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I have recorded a drummer with a sometimes heavier foot, ie. the kick is all over the place. how should I level out the kick, compression or limiter, and what kind of ratio, attack and release settings? it is just way too dynamic, I used an old ludwig kick with a D112 into an older Joemeek , good sound just way to dynamic, I don't want to ruin the punch, just a lot less dynamic HELP!

Andrew

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anonymous Tue, 09/20/2005 - 11:25

You can try using volume envelopes BUT that may not solve the problem. Often times when a drummer has a heavier foot it also means the tone and texture of each drum hit changes as well. So even with compression or volume envelopes the dynamics will be tamed but the tones will change drastically. Sometimes you may get a kick hit with little attack and then the next may be overwhelmed with click or beater. If you can't retrack it and get the drummer to play more consistent then I would opt for replacing the kick hits completely with either the best sounding kick hit from the recorded track (so every hit has the same dynamic and tonal quality) or using a sample software like drumagog and replacing each hit with a good sample from the drumagog library. With drumagog you can even load in the sample from the drummer's actual performance and it will replace the hits more realistically. Best way is still to retrack, but if that's not possible than sampling is your best bet.

anonymous Tue, 09/20/2005 - 13:20

A compressor can help. Forget the limiter. You may have to play with it, but set your attack so the beater click, if you want it, gets by without compression. This won't work with a high ratio cause it'll have a "pumping" like sound. Keep the attack delay short though. For release, go about half way up the dial on a typical compressor. Kick drums don't have a long note release time unless it's really "boomy", in which case you may opt for minimum release time in order to keep it from getting too"boomy".Then set the threshhold while previewing the track, so that it starts compressing at about 3db below the point where you feel the loudest kicks need to be volume wise. Then set your ratio to keep it compressing down to that point, but try to keep the effect as minimum as possible. You want to control the dynamics a little, not eliminate them. A gate can help keep the noise floor down. A sampled drum track is also a good idea, otherwise your going to sacrifice some tone quality for dynamic control.

anonymous Fri, 09/23/2005 - 18:41

if it is really that bad, and you can't retrack, i would do a couple things. this is a lesson on why you should be listening while you track, you have to coach a lot of drummers and tell them, you are all over the place with your kick.

#1 manually edit any excessively low kicks with a kick that sounds at the right level.

#2 manually use the gain on protools or whatever you're using to increase the gain on other hits that have the right tone, but not the right level.

#3 mix as usual, and make sure you are getting the sound you want.

#4 gate the kick so that it is less obvious that you edited everything

#5 if you still can't get the sound you want out of the kick, use soundreplacer to a different track and blend with original until you have the kick sound you are going for. do not listen to this by itself, make sure to mix with bass and make sure you are not overdoing the kick.

good luck

jonnyc Sat, 09/24/2005 - 10:39

I had the same thing happen to me months ago, had a drummer come in and his kick strikes were all over the place volume wise as well. I tried getting him to fix it but he never could. So after they were done I went in mic'd up my kick did a couple samples and replaced his kicks sounds with one uniform one, sounds freakin amazing now. Very stressful replacing every strike, but was worth it in the end.

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