Mixing With Bfd

Mixing with BFD

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Mixing with BFD www.fxpansion.com

Contents

4 1. Introduction

4 1:1.Processedvsunprocessedsounds5 1:�.Originalityandcreativity

6 2. Programming Techniques

6 �:1.‘Theobviousstuff’7 �:�.VelocitylayersandDynamicscontrols8 �:3.Articulations9 �:4.Damping10 �:5.Layering11 �:6.Keymappingtricks11 �:7.Creatingpatterns

13 3. Mic channels, outputs, mixing levels and panning

13 3:1.Micchannelsandcontrollingambiencelevels13 3:�.Outputrouting14 3:3.Bleed15 3:4.Panning16 3:5.Phase17 3:6.Levelsandmixingheadroom18 3:7.Themixingenvironment

20 4. Processing techniques

�0 4:1.Important:learnhowtouseyourgear!�1 4:�.EQ�� 4:3.EQandcompressorrouting�� 4:4.Compression

25 5. How to approach mixing each part of the kit

�5 5:1.Kicks�5 5:�.Snares�6 5:3.Hihats�6 5:4.Toms�7 5:5.Cymbals

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28 6. Creative processing

�8 6:1.Otherdynamicsprocessors�8 6:�.Artificialreverb�9 6:3.Recreatingretrosounds�9 6:4.Resamplingandre-sequencing�9 6:5.Distortionandre-amping30 6:6.Noise

31 7. A demonstration of getting a good drum sound

Apracticalguidetodrumprocessing,withaudioexamplesandpicturesofprocessorsettings.

35 8. How to approach mixing a song

Aroughguidetotacklingafullmix.

WrittenbyGarethGreenandMayurMaha

WiththankstoPaulChana,AndySimper,SKoTMcDonald,AngusHewlett,SteveDudaandJohnBradshaw.

ThankstoSSLforpermissiontouseSSLDuendepluginsandtore-printtheirgraphicalinterfaces.

©FXpansionAudio�006

www.fxpansion.com



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1. Introduction

ThisguideisorientedaroundFXpansion’sBFDacousticdrumsoftware,althoughmuchofitisveryusefulforallmethodsofproductionandmixing.Ifyoudon’townBFD,youmaywanttodownloadthedemoversionfromwww.fxpansion.com-workingthroughthisguidealongsideBFDpluggedintoyourfavouritesequencing/mixingsoftwarecanbeaveryeducationalandrewardingexperience.

1:1. Processed vs unprocessed sounds

BFD’ssoundsareunprocessed,inordertogiveyoutheutmostflexibilitywhenmixingthedrumstofityoursong.

Thinkaboutifyoubookedsomeexpensivestudiotimeandconductedadrumrecordingsession.Whetheryouwererecordingthedrumsforaparticularsong,orgettingtogetheralibraryofdrumsoundstouseonfutureprojects,wouldyourecordthedrumswithprocessingalreadyplacedirrevocablyinthesignalpath?Thechancesarethatyouwouldn’t:there’saveryrealpossibilityofotherelementsinthefinalmixneedingsomepartsofthefrequencyspectrumanddynamicrangethatyouhadnotaccountedfor.

Ifyourecordthedrumsinunprocessedform,youwillalwayshavethefreedomtotreatthedrumsexactlyasrequiredduringfinalmixing.Otherwise,you’dhavetotrytoremovecertaineffectsoftheprocessingtogetthingstositwellinamix.It’sobviouslyeasiertoaddthesequalitiesfromscratchthantotakethemawayfromthedrumssothattheycanbere-shaped.

Ofcourse,youmaychoosetorecordadditionalprocessedversionsofsomechannels.TherearepartsoftheBFDexpansionpackrangewhichcontainsomeprocessing,asaresultofaconsciousdecisionmadebytheengineersresponsibleforthesessions.Themaincaseis8 Bit Kit.Onsomechannels,certainprocessingtechniquesareapplied,whichcanbeusedinavarietyofways:mixedinatminimallevelstogiveasubtleedge,athigheramountsformoreexperimentalsounds,ormutedcompletely.Themethodsusedaresimilartothe‘re-amping’techniquesdescribedlaterinthisguide.

BFD Deluxe Collectioncontainsaverysmallamountofsubtleprocessing,althoughitisveryminimalandnowherenearanydegreethatwouldinterferewithamix.Infact,thiscollectionfeaturesanumberofrecordingtechniqueswhichmakethesoundsparticularlysuitableformixingintoarrangementswithlittleornoadditionalprocessing.Forexample,cymbalandhihatdirectmicsareslightlyfurtherbackthanusual,resultinginlesslowfrequenciesintherecordings.Thisallowsthemtositinthemixwellwithoutrequiringyoutofilteroutexcessivelowfrequencies.Also,theinsidekickmicisonthebeatersideofthefrontskin,tocapturemoreofthe‘click’ofthebeater.Comparedtotechniqueslikethis,theprocessingusedisinsignificant,andshouldbeconsideredasaddingsubtlenuancestothesoundratherthanshapingthedrumsintoalimitingpre-processedformat.



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1:2. Originality and creativity

It’simportanttorealisethatdrumproductionissomethingofa‘darkart’,andpeoplewhoaregoodatit,suchastheguyswhomixedyourfavouriterecords,havespentmanyyearsacquiringtheknowledgeandtheskillstodoitwell.Itisacreativeprocess,andasdependentonexperienceandpracticeasanyothercreativeprocess.Acquiringgoodengineeringandmixingskillscantakeyearsandbenefitsfromfreshideasandcreativity,justlikeplayinganinstrumentorwritingsongs.

It’simpossibleforustogiveadefinitiveguidetomixingdrumsforeverypossiblesituation,butthefollowingguidelinesonprogrammingandprocessingtechniquesshouldgetyoustarted.Evenso,alwaysrememberthattherearenorules,andthatyourearsandyourcreativityareyourmostvaluabletools.Youwillnoticethatwerepeatthissentimentfrequentlyduringthecourseofthisguide,andthereisaverygoodreasonforthis:originalityisoftheutmostimportance!It’strivialtocopyaformulaicprocessforgetting‘asound’.Thereismuchmorevalueinbringingsomethingnewtothetable.Therefore,studythesetechniquestoaddtoyourskillsandcapabilities,butdon’tdogmaticallysticktothemorusethemasaformula!


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2. Programming Techniques

Beforegettingontothesubjectofmixingdrums,it’sgoodtoensureyouhaveareasonablydecent-soundingdrumtracktobeginwith.

YoumayhavenoticedthelargescaryBFDreferencemanual-readit!BFDhasahugeamountoffunctionalitytomanipulatesoundsevenbeforetheycomeoutasseparatechannelsinyourhost’smixer.Allthesefunctionsexistforareason.Soit’svitaltofamiliarizeyourselfwithBFD’scapabilities.Ifanyofthetopicsbelowconfuseyou,refertothemanualforassistance.Mostfeaturesarelistedinthetableofcontentsatthestartofthemanual,soitisprettyeasytofindtheinformationyourequire.

2:1. ‘The obvious stuff’

• Building the kit

ChoosingtherightKit-piecesisparamounttogettingtherightsound.Ifyouwantatightkicksound,startwiththetightest-soundingkickyoucanfind!

Paycloseattentiontothecompositionofyourkit-BFDallowsyoualotoffreedombyallowingyoutomixandmatchtomsandtoloadanytypeofKit-pieceintoanytypeofslot-it’sveryeasytouseafloortomasakick,forexample.

Thereisabsolutelynoreasontosticktopre-definedmanufacturer-basedkits.Mostdrummerswillregularlymixandmatchpartsofthekitfordifferentmusicalneeds,andittakesamatterofsecondsinBFD.Havingsaidthat,thereisabsolutelynothingwrongwithfindingakitthatworksforyouandstickingtoit.Thereareinfinitewaysinwhichtoshapeasinglekittosoundgoodinanytypeofcontext.

Don’tbeafraidtomixandmatchdifferentKit-Piecesfromdifferentexpansionpacks.Althoughallthepacks(withtheexceptionofBFD XFL)arerecordedindifferentroomstotheoriginallibrary,thereisnoreasonwhytheywon’tsoundgoodinthemixtogether.

• Ambience

Drumstooroomy?Thenturndownthebigfadercalled‘Room’!TheambienceinBFDisthereifyouneedit.Ifyoudon’t,turnitdownandworkwiththedirectsignals.RoomandPZMsignalstendtobethebiggest-soundingchannels,whichreallygiveaheavyimpressionofspaceandincreasedsustain.Ifyouwantadry,intimatesound,turnthesedown.TheOverheadchannelswillstillprovidealushsenseofambiencewithoutsoundingtoohuge.ThePZMchannelstendtosoundmore‘trashy’thantheroomchannels-veryniceforthoseShellac-esquedrumsounds.

There’snothingwrongwithjustusingonemicbus-forexample,it’squitecommontojustusetheoverheads.Itisentirelyuptoyouanddependsuponthesoundyouwanttoachieve.


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YoucanadjustambiencelevelsforeachKit-piece,usingtheKit-pieceTrimcontrols(asopposedtotheDirectTrim).Therefore,ifyouneedatightkickbutahugesnare,turndowntheKit-pieceTrimonthekickandleaveituponthesnare.Thesecontrolsactlikereverbsends,whiletheOH,RoomandPZMfadersareeffectivelylikereturnlevelsfor3differentreverbalgorithms.

Seethesectionbelowentitled‘Mic channels and controlling ambience levels’formoreinformationonthissubject.

2:2. Velocity layers and Dynamics controls

• The importance of using BFD’s velocity layers properly

AveryeasymistaketomakewithBFDistousemaximumvelocitiesallthetime.Whenyoudothis,ineffectthedrummerisplayingwithmaximumforceallthetime-somethingthatdoesnothappenoften.Asaconsequence,thedrumpartwillsoundroboticandmachinegun-like.Adrumkitisamassivelyexpressiveinstrument:itsoundsverydifferentwhenplayedwithsofthits(lowvelocities)thanwhenitisplayedwithbrutalforce(highvelocities).

