. Especially once you get one kit set up just right and then another drummer comes in with his stuff ... or even the same kit with a different drummer will need changes. We have a decent Yamaha kit that a lot of drummers are fine with once they play it, but then they all want their different cymbals, and then they inevitably move the snare a few inches. Having no idea we have 3 nights of moving the mic to get it where it was in relation to the snare. <grin>
Once we get done writing, and start recording actual tracks I'll try to document more of it. I think it will be fun to 'show & tell' how we are doing it, what we got for our efforts, and listen to suggestions from others.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
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