Kick Key bass frequency for Kick: Kick: 60 - 80 Hz Key attack frequency for Kick: Kick: 3 kHz - 8 kHz

You can remove some of the mud and clean up your kick drum sound by cutting a thin band in the 250-300Hz range. You can 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 Start with Subtractive EQ. HPF around 40Hz - 60 Hz. LPF around 10 kHz - !4 kHz. A narrow cut around 220 Hz can be useful. Also possibly cut 120Hz and/or cut 480Hz. Next is compression. 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 Next, EQ boosts.

Boost between 60Hz 100Hz for more low end punch. Warmth can be added between 200Hz 300Hz occasionally. Click can be added anywhere between 2.5 kHz- 6 kHz. For extreme click in certain situations this can raise all the way up to the 10kHz region. Snare Key bass frequency for Snare. Snare: 150 - 250 Hz Key attack frequency for Snare. Snare: 5 kHz - 10 kHz 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 Start with subtractive EQ. HPF at roughly 80Hz - 140 Hz. Notch around 600Hz if necessary to remove ring. 300Hz 500 Hz can be cut if things are too muddy. Now its time for compression. Top Snare Threshold : -20 db Attack : 4ms 6ms. Release : .100 Ratio : 3 or 4 +9db at 8 no bell +9db at 200 no bell

Bottom Snare Turn this one down a few db quieter 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 Also try making the attack between 20ms - 25 ms and release around 100ms - 150ms or so. Alternatively try and make your attack longer than your release, this especially helps with snare drums that have a lot of ring on them. Finally end with some EQ boosts. Boosting with a narrow Q between 150Hz 200 Hz. Usually closer to 175Hz. Toms Key bass frequencies for Toms: hi tom: 100 - 150 Hz mid tom: 80 - 100 Hz low tom: 60 - 80 Hz Popular frequencies for attack on Toms: hi tom: 3 kHz (Vintage) - 10 kHz (Metallica sound). mid tom: same low tom: same Start with compression. Roughly -20 db threshold depending on the source. 4:1 - 8:1 ratio. Roughly 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. After compression and getting make up gain sorted out, start with EQ (EQ after compression, in the chain). Cut some mids, do this with a scooped Q, try to use a good EQ plug-in that emulates a real hardware one, so you dont end up doing a radical EQ that isnt very possible / pleasing to the ear. Listen closely to the 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, it just depends on how it was tuned, and how big the shell was. Then for small toms, add 3db - 6db boost anywhere from 100Hz 150Hz, for mid toms, 80Hz 100Hz, for low toms, 60Hz 80Hz. Use a small q for this, because wider q's will add too much bass to the toms. This will bring out the low octave of the tom's note, and pack some punch in the mix (they'll stick out!). Do this individually for each tom on each tom track. After this, you're going to need a compression bus to send all of your drums too, kick, snare, and toms. You want to aux send out from your drum track channels to this bus, and do heavy compression on this bus. Make it half volume, this will fill the void and make the drums huge. Then you're going to definitely need reverb to make the snare and the toms larger than life. If you dont, they're just compressed hits. Reverb adds the necessary body and tails to the hits that make the kit bigger than it is on tape. Do the reverb individually for each drum track (dont send from the drum compression bus!). If you are working with drum mic's and a real kit, watch the 800Hz 4 kHz area, this can make your drums sound cheap if you dont cut. It depends on your mic's and mic pre's.

Hi-Hats. Could boost between 1Khz 6kHz for more of a ring to the hats. 8kHz 12kHz for more sizzle to them. OHs. HPF around 500Hz. Cut around 800Hz. Boost around 8kHz 10 kHz (usually with a shelf). Compress the overheads with fast attack compression and a 4:1 ratio, but very lightly, very little movement wanted, it just livens it up a touch. Room Mic. Slam the living shit out of the room mics. 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. Could possibly HPF at around 120Hz, LPF at around 8kHz. Cut 500Hz if need be.

Simulating room mics. -The 'mic the monitors' trick If you're running out of inputs when tracking but still want room mics you can always record with direct mics, do a rough level/pan mix of the raw drum tracks, and then blare them through the monitors and record room mics that way. Not 100% the same but if you crush them with an 1176 style comp anyways you'd hardly notice the difference. That's how Slate recorded some of his room samples, anyways. -Send pre-fader to a room verb -Send pre-fader to an impulse of a room. -Trigger Slate/Superior room samples and use that as your room 'mic.'

I will also say the other benefit of the 'mic the monitors' trick is that when you do it POST editing, you get zero issues with the kick drum maybe having to be edited separately from the rest of the kit and not being in phase with the room mics. That way, you can have the rooms as loud as you want in the mix without worrying about flamming.
Rough panning guide. Kick: C Snare Top: R10 Snare Bottom: R10 Hi Tom: R35 Hi Mid Tom: R15 Mid Tom: L35 Floor Tom: L50 Low Floor Tom: L56 Hi Hat: R59 Over Heads: L82/R82 Ambiance Mic/Room Mic: L82/R82