ThebasicBFDlibraryhasupto46velocitylayers.Whatthismeansisthatthedrumsarerecordedbeingstruckbyupto46levelsofintensity.It’svitaltomakegooduseofthesevelocitylayersinordertoachieverealisticdrumming.Theexpansionpacksfeaturehigherlevelsofdetail,withBFD XFLpossessingupto93layers,whileDeluxe Collectionhasupto1�8layers-inotherwords,somearticulationsfeatureadiscretesampleforeveryincomingvelocitylevel.

Softvelocitiesaregoodforanythinggentleandacoustic,suchasmellowjazz,soul,countryandblues,whilehighvelocitiesaregreatforreallyrockingout.ThelevelofvelocitylayerdetailinBFDgivesyoualotofroomforvariationandaccentinghits,allowingdeepcomplexityanddynamicexpression.WhencombinedwithalltheotherfunctionsinBFD,aswellasexternalprocessing,thecreativepossibilitiesareimmense.Tryapplyingheavycompressiontotheselowvelocityhits,forexample.AddaliberalamountofV�D(velocitytodamping)intheAdvancedtaboftheHitOptionspanelforfurtherdimensions.

Itisvitallyimportanttorememberthatintelligentuseofdifferentvelocitiesandaccentingisanimportantelementof‘groove’,andcancontributetoswing-likeeffectsevenwithtightlyquantizedpatterns.

• Dynamics controls

TheDynamicscontrolsarevaluabletoolstogetthemostoutofBFD’shighdetaillevels.Don’tconfusethesewithexternaldynamicsprocessing(compression/gating/expansion).TheBFDDynamicscontrolsscaleincomingnotevelocitiesupordown.Thisallowsyoutochangethedynamicsofthe‘playing’inrealtime.


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TheMasterDynamicscontrolisparticularlyuseful,especiallyifyouassignaMIDIcontrollertoitforrealtimeautomation.Programadrumtrackasnormal,thenrecordyourself‘riding’theMasterDynamicscontroloveritsdurationwithaMIDIcontroller.Pullitdownslightlyfortheverses,andperhapstowardstheendofthebarleadinguptoeachchorus,starttopullituptogivethedrumsmoreintensity.

EachKit-PieceslothasaDynamicscontroltoo,soyoucanadjusttheintensityofeachpartofthekitindependently.It’squiteastoundinghowmanydifferentpermutationsofdrumsoundsyoucanachievewithasinglepatternandtheDynamicscontrols.

2:3. Articulations

Thevariousarticulations(Hittypes)areaveryimportantaspectofBFD,andmakingintelligentuseofthemcancontributetotherealismofyourdrumtracks.Articulationssuchassnaredragsandflamsofferquickaccesstoelementsofadrumperformancewhicharenotalwaysstraightforwardtoprogramorplay.OtherarticulationsrepresentdifferentwaysofplayingaKit-Piece.

• Kicks

Kicksaretypicallyrecordedwithasnarepresent,meaningthatitalsocontainsthesoundofthesnarewireresonatingwhenthekickishit.However,somekicksalsooffera‘nosnare’hit,whichdoesnotcontainthesnarerattle,duetothesnaredrumbeingremoved.

• Snares

Snaresgenerallycontainanormalhit,arimandasidestickaswellasflamsanddrags.Someexpansionpackscontaindifferentsubstitutedarticulations-onsomesnaresinDeluxe Collection,forexample,sidesticksarereplacedbyanotherregularhit,half-waybetweenthecentreandtheedgeoftheskin.Jazz & Funk Collectionfeaturessubstantialuseofsubstitutedhits,especiallyonbrushedinstruments.It’simportanttocheckthemanualsoftheexpansionpackstolearnabouttheavailablearticulationsandhowtousethemoptimally.

Whenusingthedrags,rememberthatthechokingmechanisminBFDletsyoucutthesoundofaKit-Piecewithanotherhit.Alowvelocitysnarehitisidealforcuttingshortadragifit’stoolongandyoudon’twanttochokeitwithanotherloudsnarehit.

ThechokingmechanismisalsocrucialwhenusingbrushedsnaresfromJazz & Funk Collection.Ifyouwantacontinuousbrushsweeppatternwhichwon’tbechokedwithothersnarehits,you’llneedtoloadthesnareintoaseparateslotanduseitforthesweephits.


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• Hihats

ThesehavethemostpossiblearticulationsofanyKit-Piecetype.BFDcontainsclosedand1/�-opentipandshank,fully-opentipandpedal(‘foot-chick’)sounds.Theexpansionpacksalsoincludeadditional1/4-openand3/4-opentipandshanksounds,whichmakesmorevariedandexpressivehihatpatternspossible.

Incaseyou’rewondering,‘tip’isusedtodescribethetipofthestickhittingthetopofthehat,whileashankrepresentsthebodyofthestickhittingtheedgeofthehat.

Formostapplicationswhereyouneedaclassic‘open’hatsound,youshouldaimtousethe1/�-openHittypes.Theopentipsoundismorelikea‘hihatbell’-thetopcymbalinahihatactuallysoundsmorelikearidethanahihatwhenitisnotvibratingagainstthebottomcymbal.

It’salsogoodtorememberthatadrummergenerallychokesanopenhihatbymovingthepedaldown,whichresultsinafoot-chickwhilestoppingthetwohihatsurfacesfromvibratingagainsteachotherbybringingthemtoaclosedposition.Therefore,youshoulduselowvelocitypedalhitsintheappropriateplaceafteranopenpositionforchoking.

Forasnappychokingfeel,reducethehihatchokefadesettingsintheBFDOptionspaneltominimalvalues.Setting‘Hihatfade(base)’to0.010and‘Hihatfade(range)’to0.040willgiveaverysnappyhihatchokingresponse.

• Cymbals

Cymbalshave�possibleHittypesavailable.TwoofBFD’srideshaveabellHittype(theseneedtobedownloadedfromtheuserarea),whilemostexpansionpackridesaresuppliedwithbells.Somecrashcymbalsintheexpansionpacksalsofeaturean‘edge’soundmappedtothebellhit.

Youcanincreasethechokefadetimesforcymbalstomakeaprevioushitringoutforlongerafteranewhitisplayed.Forfastertemposyoumaywanttoreducethechokefadesettingstogetacleanermix.Youshouldbeawarethatwithlongerchokefadesettings,therewillbemoredisk-streamingtakingplaceduringbusycymbalparts.Thisisbecausemoreindividualvoiceswillplayatthesametime,duetoprevioushitshavingalongerdecay.

2:4. Damping

ThedampingcontrolsintheKit-PieceInspectoractasanenvelopetocontrolthelengthofasound’sdecay.Increasingthedampingamountshortensthedecaytime.Snaresandkickscanbecomemorepowerfulandcutting,whileyoucandramaticallyreducethedurationoftomstostopthemdominatingthemix.ThedampingfunctioninBFDemulatesreal-worlddampingmethods,suchasusingadampingringonsnaresandtoms,orfillingkickdrumswithduvets,blanketsorpillows.


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Dampingisespeciallyusefulingroove-orientedmusicorsongswithafasttempo:shorteningthedecayofthedrumscanmakethempunchierandcreatesmorespaceinthemixforotherelements.

Usingthedampingcontrolstoalargedegree(over50%)isamucheasieralternativetousinggatestoachievesimilareffects.

• Tightening closed hihats

Dampingonhihatsisnotusuallyappropriate,althoughthefacilityisprovidedifyouwouldliketoexperiment.Amoreusefultoolforhihatsisthe‘tighten’feature.Thisallowsyoutoshortenclosedhihatswithoutaffectingopenhatpositions.Ifyoudon’tuseahihatpedalcontroller,setthetightenamountusingthe‘defaulthihattighten’parameterintheHitOptionspanel,page1tab.Whenusingahihatpedalcontroller,theamountoftighteningisvariablewithintheclosedpositionrangeofMIDICCvalues.

2:5. Layering

Thistechniqueiswidelyusedinmodernproduction,wherebyasampledsnareandkickarelayeredovertheoriginaldrumtrack’skicksandsnares,doublingthemup.Theusualmethodforthisproductiontrick,called‘drumreplacement’,isfairlycumbersome-youneedtoisolatethekicksandsnaresfromanybleedintheirtracks,andusethetransientstotriggerasampler.WhenusingBFD,it’sfareasier.

IfyouwanttolayertwoBFDsnares,loadthefirstasnormalandthenloadanotherintotheSnare�slot(the8 Bit Kitelectronicsnaresaregreatforthis).IntheKit-PieceInspectorforSnare1,usethe‘LinktoKit-Piece’drop-downmenutolinkSnare1toSnare�.ThisresultsinSnare�beingtriggeredwheneverSnare1istriggered.

Ifyouwantareallyheavydrumreplacementeffect,restrictthevelocityrangeforSnare�usingtheAdvancedtaboftheHitOptionspanelbysettingVelLoandVelHitothesamevalue.Also,turnoffrandomization(setVRndto0%)andusetheV�Aparameterat100%tomakethevolumescalewithvelocity.Thiswillresultinexactlythesamevelocitylayersamplebeingplayedeachtime,withtheamplitudedependingonthevelocityoftheMIDInotetriggeringit.

Thereisalotofroomforcreativityhere-youcanusedifferentamountsofambienceanddampingforeachsnare,andusethetuningandsnaretop/bottomcontrolstoadjustthesoundfurther.Youcanuseexactlythesamemethodsonkickstomakethemhugewiththunderouslow-end.It’salsogreatfordesigninginterestingorexperimentalkits.

Ifyouwanttouseasamplethatisn’tinBFD,simplyloadupthesampleintoanysamplerpluginandcopytherelevantMIDInotestoanewtracksothattheytriggerthesampleratthesametime.Feelfreetousewhateversoundsyouwant,whetherthey’reacousticorsynthetic.Eventriggeringabitofvinylnoisecancreateinterestingresults.


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2:6. Keymapping tricks

• Layering individual Hit types

TheKey�parameterintheAdvancedkeymapper(HitOptionspanel,Advancedtab)allowsyoutolayersoundsonaHittypelevel-asopposedtotheKit-pieceleveldescribedabove.SoyoucouldsettheKey�parameterfortheSnare1rimhittotriggertheSnare�rim,whileleavingtheotherSnare1andSnare�hitsunlinked.Youcouldalsoassignittoadrag,flam,percussionhitorahalf-opentiphatforexample...thereareendlesspossibilities.

