how to compress an entire drum set?

[astrozombie]

my drummer sent me some files of him playing for me to write to.

it was done with 1 overhead mic.

how do i compress it so that everything is heard, but isnt distorted?

the clip is "sin ella.."

it starts at about 10 seconds.

thanks.

http://www.soundclick.com/glennsmusic

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

Multi-band compression. Also, use sweepable EQ to fish for and boost the snare and bass drums. (One EQ for each drum frequency range.) Er, you might want to use Time Stretch in a few places, too.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

Multi-band compression. Also, use sweepable EQ to fish for and boost the snare and bass drums. (One EQ for each drum frequency range.) Er, you might want to use Time Stretch in a few places, too.

Haha. It's alright, I don't mind the "live" feeling.

Multi band compression?

like what plugin?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

Multi band compression?

The process divides audio according to frequency bands and compresses them separately before recombining the overall signal. Commonly used at the mastering stage. Your computer recording software ought to have this.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

The process divides audio according to frequency bands and compresses them separately before recombining the overall signal. Commonly used at the mastering stage. Your computer recording software ought to have this.

nope.

all i have is a standard one there.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

Try narrow band EQ on the snare and bass drums to give them more definition relative to the rest of the kit.

There are enough early reverberant reflections in the recording. Try adding a tiny bit of simulated room/hall reverb with plenty of pre-delay to create a sense of depth and/or a stereo image.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

how do i compress it so that everything is heard, but isnt distorted?

Actually, my absolute favourite way to compress acoustic drums is to deliberately overload analogue tape.

Okay, so the recorded sound will be distorted but in a "musical" way. This is the sound that you hear on a lot of classic rock albums and a fair few classic jazz albums too.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

how much dB do you think i should trim off?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

None. I am suggesting that you apply a sweepable equaliser as a boost.

In your midrange EQ section, apply some gain then rotate the frequency control until it emphasises the only snare drum. Turn the boost down until the snare drum is noticable but not overpowering. With a second sweepable EQ, do the same thing to the bass drum. The idea is to "lift" these two instruments relative to the overall kit sound.

Compress the overall kit AFTER applying the equalisation.

Adding modest amounts of ambience or reverberation will give the kit a sense of space.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

None. I am suggesting that you apply a sweepable equaliser as a boost.

In your midrange EQ section, apply some gain then rotate the frequency control until it emphasises the only snare drum. Turn the boost down until the snare drum is noticable but not overpowering. With a second sweepable EQ, do the same thing to the bass drum. The idea is to "lift" these two instruments relative to the overall kit sound.

Compress the overall kit AFTER applying the equalisation.

Adding modest amounts of ambience or reverberation will give the kit a sense of space.

got it, thanks for the advice.

man, the exciter makes some instruments just come to life!

edit: just wondering, whats a good reverb plugin?

 

[DankStar]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

I'd just run the whole thing through something simple like the free classic compressor, and go through each preset (even non-drum ones) to see what sounds best.

another simple and effective one is camel crusher - free and has a ton of presets. also has some distortion, which I think is kinda cool on a full drum track sometimes if used very sparingly.

if you want to try multiband, G multi is free and cool, but sorta complex in that you might get lost in tweakville.

once again the classic reverb ain't bad (better option would be the free version of SIR + an impulse but that's a few steps and you'd have to track down some reverb impulses [not that tough, but not sure how much work you want to do]) - I like the evantide and kurzweil impulses floating around.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

I'd just run the whole thing through something simple like the free classic compressor, and go through each preset (even non-drum ones) to see what sounds best.

another simple and effective one is camel crusher - free and has a ton of presets. also has some distortion, which I think is kinda cool on a full drum track sometimes if used very sparingly.

if you want to try multiband, G multi is free and cool, but sorta complex in that you might get lost in tweakville.

once again the classic reverb ain't bad (better option would be the free version of SIR + an impulse but that's a few steps and you'd have to track down some reverb impulses - I like evantide and kurzweil [not that tough, but not sure how much work you want to do]).

i was just looking for a quick fix, this isnt going to be released or anything.

 

[DankStar]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

i was just looking for a quick fix, this isnt going to be released or anything.

ah. I run to the classic series for all quick fixes (when using a PC).

 

[astrozombie]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

ah. I run to the classic series for all quick fixes (when using a PC).

classic series?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

Here are a few "freeverbs".

http://audio.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/15-totally-free-reverb-plug-ins-that-rock/

Unfortunately, one of them has the expression, "OldSkool" in its name. In another thread, OS is on the Banned For 2010 list. D'oh!

 

[DankStar]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

classic series?

sorry - these: http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/classic-series.php

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

You can "fake" reverb by copying the main track to another one, then dropping the volume down really low, panning it to one side, and then skootch it over just a hair so it's not exactly doubling the main track, but doesn't sound like slapback.


As well, you can apply separate EQ bands to multiple copies of the track to cut particular freqs in each one, then do whatever effects/compression on each of those tracks, then stitch them back together. While not as good as having a track for each mic/piece, it's good for scratch-n-dent.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

how to compress an entire drum set?

We use trash compactors, they can even compress an entire band if necessary

 

[astrozombie]

Re: how to compress an entire drum set?

We use trash compactors, they can even compress an entire band if necessary

:lmao: :beerchug: