MIXING DRUMS FOR MASTERING

I'm a drummer. I'm also part of the Mastering Team at SoundOps. So when I listen to a finished recording, I can't help but pay close attention to the production quality of the drums. This article is meant to help both drummers and studio professionals end up with a better sound out of their drum kits after mastering.

Most musicians and engineers today know that audio mastering is the last step for a recording project before it's ready for distribution. But, because mastering has an exponential effect on the final mix, when songs are mixed with mastering in mind, it makes a dramatic difference. In fact, I tell bands all the time, the most important ingredient to a great master IS THE MIX.

Mixing engineers have a lot to think about when they handle a raw recording. Each instrument can have several stereo tracks, and each track requires it's own special attention. Every microphone used during a recording session will likely represent hours of work for the guy mixing it all down. So it's not surprising that during the mixing process, drums can present a big challenge. Let's break it down...

In order of appearance, this is what we're working with when we talk about mixing drums for mastering: the drummer, the drum kit, the recording, the actual mixing, and then the mastering.

THE DRUMMER

The drummer (unless this is Spinal Tap) is not really a variable. However, the way a drummer plays can change before the recording is finalized, and getting a good "take" is arguably more serious than anything else that will happen to the drum tracks. Cleaning up, and "punching in" to fix a drummer's rhythm mistakes in particular is tedious and expensive. It's almost always better to try to lay down a better track than to leave a mess for the mixing engineer to clean up.

THE DRUM KIT

The drum set itself is a small part (or at least, it should be), but worth mentioning because sometimes a drummer will bring an 18-piece kit with his own stage riser and a gong into the studio. And, because the recording process will break that big instrument into so many separate tracks, it can be a problem to put them back together well - the bigger the kit, the more mics, the more difficult to capture a coherent representation of all of it. For the drummer, I recommend using the smallest number of drums and cymbals you feel comfortable playing and intend to actually utilize (only in the studio; bring it all when you go on tour).

THE RECORDING

The recording is as crucial to the mix as the mix is to the master. And drums are no exception. Separate mics should be used for each component (except for some over-head and ambient placements). And in some cases, certain drums may get more than one mic. The biggest problem we see during the mastering stage with drums is a pre-existing distortion from clipping (which could have happened during recording or mixing). But, by the time the song is in the mastering stage, it's often too late to do anything about it. Of course, the cleaner the captured sound is, the better it will mix, and the cleaner the mastered sound can be.

THE MIXING

For the actual mixing, I should begin with a disclaimer; everyone has a different idea of what a great drum sound is, and how loud each part of the kit should be compared to the other parts and then again in relation to the other instruments on a recording. So, there are only a few rules that apply regardless of the style of music you're working with. The biggest thing to remember before the final mix-down is that the drums by themselves have a very large dynamic range. And like any other percussive instruments, their attack will be radically stronger than their decay, but the quietest parts of a drum track are what make it sound "real". In order for the natural feel of a drum kit to translate through to the master, I recommend mixing the kick hotter than you actually want it to sound in the end. Trust me; even though I'm a drummer, I'm not one of those guys who thinks the drums should be the loudest part of the mix. But, if you mix just the kick to be the loudest (only slightly), mastering will bring the rest of the mix up to meet it, but the attack of the bass drum will still win out, and that's what the listener wants on a subconscious level - to feel it. Give it a try if it isn't already your practice, and you'll be surprised to hear how much more believable and confident everything will sound after mastering.

THE MASTERING

You don't have to know all the stuff we do about audio mastering to mix for a better master. Every time you get one of your projects back that's been mastered, spend some time listening to the difference between the finished product and the original mix. You'll start to notice, from one recording to the next, little things that are consistently affected by the mastering process in your own style of mixing/playing. There aren't any catch-all formulas to a perfect mix, and especially not for drums. But remember, the thing a mixing engineer does best is blend all the pieces of captured audio together (making the mix) so the listener can hear what each mic picked up. Before mastering, you don't need to worry about making the mix "loud enough" or making it sound great in a thousand different stereos. That's the job of the mastering studio.

This article was written by Will Duke, editor for The Mastering Blog and co-founder of SoundOps, the studio known for its unique multiMASTERING service and its interactive approach to online audio mastering. If you have a question about SoundOps or just about mastering, feel free to contact Will directly at will.duke@soundops.com.

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