• Left and right hand hits

Somedrumlibrariesfeature‘leftandrighthand’hits.Ineffect,thisissimplyaresultofdifferencesinstrikingforcebetweenthetwohandsofadrummer.BecauseofthehighamountofvelocitylayersinBFD,youshouldsimplyusealower-velocitynoteforthe‘weaker’hand.

Youcansetupanadditional‘left’hitinBFDveryeasilyintheAdvancedkeymapper.OnanunusedMIDIkey,createanewassignmentfor‘snarehit’.ChangetheVelHiparameterto100orso,andadjustthevelocityresponsecurve.Thisadditionalkey,alongwiththeoriginalsnarehitkey,willgiveyouthe‘weakerhand’hits.

• Keyboard performance setups

Youcantakethisfurtherbycreatingmorethanoneextrasnarehit,andsettingupdifferentvelocityrangesforthemall.Thisisgreatifyou’refondof‘fingerdrumming’onaMIDIkeyboard!Settingupverylowvelocityrangesonsomeofthekeysisperfectforghostnotesanddrumrolls.

• More keymapping tricks

TheAdvancedkeymappingsystemallowsmanycreativepossibilities,fromthenicelyusefultothecrazyandexperimental.UsinglargeamountsofV�D(VeloctytoDamping)canresultinextradimensionstothedrums’dynamics,especiallywhencombinedwithexternalcompression.Meanwhile,subtleamountsofV�P(VelocitytoPitch)caninjectsomeextraspiceandvariationintoyourdrumparts.Thevelocitycurvecontrolsaregoodforfine-tuningthedrums’dynamicresponse.

2:7. Creating patterns

Aguidetodrumpatternprogrammingisbeyondthescopeofthistutorial-likegoodmelodyandharmonyparts,therearenoshortcutstogooddrumcomposition!However,hereareafewhintsandtipstopointyouintherightdirection.


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1.Considerhowadrummerwouldplayapattern.Mostdrummershave�handsand�feet:4limbsintotal.Itthereforelogicallyfollowsthatgenerally,upto4thingscanbeplayedatanyonetime.It’sgoodtowatchafewdrummingvideos(agoodsourceofthesecanbefoundatdrummerworld.com)orstudysomedrumscorestogetabetterideaofhowdrumpatternsarecomposed.

�.Studyafewpointsofdrummingrudiments:thingslikesingleanddoublestrokes,paradiddles,andsoon.Understandinghowdrummersbuildrhythmsisvitallyimportantincreatingrealisticdrumparts.

3.Trytotranscribethedrumpartsfromyourfavouriterecords.Ifyoufinditdifficulttoprogramdrumsthatyoucanhearwithyourears,thenit’sunreasonabletoexpectyourselftoprogramdrumsthatyoucanonlyhear‘inyourhead’.Themoreyoupracticedrumprogrammingtechniques,themoreskillsyouwilllearn.Agoodwaytotranscribeapatternistoimportaloopingsegmentofasongintoatrackonyoursequencer.Whileloopingthepart,programthedrumsoundsuntilitsoundsright,thenmutetheloop.Whateverremainsshouldbeareasonableapproximationofthedrums.

4.MakegooduseofthehighlevelofdetailinBFD-therearelotsofvelocitylayersandarticulations.Whenusedintelligently,thesecontributealotofrealismtoyourproductions.

5.AnotherthingtostudyisthelibraryofBFDGrooves.EvenifthepatternsintheGroovelibraryaren’tyourcupoftea,youcanstudythemasMIDIpartsinyoursequencertoseehowadrummerpushesandpullsagainstthe‘grid’ofhardbeatdivisions.It’salsogoodtolookatthevelocities,togetafeelforhowaccentingandvelocityvariationcanhelpthefeelofadrumpattern.

6.IfyoulikethefeelofaGrooveoraFillbutnottheactualpattern,it’sveryeasytomovenotes‘upanddown’inyoursequencer’spianorollorMIDIeditortocreatenewpatternswithminimaleffort.

7.Drummingisaveryphysicalactivity!It’sgoodtoplaysomethinginrealtimetocapturerealspontaneityandgroove,insteadofusingamouseandapianoroll.

8.Akeyboardactionisnotidealfordrumming,asthereisalotoftravelrequiredtotriggerthenote.Keyboardmechanismsweredesignedtomovehammersthathitstrings,nottoplaydrumsounds!It’sbettertousesomethingmoretactileandresponsivelikeadrum-padunit(suchastheM-AudioTriggerFinger,KorgPadKontrol,AkaiMPD-16/�4etc)oranelectronicdrumkit.


http://www.drummerworld.com

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3. Mic channels, outputs, mixing levels and panning

3:1. Mic channels and controlling ambience levels

Youmustpaycloseattentiontotheblendofmicchannels.Youdon’tneedeveryfaderturneduptomaximum,unlessyouspecificallywantaverylivesound-asubtleamountoftheambientchannelsworkswonderswithouttakingoveryoursong.Somesituationssimplydon’tdemandanyambienceatall-turnthemalldowntozeroforanintimate,dryandcrispsound.

Duringdrumrecordings,roomandPZMchannelsaretypicallyrecordedmuchhotterthantheyaremixed,andthisisalsothecaseinBFD.Inrecordingsituations,it’sgoodtohaveastrongsignaltomaximisethesignal-to-noiseratio-thehotterthesignal,thelessnoiseispresent.BFDwasrecordedinthesamemanner.Whenyoumixthesesignals,youdon’tnecessarilyneedmuchatall-thinkaboutthelevelsyouwouldnormallysetonareverbunit.Therewouldusuallybeveryfewoccasionswhenyou’dsetthereverbreturntoaveryhighlevel!

YoucanusetheKit-PieceTrimcontrolstovarytheamountofambienceforeachKit-Piece.Effectively,thesecontrolsactasa‘reverbsendlevel’totheoverhead,roomandPZMbuses.Somepartsofthekitaretraditionallypickedupbetterbytheoverheadmics.Cymbalsarethebestexample-itcanbegoodtouselessdirectmicsignalfortheseandmorefromtheoverheadsandperhapstheroom.Thiswillmakethemspreadbetterandsitinthemixmorerealistically.Aridecymbal,however,candefinitelybenefitfromalouderdirectsignal-thiscangivemoredefinitionandfocustotheattackoftheride.

Alternatively,youcansticktojustusingoneofthemicbuses-it’sverycommontousejusttheoverheadsforexample,whilemanyolderrecordingsweremadewithjustafewmics.Itmightbeusefultouseabitofthedirectsonthekickinthesescenarios,toreinforcethelow-end,andperhapsevenonthesnare.

UsingtheDistancecontrolsfortheambiencechannelscancreatesomestrikingeffectswhenusingmorethanonemicbus.Usingsmalleramountscancreatesubtlechangestothesenseofspaceinthedrummix(itbehavessimilarlytoa‘pre-delay’controlonareverberationunit),whilelargersettingscancreatewildslapbackeffects!

3:2. Output routing

TheOutputOptionspanelallowslimitlessfreedomfordrummixing.It’simportanttoreadchapter10oftheBFDreferencemanualtofullyunderstandmicchannelsandoutputrouting.


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Likeanyaspectofmixing,nosinglemethodofbussingintofurtherprocessingisinherentlybetterthananyothermethods.Dowhateveryourcreativeinstinctstellyouisneededinthesong.Forinstance,justusingBFDStereocanyieldexcellentresults-youcanplaywiththedynamicsfordifferentpartsofthekitusingcarefuladjustmentoflevelsanddamping,alongwithadditionaltechniqueslikelayering,andthenperhapscompressthestereooutputwithagoodbuscompressor.

Justbecauseyoucanhave17or34outputsfromBFD,youdon’tnecessarilyhavetousethemall!Youmayjustneedtocompressthekickandsnarethroughindividualprocessing,andleavetherestasastereomix.TherearevirtuallyunlimitedoptionsusingtheOutputOptionspanel,butalwaysremindyourselfthatyouaretryingtoachievewhat’sbestforanyonesongatanyonetime!Thiswillbringalotmorediversityandrangetothesoundofyourproductions,insteadofthemsoundingthesameallthetime.

TheOutputOptionspanelallowsallkindsofusefulfunctions-hereareafewexamplesofhowtoharnessitspower:

•Wanttoblendtheinside&outsidekicksignalsothatyoucanEQandcompressthemtogether?Simplyassignthe‘KickIn’and‘KickOut’micchannelsforthekickKit-Piecetothesameoutput.YoucanusethesamemethodforSnaretop/bottomaswell.

•WanttogetridofthePZMchannelforeverythingbutthesnare?Simplysetthe‘PZM’micchannelto[mute]foreveryKit-piecebutthesnare.Thiscanbeespeciallyusefulifyouwanttoavoidtheprocessedchannelson8 Bit Kitsounds.

•Youmaywanttocreateastereooutputforthetomsmixedtogether:inthiscaseyoucandedicateoneofthestereooutputpairsinBFDUltraorBFDAlltotheMultidirectchannelforthefloor,midandhightoms.TheDirectPancontrolsadjusttheplacementofeachtominthestereomix.

•Anotherideaistouse6stereooutputsintheBFDUltraplugintoeachsendoutastereochannelforthekick,snare,hihat,toms,cymbals,withasparechannelforanythingelse.Eachstereopairwouldcontainthedirect,overhead,roomandPZMchannelsforthatKit-Pieceonly.YouwouldachievethisbysettingallthemicchannelsforaKit-Piecetothesamestereooutput.

3:3. Bleed

• What is bleed?

BFD’sOutputOptionspanelalsoletsyoumanipulatebleed,whichoffersfurtherdimensionstoyourdrum-mixingcapabilities.ThisisanotherareawhereBFDimprovesuponarealdrum-trackingsession,whereit’simpossibletorecorddrumswithoutbleedinalldirectmicchannels.Whileyoucantameittosomeextentbyusinggates,you’reprettymuchstuckwithitonceit’sthere.


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Toputitsimply,bleedisspillbetweenthedirectmicchannels.Whenyoumicupadrumkitwithclosemicsforeachdrum/hat/cymbal,eachmicwillalwayspickupsomesoundfromtheotherdrums.Thisisobviouslynotaconcernonmicslikeoverheads/rooms/PZMs,asthesearedesignedtopickupthesoundofthewholekitanyway.

