Song I'm mixing down right now the toms are getting lost in the mix really badly. The cymbals and snare are right up there, the kick is in there but a little dampened and the toms are completely gone. Can I eq the drums differently somehow? I don't have tons of low end in the bass or guitar which to me would be what would be drowning the toms out no?
Toms getting lost in the mix
- Thread starter apj
- Start date
Binnerscot
New member
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
How did you mic the drums?
I do a lot of recording, I am sure I can help you out with this.
How did you mic the drums?
I do a lot of recording, I am sure I can help you out with this.
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Funkfingers
Guest
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Go easy on the reverb treatment. Emphasise early reflections over the reverb "tail". Alternatively, apply gated reverb to the toms.
Go easy on the reverb treatment. Emphasise early reflections over the reverb "tail". Alternatively, apply gated reverb to the toms.
super rad stuff
Skaforlifeologist
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
close mic the toms and raise the levels/EQ accordingly?
close mic the toms and raise the levels/EQ accordingly?
DrNewcenstein
He Did the Monster Mash
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Are they on a separate track?
If so, it'll be easier. If they're all mixed going to 2 stereo tracks, you'll have to start with that mix.
Are they prevalent in the drum-only mix?
You don't really have to have too much lows in the guitar or bass to lose the toms, which are generally more low-mid to higher-lows, so it doesn't take much for a guitar or bass to drown them.
Try shifting the bass to a lower EQ without so much "Steve Harris tone" and your toms will probably reappear.
Are they on a separate track?
If so, it'll be easier. If they're all mixed going to 2 stereo tracks, you'll have to start with that mix.
Are they prevalent in the drum-only mix?
You don't really have to have too much lows in the guitar or bass to lose the toms, which are generally more low-mid to higher-lows, so it doesn't take much for a guitar or bass to drown them.
Try shifting the bass to a lower EQ without so much "Steve Harris tone" and your toms will probably reappear.
rashayritto
Off-Topic Lurker
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
if possible can you post the mix for us to listen to? I rarely apply eq to drums aside from some cut off on the super low end to keep things from getting messy. How were your drums recorded (mic placement, track allocations). Sometimes all you need to do is push the damn sliders up!
if possible can you post the mix for us to listen to? I rarely apply eq to drums aside from some cut off on the super low end to keep things from getting messy. How were your drums recorded (mic placement, track allocations). Sometimes all you need to do is push the damn sliders up!
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Funkfingers
Guest
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Another option would be to turn all of the percussion instruments that are "right up there" down a little bit. Bring the drums Group fader up slightly afterwards.
Another option would be to turn all of the percussion instruments that are "right up there" down a little bit. Bring the drums Group fader up slightly afterwards.
lp_junkie
New member
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
This is what we had to do on some of our tracks, balance the kit in the submix and then bring the whole kit up, adding the other instruments until we were happy with the overall sound.
All our drums each had a separate track, plus the overheads though.
This is what we had to do on some of our tracks, balance the kit in the submix and then bring the whole kit up, adding the other instruments until we were happy with the overall sound.
All our drums each had a separate track, plus the overheads though.
DankStar
Her Little Mojo Minion
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
I'd route the toms to a bus where you can compress them as a group and bump up certain mid and high mid frequencies until they jump out where you want them.
another (probably better) option would be to replace the tom hits (using a drum trigger/replacement plugin) with better sounding (sampled) toms. this happens all the time in pro mixes, or so I have read.
I'd route the toms to a bus where you can compress them as a group and bump up certain mid and high mid frequencies until they jump out where you want them.
another (probably better) option would be to replace the tom hits (using a drum trigger/replacement plugin) with better sounding (sampled) toms. this happens all the time in pro mixes, or so I have read.
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El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Check that there is no 'comb filtering' happening. If the toms phase is slightly misaligned with the overheads for example they will dissapear when both tracks are played together. Zoom right in and time align until you can see they are in phase, you can tell comb filtering because it actually looks somewhat like a comb.
Check that there is no 'comb filtering' happening. If the toms phase is slightly misaligned with the overheads for example they will dissapear when both tracks are played together. Zoom right in and time align until you can see they are in phase, you can tell comb filtering because it actually looks somewhat like a comb.
Virtual Kevorkian
New member
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Sorry, bad idea - each tom needs to be compressed and eq'd on it's own, as the compressors and eq's will all react differently to each tom. You can by all means compress the drum bus or add some parallel compression, but compressing toms together is rarely a good idea.
Have you edited the bleed between hits out? AKA is there still crap from the kick/snare/cymbals playing through the tom mics? I go through and manually edit around each tom hit/set of hits to make sure I get as little bleed as possible. This lets you boost the top end to get stick attack and 'click' out of the drum without having ridiculous amounts of cymbal bleed poke through between.
The other option is to put a gate on them, but that has the same effect as the manual editing, usually with less precision.
Sorry, bad idea - each tom needs to be compressed and eq'd on it's own, as the compressors and eq's will all react differently to each tom. You can by all means compress the drum bus or add some parallel compression, but compressing toms together is rarely a good idea.
Have you edited the bleed between hits out? AKA is there still crap from the kick/snare/cymbals playing through the tom mics? I go through and manually edit around each tom hit/set of hits to make sure I get as little bleed as possible. This lets you boost the top end to get stick attack and 'click' out of the drum without having ridiculous amounts of cymbal bleed poke through between.
The other option is to put a gate on them, but that has the same effect as the manual editing, usually with less precision.
DankStar
Her Little Mojo Minion
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
let's pretend someone else proposed that idea, hehe. my evil twin brother that hacked all my forum accounts, yeah that's it!
let's pretend someone else proposed that idea, hehe. my evil twin brother that hacked all my forum accounts, yeah that's it!
Vincent Vespa
New member
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Give Tom a map and ask him how he got turned in to sound.
Give Tom a map and ask him how he got turned in to sound.
innerdreamrecords.co
TrippyVinylologist
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
The OP needs to come back and give specifics on the recording. Lot's of tips here but no facts on the original problem.
The OP needs to come back and give specifics on the recording. Lot's of tips here but no facts on the original problem.
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Funkfingers
Guest
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Ho, hum. Could be phase cancellation issues. Could be two copies of the same sound muddying each other up.
Ho, hum. Could be phase cancellation issues. Could be two copies of the same sound muddying each other up.
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Funkfingers
Guest
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
Getting even more basic, how tightly/loosely were those toms tuned?
Getting even more basic, how tightly/loosely were those toms tuned?
Binnerscot
New member
Re: Toms getting lost in the mix
OP has never responded with the basics of how they were recorded....I am unsubscribing as the rest of this is just wasted typing without that.
OP has never responded with the basics of how they were recorded....I am unsubscribing as the rest of this is just wasted typing without that.
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