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hi all. questions regarding mixing. Is it better/more efficient to subgroup the drums/cymbals to an aux track and use a plugin comp/eq/reverb on the aux channel only or should I use individual plugs on each track?
my thoughts are that it might work on the drums but not necessarily on the cymbals.
Im about to cross this bridge and am lookin for feedback.
All replies are appreciated!

Joshua

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anonymous Mon, 05/16/2005 - 12:12

IMO this is a very individual one, really depending on taste and what you are trying to achieve.
if i want a more classic sounding kit then i use only reverb on a bus to make the whole kit appearing in one room, and compress the kick, toms and snare individuell, plus some gate on the snare, if you want it sounding short and "klicky", eg.
but than again you can go through a bus as well if you want the kick or toms prossessed (sounding) in the same way.

sometimes (i do lots of electronic stuff too) i prossess everything individuell a reverb with more decay on the crash cymbals for example to give 'em a little more "swoosh" and to make everything sound more experimental and "unnatural" from my point of view there is no "one in all " of doing it, every track or drum set i tread differently.
i for example like long deep boomy kicks, so no gate and a little stronger compression than the rest to "cut through" sometimes with the same reverb setting then the rest only a slightly higher decay,i compress a little on the track and then everything through a bus again so i keep the kick more compressed then the rest, the possibilities are almost endless, best is to experiment with a drum recording and try different ways of routing and settings, gates, comp, etc.
evrything through busess, no buses, up to you really
hope that helps somehow...
let your ears decide...

anonymous Tue, 05/17/2005 - 00:17

i know my answer is somehow very general, but in order to be more specified, you need to ask more specified!
as it really depends on so many different factors, how the drums are recorded to beginn with and so on...
another little tip to get you going, take a drum recording and start to do your processing via buses, listen. then add any individuell changes you might want to do via seperate channels according to what you want to treat seperate as well, or pull the individuell track out of the bus chain and apply only a "single" treatment..

Reggie Tue, 05/17/2005 - 12:19

I know what you are saying about having the cymbals/drums all on one bus compressed together. I personally like to send snare and toms to one group ran through the same compressor, the overheads to their own separate group with usually much different EQ and compression, and the kick just going straight to the main bus. I have a hard time finding a compressor I like on kick, so if the hits are too inconsistent I just put the UA Precision limiter on the kick channel as an insert. Sounds great for metal stuff especially.

Just one way of doing things