ThebleedinBFDislimitedtothekickin,kickout,snaretop,snarebottomandmultimicchannels,themultichannelbeingthedirectchannelforeverythingbutkicksandsnares.Pleasenotethatwedecidednottoimplementbleedinthetomandcymbalmicchannels,asit’sultimatelyjustnotthatuseful,andisinconvenientmoreoftenthannot.

• Controlling bleed in BFD

Thebleedlevelcontrols(kick,snareandmulti)allowyoutosetthegloballevelsforeachtypeofbleedchannel.

IndividualbleedchannelsforeachKit-Pieceareshowninredontheoutputmatrix,andeachbleedchannel,likeanyothermicchannel,canberoutedtoanyavailableoutput,ormutedcompletely.

Thereisalsoahandytoggleswitchinmulti-outputversionsofBFDwhichroutesthebleedchannelsforeachKit-Piecetoitsprimarydirectchanneloutput.Processingeachchannel’sbleedalongwithitsmainmicchannelcanhaveaniceeffect,andcanbeusefulifyouwanttokeepsomeoftheflavourofthebleed,whileallowingyoutoprocessandmixeachpartofthekittotallydiscretely.

Ifyougetridofbleedaltogetherthedrumswillsoundcleaner,althoughyoumaymisstheorganiccharacterthatbleedoffers.Bleedcansometimeshelpthedifferentelementsofadrummixgluetogethernicely.Ontheotherhand,youshouldgetridofbleed(orrouteittotheprimarydirectmicchannel)ifyouwanttototallyseparateeachpartofthekitintoitsownchannelforfurtherprocessing.

Withadrumkit,thereisalotofsympatheticresonancebetweenthedrumsanyway,suchasthesnarewirerattlingwhenthekickisplayed,althoughsomekicksinBFDareprovidedwithandwithoutasnarepresent.KeepingthesetypesofsoundsaddstotherealismofBFD,andsimilarly,don’tnecessarilybetooeagertoseparateeachkit-piecetoitsowndiscretechannel.Sincebleedisanunavoidablereal-worldphenomenon,it’salwaysthecaseonmostrealdrumproductionsthat,forinstance,bleedfromthekickgoesthroughthesnarechannel’sprocessing,andviceversa.

3:4. Panning

Don’tbeafraidtousemonowhenitcomestotheambientchannelsorpanningthedirects-itcanhelpthemixtosoundbigger.It’squitecommontouseamonoroomsignalwithheavycompressionforexample(makeitmonobyusingtheWidthcontrolontheRoombus).AlthoughthedirectsarepannedbydefaultinBFDtoreflectthelayoutofthekit,itcanbeagoodideatoputthekick,snareandhatinthecentreofthestereofield-thiscangivethedrumsmoreweight,presenceandimpact.


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Itcanalsobeusefulnottogooverboardonpanningtomsandcymbals.ThedefaultpanpositionsinBFDaretomatchupwiththepositionsintheoverheads.However,youdon’tnecessarilyhavetosticktothese.Again,ambiencechannelscanbegoodinmono,andreducingthestereospreadcangivethedrumsmoreimpact.

Whendealingwithstereoambiencechannels,rememberthatthepositionofthedifferentpartsofthekitare‘hard-coded’intothestereoimageoftheambiencechannels.Thisisanunavoidablelimitationofhavingstereoambiencechannels.However,theambiencechannelsforanyKit-Piececanbeflipped:forexample,ifyoumovethedirectcymbalsignaltotheothersideofthestereoimage,youcanfliptheambiencetomatch.Crashcymbalstendtopositionedontherightofthekit,ridestotheleft,andsplashesinthecentre.

The‘Drummerperspective’optionintheBFDOptionspanelflipsallpansettingsgloballytoreflectthedrummer’sperspectivesittingatthekit,orbacktotheengineersinthecontrolroomwatchingfromtheotherside.Whichperspectiveyoushoulduseisentirelyuptoyou.

Whendealingwithpanningtechniques,rememberthatyourmusicmayhavetobeplayedinmonoatsomestage-forinstance,onacheapportableradiooronamonocluborPAsystem.Complexpanningcanoftenrenderamonomixmeaningless.Alwaystryandcheckyourmixesinmono!

3:5. Phase

• Phase differences between mics

BFDhasseparatemicchannelsforinsideandoutsideandkickandaboveandbelowthesnare.Aswellascontrolsforblendingthesesignals,thereisaphaseswitchforeachpairofthesemicchannels.Phasecanbeanissuewhenusingmultiplemicrophonesbecausethesoundfromeachpartofthekitarrivesateachmicatslightlydifferenttimes.Whilethisisunavoidable,theseslightphasedifferencescontributetotheoverallrecordedsoundofthekit.

Itisneverthelessimportanttobeawarethatphasecansometimesbeaproblem.Themaincaseinpointisthesnaremicchannels:thetopmicispointingdowntowardstheskin,whilethebottommicispointinguptowardstheundersideofthedrum.Thismeansthatwhenthedrumishittheskinmovestowardsonemicandawayfromtheother,effectivelymakingthetwosignalsoutofphasewitheachother.However,thedrumactsasanaturalshieldandthecancellationisnotthatbad,althoughsometimesitcanmakethedrumsoundabithollowattimes.

Thephaseforthemicswasinvertedduringtherecordingsessionswhenevercancellationcreatedaproblem.Inotherwords,BFD’ssoundsareinphase.However,phaseinversionbuttonsareprovidedforboththekickandsnaremicchannels.Usingthesephase-flipbuttonswillresultinmorecancellationofthefundamentalfrequencies(usuallythelowestfrequencies)andhenceresultinless‘pitch’andmore‘tone’.Itcanbeaniceeffect,althoughyouwillnoticeitmoreonsomesnaresthanothers.


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AllthekickdrumsinBFD,BFD XFLandJazz & Funk Collectionwererecordedwithbothkickmicsfacinginthesamerelativedirection,sotheabovephaseconcernsdonotreallyapply.However,thephase-flipswitchisprovidedifyouwanttoexperimentwithinvertingthephase.TheDeluxe Collectionkickswererecordedwiththe‘inside’micactuallyonthebeater-sideofthekickskin,soitiseffectivelyoutofphasewiththeoutsidemic.Therefore,youcanconsiderthesekicksinthesamewayasthesnareswhenitcomestophase.However,pleasenotethatthedistancebetweenmicsrelativetotheverylowfundamentalfrequencymeansthatmostenergyatlowerfrequenciesisinphase.

Also,beawarethatplayingwiththeDistanceandWidthcontrolsfortheambientbusescanalsointroducephaseshiftsrelativetoeachotherandtothedirectsignalsforthekit.

It’sveryimportanttorememberthatphaseshiftsareanunavoidablereal-worldphenomenonandarethereasonthateffectslikestereomakesensetousatall.Ifyou’reworriedaboutit,investigateusingphasemeterstocheckthephaseofdifferentchannelsrelativetoeachother.Anyphasedifferencesupto90degreesarenothingtobeconcernedabout,butanythingabovethiscouldbeaproblem.Itisgoodpracticetocheckyourmixesinmono-anyproblematicphaseshiftsbetweendifferentstereosignalswillbecomeapparentwhenthetwosidesofthestereoimagearearemergedintomono-anythingseverelyoutofphasewillbepronetocancellationeffects.

• Phase shifts with external processing

Youshouldalsobeawarethatpluginsandexternalroutingthroughprocessorscanintroducephaseshifts.ManyprocessessuchasEQalsoinvolvephaseshifts.Somepluginsorroutingfunctionswilldelayaudioslightlywithinthehostitself,potentiallycausingphaseshifts.Whenusinghostswithoutautomaticdelaycompensationfeatures,youshouldmanuallydelaytrackstogettheminsyncwitheachother.

3:6. Levels and mixing headroom

SomepeoplefindthattheoutputofBFDistooquietcomparedtootherplugins.ThereisaverysimplereasonwhyBFD’ssoundsdonotconstantlyreach0dBonyourhostmixer:headroom!

Drumshaveaverylargedynamicrange-thereisnocompressionusedinBFD’srecordings,solowervelocitylayersareveryquiet,whilehighervelocitylayersapproach0dB.WithouttheheadroominsideBFD,therewouldbeaveryrealdangerofclipping.

Iftwosignalsinphasewitheachotherareaddedtogether,witheachpeakingat-6dbatthesametime,theresultingwaveformwillpeakatalevelof0db.Thisisafundamentaltruthwhichcannotbeavoided,andithastobetakenintoaccountwhenmixinginBFD.Otherwisetheoutputswouldbeadistortedmesswhennotsolo-ingoneortwoKit-pieces.

Asaside-note,althoughtheaudiofilesinBFDarerecordedat�4-bitresolution,theyareactuallyprocessedat3�-bitfloating-pointvalueswhenloadedintotheplugin,sothatthereisasmuchheadroomaspossibletosumallthesoundstogetherwithouttheriskofinternalclipping.


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• Mixing into the headroom of the system

Onadigitalsystem,it’sveryeasytomakethemistakeofrunningeachchannelpeakingatcloseto0dB.Thismayhavebeensensibleinthepast,when16-bitDACswerequitenoisywhendrivenatlessthantheirmaximumresolution.However,intoday’spristine�4-bitworldthisisnolongeranissueinrealterms,withevencheapconvertersbeingprettydecentincomparisontotheearlydaysofdigitalhomerecording.

Whenmixingdrums(oranythingelseforthatmatter)inthedigitaldomain,it’sagoodideatomixintotheheadroomofthesystem.Inotherwords,tokeepallindividualchannelgainsatsensiblelevels,peakingbetween-1�to-15dB.Thismeansthatwhenyousumalotofchannelstogetheryouwillstillhaveenoughheadroomonthemasteroutputs.Pullingyourhostmixer’smasterfaderdowntocompensateforexcessivelevelsofindividualchannelscanoftendestroythesoundofamix.It’sbettertomixintotheheadroomprovidedbythesystem-inthiswayyouusethesummingengineasintended,andyouwillachievetheoptimumsoundquality.Yourmixeswillbecleanerandmorepunchy.SlappingalimiteracrossthemasteroutputsisNOTthesolution!

RunningyourindividualchannelsatsensiblelevelsalsomeansthatanyEQandotherprocessingthatisappliedwillbelesslikelytoclipthechannel.

Afurtheradvantageofusingsensiblelevelsisthatyoucankeepthechannels’levelfadersclosetothe0dBmark,wherethehighestfaderresolutionexists.Thisgivesyouthefinestcontroloverfinaladjustmentoflevelswhenmixing.Ifyouhavetracksthathavebeenrecordedatveryhighlevels,(orplugininstrumentswhichoperateathighlevels),it’sagoodideatoputaTrimpluginacrossthechanneltoreducethelevelstopeakataround-1�dBwhilethechannel’slevelfaderisatthe0dBmark.

3:7. The mixing environment

It’simportanttomonitoratvolumesthatareneithertooloudortooquiet.Atveryquietvolumes,thehumaneardoesnotrespondoptimallytobassandtreble.Therefore,therewillbeadangerofyouover-compensatingforthiseffectinyourmix.Incidentally,thisisthesamereasonfortheexistenceofthe‘loudness’buttononconsumerhi-fiequipment.Ifthemonitoringsystemistooloud,thereisaveryrealchanceofpermanenthearingdamageinthelongterm.Also,yourspeakersmaynotbeabletohandlesuchloudvolumeswhilepreservingaflatfrequencyresponse,andtheymayclipordistort.

Alevelofaround90dBisagoodleveltostickto,asthisisthelevelatwhichthehumanearstartstorespondtoaudiowitharelativelyflatfrequencyresponse.However,it’sgoodtoperiodicallycheckyourmixatveryquietandveryloudvolumes,tomakesurethatitstillworkswhenplayedatdifferentvolumelevels.


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Getafeelforyourmonitoringenvironment.Listentomusicyouknowwelltogetareferencepoint.However,alwaysrememberthatcommercialrecordingsareusuallymasteredwithheavybrick-walllimitersandothermasteringtoolstomakethem‘louder’.Evenso,theywillgiveyouadecentreferenceforhowtomakedifferentinstrumentssittogether.

Makesurethatyourmonitorsareplacedoptimally,ideallyisolatedongoodspeakerstandsfilledwithsandorlead-shot.Ifyoudon’tpayattentiontothis,it’sverycommontogetaskewedperceptionofthefrequencyspectrum,withcertainfrequenciescreatingresonanceswithinfurniture,floorandwalls.

It’snotrecommendedtohavea‘finalizer’or‘maximizer’typecompressor-limiterpluginonyourmasteroutput,asyoucanquicklyloseperspectivewhenmixing-itwillbeespeciallyhardtotellwhatotherdynamicsprocessesaredoingwhenthefinaloutputisbeingcompressedaswell.Itmightbebeneficial,however,towardstheendofthemixprocesswhenyoumightwanttooccasionallycompareyourmixagainstaloudlymasteredcommercialrecording.Limitersalsotendtocausesquare-wavedistortion,whichcanbehorriblyfatiguingtolistento.

Alternativereferencespeakersandlisteningenvironmentsareinvaluable.Somealternativemonitors,cheaphi-fispeakersoreven‘multimedia’PCspeakersareuseful,andtryandcheckyourmixinthecarstereoorwhereverelseyoucanthinkof.

Takeregularbreaks!!!!!!!!Theearsgettiredquickly-youneedtorestthem.Leaveyourstudioforawhile,goforashortwalk...anythingbutlistentomoremusic.

Don’tmixonheadphones.Whiletheyaregoodforcheckingforclicks,crackles,clipsordistortions,theyarenotverygoodatallatallowingustoperceivetherelativelevelsofsounds,andtheydonothaveaflatfrequencyresponse.It’salsoimpossibleto‘feel’themusicthroughyourbody.Thismakesitespeciallydifficultwhendealingwithlowfrequencies.

Theenvironmentinwhichyouwriteisnotnecessarilygoodformixing.Ifyouhaveto,bounceyourtracksdownasaudio,withoutanyEQ,dynamicsoreffects,andtakethemtoamoresuitablestudiotomix!


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4. Processing techniques

Beforeyoustartpilingontheplugins,askyourselfifyoureallyneedtodoit,andwhatyouwanttoachieveattheend.It’seasytoslapontheprocessingbecauseyouwantto‘makeitsoundbig’.However,willahuge,heavilysquasheddrumsoundactuallysuitthecontextoftherestofyoursong?

EQ(equalization)andcompressioncanbeusedinavarietyofways.Thetraditionalapproachistousetheseprocessorsinasubtlewaysothatinstrumentsfittogetherbetterinthemix,tameover-dynamictracksto‘levelthemout’more,andsoon.

Intermsofgettingagoodmix,well-balancedlevels(betweenthevariousdrummicchannels,andbetweenthedrumsandtheotherinstrumentsinyoursong)tendtobemoreimportantthanEQorcompression.BothEQandcompressionareoftenmisusedbyinexperiencedmixengineers,sincebothcanalterthelevelofasignal,moreoftenthannotmakingitlouder-althoughofcoursethisisnottheonlythingthattheydo.

Therefore,besurethatitisn’tsimplythe‘louder’aspectthatyouprefer.SeasonedmixengineerswilluseheavyamountsofEQandcompressiononlyasalastresort,usuallytofixapoorly-recordedinstrumentorasacreativeeffect.

Themoreprocessingyouapply,themoreitintrudesuponthesoundandfeelofyoursong.Thismaybeundesirable,especiallyifyouuselotsofdigitalprocessorsinapredominantlyacousticorwarmelectriccontext.Ontheotherhand,thismaybeexactlywhatyouwant.

Onadigitalsystemlikeacomputer-basedDAW,usinglessprocessingalsohastheconvenientside-effectofusinglessCPUorDSPpower.

Therearenorules!However,it’sgoodtohaveaknowledgeandappreciationofdifferentapproaches,sothatyouhavemoreoptionsavailabletoyouwhenmixing.

4:1. Important: learn how to use your gear!

It’svitallyimportanttoknowhowyoursequencerorhostworks,especiallytheaudioroutingandmixingengineanditsmethodsofdealingwithplugins.Thisisno-oneelse’sresponsibilitybutyourown!Afewhoursofstudyingthemanualsofyoursoftwareandequipmentwillreaptherewardsofincreasedspeed,efficiency,directionandcreativepossibilitieswhenusingit.

Thecheapandeasyaccesstocomplexandfeature-richaudioworkstationstodayisafarcryfromthe‘goodolddays’,whenyouhadtogetajobasatape-opinordertogetanywherenearamultitrackrecordingsystem.YouhadtospendagreatdealoftimemakingteaanddoingmenialtasksbeforeevengettingthechancetolearnhowtousethelargescarySSLmixer.


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ThefunctionalityofmodernDAWsinmanywayseclipseswhatyoucoulddointhosebigold-schoolstudios:virtuallyunlimitedtracksandprocessorinstancesonlylimitedbythespeedofyourCPU,totalrecall,andsoon.Unfortunately,theside-effectisthatthefreedomandconvenienceofcomputer-basedDAWshasspoiltustosuchadegreethatmanypeoplefinditimpossibletoperformbasictaskslikecreatingabus-send,orroutingaudiooutofamulti-channelplugin.It’salsosimplynolongeracceptabletobeafraidofMIDI-it’sbeenaroundforover�5years,andit’sreallyverysimpleonceyousitdownandfigureoutwhatitdoesandhowyoucanuseitforthebenefitofyourproductions.

YoushouldalsolearnhowtouseyourEQandcompressorpluginsorhardwareunits.It’snogoodslappingontheprocessorsandflickingthroughpresetsuntilitsoundsright.It’ssimplynotgoingtohappen.

Berealistic:ifyouwanttogetgoodresults:youneedtoeitherlearnhowtooperateyourgear,orpayanengineertocomeinandoperateitforyou.Inthisrespect,nothingatallhaschangedsincetheolddays.

4:2. EQ

WhenusingEQ,cuttingratherthanboostingcanoftenleadtothesameperceptionofthesound,withouteatingintoheadroom.Thisdoesn’talwaysseemdesirable,butinthecontextofamixitoftenworksbest.Itwillleadtoacleanermix-boostinglotsofelementscanresultinamesswhichismorepronetodistort.

AnotherpitfalltoavoidisthemistakeofconstantlyEQ-inginsolomode.MakeyourEQadjustmentswiththerestofthesong’sinstrumentsplaying!EQ-ingonlymakessenseinthecontextoftherestofthemix!It’scalled‘equalization’becauseyou’remakingdifferentelementssittogetherbetterbyrestrictingtheirfrequencyrangeifthey‘clash’witheachother.Whatmightsoundgreatsolo’ddoesn’talwaysworkinthemix-itcanoftenbeoverbearinginthemixcontext.IfyouproperlyEQelementsincontext,individualpartscanoftenappearweakwhilesolo’d.Alwaysrememberthatnoteverythinghastosoundhugeifyouwantapowerfulmix.

Oneimportantpointtonote:closemic’ingakitforthedirectchannelsgenerallyresultsinmorebottom-endintherecordingthanyouwouldhearfromthekitinnaturallisteningconditions.Thisisduetotheproximityeffect-thecloseryoumicsomethingup,themorelow-frequencieswillbecapturedfromthesource.Asmentionedpreviously,cymbalsandhihatsinBFDDeluxeCollectionaremic’dfromslightlyfurtherawaythanusual,andthereforemayrequirelesstreatmenttositwellinyourmix.

Seethesectionbelowentitled‘Approaching each part of the kit ’formorehintsonEQ-ingeachpartofthekit.


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4:3. EQ and compressor routing

ThereisnohardruleabouttheorderinwhichyoushouldplaceanEQandcompressoronachannel.However,bearinmindthatanEQplacedbeforethecompressorwillhaveaneffectonthewaythecompressorreactstothesignal.Single-bandcompressorsarenotusually‘intelligent’:theysimplyrespondtoenergyinthesound,regardlessofwhereitoccursinthefrequencyspectrum.

Asageneralrule,mostoftheenergyinmusicistowardsthelowendofthefrequencyrange.IfyousetupyourcompressorandthenstartincreasingthebasswithanEQplacedbeforeitinthesignalpath,thecompressor’sresponsewillchange-itwillstarttocompressthesignalalotmore!

OneapproachistouseanEQbeforeacompressortofilteroutlowerfrequenciesforthingslikesnaresandpercussion,inwhichthemidandhighfrequenciesareusuallyperhapsthemostimportant.Thiswillallowthecompressortoreactbettertothetransients.

Ifyouhaveaccesstoasidechaincompressor,thereareotheroptionsopentoyou.Sendthedrummixtoanauxchannelandroutetheauxtothesidechaininputofthecompressor.Then,placeanEQinthesignalpathjustinfrontofthesidechaininput,andfilteroutsomeofthelow-endofthesignal.ThisEQwillnotbeheardontheactualsignal-thesidechainsimplytellsthecompressorwhentocompressthesignal-thereforeyouavoidtheproblemofexcessivebassintheactualsignalinterferingwiththecompressorresponse.Sidechaincompressorsofferahugerangeofcreativepossibilities.

AnEQplacedafteracompressorwillobviouslynotaffectthecompressor’sresponse.ItmaybeusefultoinsertanEQafteracompressortocompensateforanyreducedhighfrequencies,asituationwhichcanoccurasaresultofveryheavycompression.

4:4. Compression

Whenusingcompression,youcanusethesametechniqueswithBFDasyouwouldwitharealmulti-trackeddrumrecording.However,becauseoftherelativelackofvolumeintensitycausedbyreal-worldbleedandkitresonancesonaconventionaldrumkitrecording,youmayhavetodrivethecompressorslightlyhardertoachievethesameeffects.

Alwaysrememberthatacompressorisforadjustingthedynamicsofindividualelements:therearenohardandfastrulesthatwillcovereverysituation.Itisaverysource-dependenteffect,andhowyoushoulduseitdependsuponthecontextofeachsong!

• Attack

Setalongenoughattacktimeonthecompressor,toallowtheleadingedgeofthesoundthrough.Ifyousettooshortanattacktime,yourdrumswilllackpunch.Youonlyreallywanttocompressthebody(sustainportion)ofthesound,leavingtheimpactoftheattacktransientstocutthroughthemix-50msorsoisagoodstartingpoint.However,if


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you’regoingforextremecompressioneffects,azero-attack,totallysquishedsoundmaybeexactlywhatyouwant.Itmightbeespeciallyusefulwhenusingparallelcompressiontechniques(seebelow).

• Release

Settingthereleasetimetofollowthenaturaldecayofthedrumwillachievethemostnatural-soundingresponse.Verylongreleasetimeswilltendto‘levelout’thedynamicscompletely,asthecompressordoesnthavelongenoughtorecoverbetweenhits.Again,thismaybewhatyouwantifyou’regoingforextremeeffects.Veryshortreleasetimescoupledwithalong-ishattackwillgiveyouaclassic‘pumping’compressorsound.

• Ratio and Threshold

Theratiocontrolshowmuchcompression(gainreduction)occursoncethethresholdhasbeenexceeded.Iftheratioissetto1:1,nocompressionwilloccurnomatterhowlowthethresholdisset.

Withtheratiosetto�:1,iftheinputsignalgoes�dBabovethethreshold,theoutputwillonlygo1dBoverthethreshold.Higherratioslike3:1,4:1andsoonwillresultinmoregainreduction.

Theinteractionbetweenthethresholdofcompressionandtheratioisveryimportant.Playwiththesecontrolstoseehowyoucanreallyshapethesoundofthedrums.Forexample,alowthresholdandhighratiowillcausethecompressorto‘slamdown’onthedrumsmoresothantheotherwayround.

Takesometimetolearnhowthesecontrolsinteract.Everycompressorhasadifferentcharacterandresponse.It’simportanttogettoknowthe‘feel’ofeachcompressoryouhaveatyourdisposal,especiallyinthisageofaffordableanddiverseplugins.Havingasuiteofcompressorswithnorealknowledgeofhowtheyreactislessbeneficialthanbeingabletoskilfullyuseonetypeofcompressor.

Compressorsareoftenswitchableresponsebetween‘peak’and‘RMS’detectionmodes-thesebothsoundquitedifferenttoeachotherandresponddifferentlytotheinputsignal.Apeakresponseonlydetectstheveryloudestpartsofthesignal.WhensettoRMS,thedetectionsystemusesthe‘average’levelofthesignaltodrivethecompressor.Thisisoftenmoremusicallyuseful.

Unlessyouwanttoheavilyovercompressyourdrumsforcreativereasons,3-6dBofcompressionisusuallyMOREthanenough!Rememberthatyouwanttomakeyourdrumssitwellinthemix,nottoshowcaseyourcompressorunit.

• Knees

Somecompressorshaveadjustable‘knees’.Thisinitiallysoundsoddbutitisinfactatermusedtodescribetheshapeofthecompressionresponsecurve.Ahardkneeshapeisalotmoreaggressivethanasoftkneeshapeoncethethresholdhasbeenreached.Alimiterisanexampleofacompressorwithaveryhardkneeandaninfiniteratio.


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• Use a MIDI controller!

Itcanbeareallygoodideatomapacompressorplugin’sparameterstoaMIDIcontroller,sothatmorethanonecontrolcanbeadjustedatthesametime.Thiswayyoucangetabetterfeelforhowtheparametersinteracttoshapethesound.

• Parallel compression

Parallelcompressionisaveryusefultechniquefordrummixing.Thistechniqueinvolvessendingthedrumtrackstoanadditionalbustobecompressed,whilestillleavingtheoriginaltracksinthemix.Theadvantageisthatyougetthecompresseddrumsound,withheaviersustain,mixedinwiththeoriginalsoundswiththeirtransientsintact.Popularcompressorsforthistechniquearethe‘quad’compressorsonSSLconsoles.Thisresultsinaclassicdrumsound-Nirvana’s‘Nevermind’isagoodexample.

• Bus compression vs. compression of individual channels

Buscompressionisgenerallyusedtoaddweightandscaletothedrums,whereascompressionofindividualdrumtracksisusuallytocontroland‘tame’dynamics,aswellastoaddpunchtothedrumsifrequired.

BFD’sroomandPZMchannelsrespondverywelltobuscompression.Compressingtheroomisaclassicmethodofmakingthedrums‘RAWK’.Forabitofextraauthenticity,maketheroommonobyturningtheWidthcontroltominimum.UsingthedirectandoverheadchannelsmixedwithaveryheavilycompressedstereoormonoPZMchannelcansoundhuge.Rememberthatinthecontextofatrackthiscanaddahugeamountofdepthandintensity.Itisaverypowerfuleffectanditisveryeasytooverdoit!

Ifyou’redoingalotofbuscompression,youmaywanttouselessdirectsignal,especiallyonthecymbals,togetamorenaturalsound.It’sperhapsalsoagoodideatolayoffthecompressiononthehihats,notonlybecauseofhowitcanaffectthesnaresoundduetobleed,butalsobecausekeepingsomedynamicsforthehihatscanbevitaltothefeelofthegroove!

• Rules?

Therearenorules,butalwaysrememberthatanycompressionisinfactmakingthesoundsmaller-acompressor‘squashes’thedynamicsofasignalsothatyoucanmakeitlouderwithoutclipping.Itisincrediblyeasytooverdoitandcompletlyruinthesoundofthedrums(orwhateverelseyou’recompressing),turningthemintosmallpoppingbagsofsoggycrisps!

Agoodtip:justwhenyouthinkit’sloudenough,it’sprobablyabittooloud,sobackitoffafewdBunlessyouwantthedrumstodominateyourmix.


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5. How to approach mixing each part of the kit

5:1. Kicks

The‘lowendthump’ofakickliesinthe40-80Hzrange-manyengineersrefertothisasthe‘chest’region-becauseyoucanfeelitinyourchest,rattlingyourribcage!

Themainbodyofakickexistsinthe80-1�0Hzrange,withthethefundamentalfrequencyofmostkicks,dependingonsize,beingataround80Hz.

Thebodyandresonanceofthedrumshellisfoundinthe160-500Hzrange.Cuttingthesefrequencies(‘scoopingthemids’)leadstoacleaner,modernkicksound,whichsitswellinthemix.Leavingtheseinissuitedmoretoanold-schoolsound.

Thebeatersoundliesbetween1and6kHzdependingontype:harderbeaterstendtohavemoreenergyinthehigherfrequencies.Accentuatethisfrequencyrangeforamodern‘clicky’rockkicksound.

Alternatively,rolloffsomeofthetopendforamorerelaxed,‘woofy’soundingkick,moresuitableforjazzyorfunkmusic.

Theinsideandoutsidekickmicchannelssoundverydifferenttoeachother.Theinsidekicksoundgivesyouthebrighter,moreaggressivesoundwithlesslow-endandsome‘shellresonance’.Thisisbecausethemicispointedmuchclosertowherethebeaterstrikestheskin.Theoutsidekicksoundismuchmorelikethekicksoundaswehearitwhilestandingnexttothekit.Itisoftendeeperinbassandless‘attacky’.Howyoubalancethesesignalsisuptoyou,butjustrememberthattheoutsidemicgivesyouthedepthandweightwhiletheinsidegivesyoutheattackanddefinition.

Onfastersongs,chooseatighterkickandusemoredamping.Thequickerthetempoofthesong,thelessbassyoucangetawaywithonthekicks.

Acommonmixingtechniqueistoprocessthebasslinewithasidechaincompressor,usingthekickasthesidechainkeysource.Therefore,thebasslinewillbecompressedmoreduringkicksounds,leadingtoacleaner,tighterlowendinthemix.

Tuningthekickdrumtothekeyofthetrackcanalsohelptomakethingsgeltogethernicely.Thisisacommonsolutiontosituationswhereabasslineandkickarenotsittingnicelytogether.

5:2. Snares

Thelow-end‘thump’ofasnareisusuallyaround100-140Hz(dependingonitssizeandtuningasalways).Rollingofftheverylowestfrequenciescanhelpasnaretocutthroughamix.Also,loweringtheamountofbasswillaffecttheresponseofanycompressionappliedtothesnare.Lessbassenergymeansthecompressorwillrespondbettertothethetransientsofthedrum.Side-chaincompressionisanalternativewayofdealingwiththis.


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Cuttingthelowmidsataround�50-400Hzwill‘openup’thesoundofthedrum,whileremovingsomemidsat700Hzwillreducethe‘bark’ofthesnare.

Thecrackandattackofthesnareisusuallytobefoundbetween�to7kHz.Ifit’sanylowerthan�kHzitwilltendto‘honk’.Boostingsomeveryhighfrequenciesataround1�-15kHzreallyaccentuatestheultra-high-end‘sizzle’.

Ifthesnareissoundingtooaggressiveinthemidrange,cuttingat1-�kHzby1or�dBwillsmoothitoutwhilststillretainingthebiteandweight.

Forclassicpopsnaresounds,usemoretopmicchannelthanbottom.Foracrunchiersoundusemorebottomsnare,whichletsthroughmoreoftheactualsnarewire,resultinginmoretopend‘crack’andsizzle.

Alotoftheapparenttop-endcrackofasnarealsocomesthroughtheoverheadsaswellasthebottomsnarechannel.

5:3. Hihats

Rollingoffthelow-endonthehihatsisveryuseful.Itremovesaslightly‘gongy’elementtosomehatswhichcanoftenbeundesirable(thinnerhatstendtohavemorelow-end-thesameappliestocymbals).Cuttingthelow-endinthiswayalsohelpsthehatstositbetterinthemix.

Accentuatingthefrequenciesaround1-3kHzwilltendtomakethe‘stick’aspectofthesoundmorepronounced,whileboostingabovethisrange,especiallyat5-10kHz,youwillgetmoreoftheclassichihat‘sizzle’.

KeepinmindthatopenhatpositionshavealotmoreenergythanclosedhatsandmaystarttosoundtooloudafteraddinglotsofEQ.Youshouldadjusttrimlevelsfornon-closedhitsintheBFDHitOptionspanel,orexplorecompressionoptions.Rememberthatit’salwaysnicetoleavesomedynamicstothehats,asthiscancontributealottothefeelofagroove.

5:4. Toms

Forwantofamorepoliteword,the‘balls’ofthetomslieinthe50-1�0Hzrange.Obviously,largertomshavemuchmorebassenergythansmallerones.

Themainbodyofthetoms,inthe1�0-500Hzrange,canbeverytroublesome-thereisadangerofthetomssoundingtoothickandheavy.Somegooduseofanarrow-bandwidthEQcut(tunedtotaste)willhelpthetomstositinthemixbetterwithoutoverpoweringeverythingelse.

Theattackofthetomsliesinthe1-7kHzrange-thiscontains‘thebite’ofthetom.Ifyouremovealotofmid-range,thenyou’llbeleftwiththisfrequencyrange,andthetomswillhaveverylittleapperentsustain.


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Ifyouwantthunderoustoms,uselargerones!Don’tsticktopresetconventionsontomselection.BFDallowsyoutomixandmatchtoms,soyoucanassemblecustomtomsets.Twofloortomsandaracktomcanbegreat,evenifthe�floortomsarenotfromthesameset-oncetheyareEQ’dandcompressedinthemixitisveryhardtotellthatthey’refromdifferentkits.Replacingthehightomwithamidtomcanalsobeveryuseful,asmanyhightomsaretoosmall(andthereforehigh-pitched)forsomeapplications.

UsingBFD’sdampingcontrolsonthetomsisagreatalternativetousinggatesto‘tame’thetoms.MostofBFD’stomsarerecordedundampedtoallowmaximumflexibility.Forcertaintypesofmusic,theycanlasttoolongintheiruntreatedform.Uselargeamountsofdamping(over50%)forfunkandothergroove-basedmusic,whereanexcessivelyresonantsetoftomswouldtakeoverthemix.Thesameappliestometal,wherethebeatsarejusttoodensetoaccomodateundampedtoms.

Aspreviouslynoted,trynottohardpanthetoms,therearen’tmanydrummerswitharms1�feetacross.Also,tomswithlotsoflow-end(suchasfloorandlargemidtoms)usuallysoundbetterwhenmixedinbothspeakers.

5:5. Cymbals

Likethehats,it’sveryusefultohighpassfilterthecymbalsheavily.Again,itgetsridof‘gongy’tonesandlow-end‘bark’.

Don’tbeafraidtocuttooheavily,evenallthewayupto�kHzormore-thisisaverycommontechniqueinthecontextofmodernrockorpopproduction.

Takecarewhenboostingtrebleoncymbals,asitveryeasytooverdoitandupwithancymbaltrackthatistoobrightandmessy.

Itcanbegoodtousemoreambiencethandirectsignalwithcymbals.Usingtheoverheadswillmakecymbalssitinthemixmorerealistically.However,tryandretainagoodamountofthedirectchannelforrides,asthiswillhelptheattacktocutthrough.


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6. Creative processing

6:1. Other dynamics processors

Gatesareagoodwayofrecreatingolderdrumsounds,suchasthoseusedinsoulandfunkrecords.Youcanachievedifferentresultstousingthebuilt-indampinginBFD,sofeelfreetoexperiment!

TransientmodificationprocessorslikeSPLTransientDesignerorSonyTransientModulatorcanbeveryusefulinshapingtheattackandreleaseofpartsofthekit.Theyhaveaslightlydifferentapproachtoconventionalcompressors,andcanbeveryusefulforaddingextrapunchorfortamingambience.It’sincrediblyeasytooverdoitwithprocessorslikethis:treadcarefully.

DynamicEQ’scanalsogiveyounewwaysofshapingthedynamicsofyourmix.Again,proceedwithcaution-alwayskeepaperspectiveonwhatyouwanttoachieve.

6:2. Artificial reverb

Don’tbeafraidtouseanartificialreverb,especiallyonthesnaresandtoms.Gettingridofthenaturalroomandusingafakespacecanopenupanewworldofsounds-engineersoftendothiswithrealmultitrackeddrumstoo!Extremelyshort,brightplatereverbscancompletelychangethenatureofthedrums.Youcanalsouselargerroomsandaddbuscompressiontoachievehugedrumsounds,justlikeyouwoulddowithBFD’sbuilt-inambience.

Ifthedrumsaresoundingtoo‘reverby’forthemix,trytofindareverbprogramwithaverystrongearlyreflectionelement,andusemoreofthisthanthemainreverbtailitself.Thisisalsogreatforachieving‘slapback’roomeffects,especiallywhencombinedwithpre-delay.

Also,don’tgocrazyonthe‘roomsize’and‘reverbtime’parameters-besensible!Reverbsthataretoolongwilljustclutterupthemixandsoundmessy.

Pre-delaycanbeveryuseful-itcanhelptoseperatethedrumsfromthereverbandkeepthemixsoundingmoredefined,insteadof‘distancing’thedrumstothebackofthemix.Pre-delayisthetimebetweenthebeginningofthedrysoundandthebeginningofthereverb.Asettingofbetween10and�5mscanworkverywell.Extremesettingscanproduceslapbackeffects,likewhenusingtheDistancecontrolsfortheambienceinBFD’smixinginterface.

Usingmonoreverbscanreallypinthedrumstothecentreofthemixand,asdescribedearlier,isaverycommonproductiontechniqueforgettingbigdrumsounds.

Algorithmicandconvolutionreverbsbothhavetheirownstrengthsandweaknesses-experimentwithboth!


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6:3. Recreating retro sounds

Togetolderdrumsoundsfromthe50’sand60’s,experimentwithstrangepanning-perhapskeepthedrumspredominantlyinonechannel,althoughitcanstillbeusefulnottopanthekickinordertokeepastrongcentreimage.

Itcanalsobeusefultorolloffsomehigh-endtosimulatean‘old-school’sound,aswellasemployingtechniqueslikegating(orBFD’sbuilt-indamping).

Olderrecordingsalsotendtouselessmics,sotryanduselessoftheavailablemicchannels.

6:4. Resampling and re-sequencing

BFDisperfectformakingyourownbreakbeats!Youcanthinkaboutitasasound-sourceformakingyourownpersonalisedbreaksbycreatinggood-soundingdrummixesandmixingdownsomepatternstostereobounces.Youcanthenre-processtheclipsandusebeat-slicingtechniquesonthembeforeputtingthemintoasamplerpluginandsequencingtheslices.Thisisgreatforhip-hopanddrum&bassmusic,andBFD’sversatilitymeansyoucantailorthesound,pattern,grooveandtempoexactlytoyourneeds.

6:5. Distortion and re-amping

Somedistortionoroverdriveonanauxsend,mixedbackinwiththedrydrummix,canadddirt,gritandcolourtothedrumswhilenotkillingthedefinitionandqualityofthesoundandtransients.It’sgoodtokeepsomesubtletybymixingthedistortionbackinatlowlevels,andheavilyEQ-ingthesesignalssoasnottoendupwithamessymix.Thismethodcanbeusedwithallmannerofprocessors-tryandbeoriginalandthinkoutsidethebox.

Speakingofwhich,tryre-ampingthedrums!Sendthesnarechanneloutviaanauxsendtoamic’dupguitar/bassamporsmallPAspeaker,andbringitbackintothemix.Youcouldeventrysomeheadphones,hi-fispeakersor,ifyou’reluckyenoughtohaveaccesstoone,evenaLeslierotatingspeakerforsomepsychedelicswirlingdrums.

Youcanevencreateyourownrealanalogreverbsbydoingthisinthegarageorwhateverotherspaceyoucanpossiblytakeyourrig!

Usingsuchtechniquescanaddanorganicvibetothedrums.


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6:6. Noise

Talkingoforganicvibes,don’tbeafraidofnoise.Attheriskofsoundingrathercontroversial,itspresenceinamixcanactuallymakethemixsoundwarmer,moreorganicandmore‘alive’.Anoise-freedigitalproductioncanreallyrisksoundingclinical,flatandlifeless.Recordingsalwayscontainsomenoise,andmostcommercialproductionsarealsomixedonananalogconsolethroughanalogprocessors,aprocesswhichwillalwayscontributesomenoisetothemix.Itisanatural,real-worldphenomenonandweareusedtohearingit!

Tryrunningsomechannelsthroughsomehardwareprocessorsinsteadofhyper-cleanplugins,orexperimentwithbouncingpartstotape.EvensimplyrunningtheaudiooutofagoodD/AconverterandbackinthroughagoodA/Dcangiveyourrecordingssomecolourandbite.There’ssomehowsomething‘real’aboutthesoundofelectronswhizzingaroundacircuit,orbeingwrittenasmagneticinformationtotapeandreadback-youcanpotentiallyaddmoredepthanddimensiontothesoundwhendoingthingslikethis.


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7. A demonstration of getting a good drum sound

Thefollowingguide,alongwiththesoundexamples,isapracticalapplicationofgettingarawdrummixtogether.Allthesoundexamplesarelinkedbelow,orcanbedownloadedasaZipfilehere.

1. Default sound 1-default_sound.mp3

ThisisBFDasitsoundswithnoprocessingatall.ItistherawBFDoutputwithdefaultmixersettings,usingacustomkitcomprisedofvariousBFDexpansionpacks.

2. Dry sound 2-dry_sound.mp3

Thisisthedrysoundofthedrums:therawoutputofBFDwiththeambiencechannelsmutedandthedirectandbleedchannelssetupapproximatelyforthedesiredfinalsound.

3. Adding EQ and compression to the dry sound 3-EQ+comp.mp3

Here,someEQandcompressionisintroducedonthedrydrumsounds.

Kick channels

Somemid-rangecutisappliedtotheinsidekickchannelandthelow-endisboostedatabout70Hzusingabellcurveresponse.Sometop-endboostisalsoaddedtoaccentuatethe‘click’ofthebeateratabout5kHz.

Thecompressorissettoalowratio(�:1)withacoupleofdBofcompression.Aslowattackmodeisusedtoletthetransientofthedrumthrough,whilethereleaseissetaslowaspossible.Atouchofgatinghasalsobeenapplied.

Similiarsettingsareusedfortheoutsidekickchannel,withtheexceptionofthetop-endboost.

Inside kick mic

Outside kick mic


http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/mixguide_allsounds.zip

http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/1-default_sound.mp3

http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/2-dry_sound.mp3

http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/3-EQ+comp.mp3

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Snare channels

Somelow-endboostisaddedtothetopsnarechannelwithsmallcutinthemid-rangetoremovesomeofthe‘ring’oftheundampedsnare.Thereisalsoaboostatabout6kHz.

Atouchofcompressionisadded,withahighratio(8:1).Thethresholdissetfairlyhigh,sothatthecompressorwillonlyreacttotheloudesthits.

Thebottomsnarechannelissetupinmuchthesamewaybutsomebassroll-offisalsoapplied.

Bothchannelsarealsomildlygated.ThegateonlyclosesafewdB.

Hihat

Thehihatchannelshavehadtheirlow-endremovedandsomeshelvingEQaddedatabout1�kHzinordertoaccentuatetheirsizzle.

Thereisnocompressionappliedtothehihats.

Toms

Theindividualtomsaretreatedinthesamewayaseachother,inordertomakesurethattheircompressionlevelsremainedthesameandtheykepttheirtonalbalance.

Somelow-endboostisaddedtoemphasizethepowerofthetoms.Meanwhile,amid-rangecutremovesalotofthesustain,whichontomscanbevery‘middly’andgetinthewayofagoodmix.Someuppermid-rangeboostusingafairlynarrowQisalsoaddedinordertobringoutthe‘bite’.

Top snare mic

Bottom snare mic

Toms

Hihat


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4. Bus compressing the kick

4-comp_kicks.mp3

Thekickchannelsareprocessedthroughtheirownbuscompressors.Theseaddtheneccessarypunchtothesoundofthekickdrum.

Thesamesettingswereusedforeachkickchannel’sbuscompressor.

5. Bringing back the overheads and treating the cymbals

5-overhead.mp3

Asyoucanhear,re-introducingtheoverheadchannelsresultsinthesoundofthedrumssuddenlybecomingalotmore‘real’,withasenseofspaceandair.

Thereisalsosomehigh-endboost(byafewdB)onthecymbaldirects,alongwithsomelowendroll-off.Somelightbuscompressionisalsoappliedtogivethecymbalsabitmoresustain.

6. Adding some artificial reverb6-reverb.mp3

Thisisanexampleofwhatatouchofartificialreverbcando.Aroomsettingwith�0msofpredelayisused,withareverbdecaytimeofjustunder1second.ThereverbtailisshapedusingtheEQontheplugin,withsomeroll-offonthehighsandlows.

Kick In Kick Out

Cymbal bus compression

Cymbal EQ


http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/4-comp_kicks.mp3

http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/5-overhead.mp3

http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/6-reverb.mp3

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7. Re-introducing the room and PZM channels

7-room+PZM.mp3

BringingtheroomandPZMchannelsbackintothemixaddsfurtherspatialdimensionstothedrummix.

ThePZMchannelsareEQ’d,withaheavycutinthelow-endandsometop-endboost.Theyarealsogated,sothattheysoundquitethinandshort.Whentheroomsoundismixedin,youdon’thearanobviousgatingeffect.However,usingagateinthissituationcutsdownonexcessive‘roomyness’whenthePZMsarecombinedwiththeroomchannels.

TheroomchannelshavenotbeenEQ’d,butarecompressed.

8. Adding some parallel bus compression

8-parallel_comp.mp3

Settingupaparallelbuscompressoroverthewholemix,withtheexceptionofthekickswhichweretreatedearlier,givesthesoundofthedrumsevenmorepower.

9. Adding a touch of distortion 9-distortion.mp3

Finally,inthelastaudioexample,youcanhearthedrummixwithsomeaddeddistortion.Ithasbeenaddedviaanauxsend,sotheamountofeachmicchannelsenttothedistortionunitiscontrollable.Mostofthechannelsarefedtothedistortion,withtheexceptionofthecymbals.

ThedistortionisheavilyEQ’dtoremovethelowandtop-end,toavoidclutteringupthesound.Usingasubtleamountaddssomebiteandcolour,withouttakingoverthemix.

PZM processing

Room processing


http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/7-room+PZM.mp3

http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/8-parallel_comp.mp3

http://www.fxpansion1.com/mix_guide_audio/9-distortion.mp3

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8. How to approach mixing a song

Ifyou’refeelingalittlelostanddon’tknowwheretostart,perhapstheseguidelineswillhelpyou.Makesureyoureadtherestofthe‘MixingwithBFD’guidefirst,asmanyofthetechniquesdescribedbelowhavealreadybeendiscussedindetail.

1. First steps

Startbysettingsensiblelevelsonallchannels,inordertoachievethebestmixingheadroom.

Whenstartingamix,donotuseanypanning,EQ,compression,reverboranyothereffectsonthedrumsorontheotherinstrumentsinthesong,unlessifanyeffectsareanabsolutelyintegralpartofcertaintracks.Lotsofeffectswillmakeitverydifficulttogetthebasicmixright.Onceyou’vegotadecentsoundingmix,youcanthendialintheeffects.

SticktooneofthemicbusesinBFDfornow:direct,overhead,roomorPZM-whicheveroftheseyouwanttobethemainfocusofthedrumsound.Turndowntherest.Again,oncethemixisdoneyoucanintroduceasmuchambienceasrequired,inasimilarwaytointroducingreverb.

GetaroughbalancebetweenBFDandtheotherinstruments.

Listentohowthekickdrumandthebasslinesittogether.Askyourselfiftheyareclashinginanyway.Dothesameforthemid-rangeinstruments-forexample,guitar,keysandthesnaresandtoms.

Tryandbuildamentalpictureofthedifferentelementsinthefrequencyspectrum,andhowyoumightneedtoadjustanyelements’frequencyordynamicrangetoachieveabettermix.

2. Approaching processing

Thereisnopointinmakingthedrumssoundamazinginisolationandlaterfindingthatthereisnospaceinthemixfortherestoftheinstruments.

WhenapplyingEQoranyotherprocessingtoatrack,alwaysdoit‘incontext’-youwanttobeabletohearwhatitsoundslikeinrelationtotherestofthetracks.

3. EQ

Thefirstthingyouneedtodoistomaketheinstrumentsatthelowestfrequenciessoundgoodtogether.

Don’taddEQatthesamefrequencytoboththekickandthebassline.It’sgoodtodecidewhetherthekickorthebasslinearegoingtocarrythesong,orwhethertheygoingtobeworking‘asone’.


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Onetechniquethatoftenworkswellistoremovesomeextremelow-end(upto60Hz)fromthebassguitartoleaveroomforthekicktodoitsthing.IfyouuseEQtoincreasebassonthekick,trycuttingbythesameamountatthesamefrequencyonthebasstrack.It’sallaboutdefining‘pockets’foreachsound.

Youcanalsotryusingasidechaincompressorwiththebassandkick,toduckthebasswhenkicksoccur.

Thefasterthetempoofthesong,thetighterandmoredefinedyourbassendshouldbe.Youcangetawaywithamuchheavierlow-endonslower,simplersongswithfewerelements.

Fastrockormetalsongsdon’ttendtohaveahugeamountoflow-endonthekicksorbassguitars-it’smoreaboutthemidandhighfrequencies.Keepthatbrutal‘click’onthekicksinordertoensurethattheycutthroughthewallofdoubleandtripletrackeddistortedguitars.

It’sgoodtofilteroutlowfrequenciesfromtracksthatdon’treallyneedthem.Theirpresencecanleadtotoomuchenergyinthelow-end,riskingmuddinessordistortion.

Ifyoucan’thearsomethingproperly,trytoresisttheurgetouseEQboostsonit.Thechancesarethatthere’sanothertrackinthesamefrequencyrangewhichisstoppingitfromcuttingthrough.

TrytousesubtractiveEQifatallpossibletolimitthefrequencyrangesoftrackswhicharetakinguptoomuchofthespectrumorclashingwithotherelements.ThismeansthatEQ-ingwon’teatintotheheadroomasmuch,andthemixwilloftentranslatebettertoothersystems.Itwillleadtoacleanermix-boostingeverythingwillresultinamesswhichismorepronetodistort.

Whenmixinglotsoftrackstogether,it’simpossibleforeverythingtobeHUGE.Youhaveafinite‘workspace’inwhichtofiteverything,sosomecompromiseshavetomade.Ifyouaregoingtoboostafrequencyrangeononeoftheelements,youmayhaveto‘makeroom’forthisboostinthefrequencyspectrumbycuttingelsewhereonanothertrack.

4. Compression

Therearetwowaysofapproachingcompression.Themainuseforacompressoristoevenoutthedynamicrangeofaninstrument.Youcanalsousecompressioninacreativeway,asaneffect-butthispointinthemixprocessisnottherighttime.Themainthingyouwanttoconcernyourselfwithrightnowistocompressionto‘tame’problemtracks.

Forexample,doesthebassplayerhavepoordynamiccontrol?Orperhapsthevocalisthasalessthanstellarmictechnique?


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Usingcompressioninthistypeofsituationletsyouevenoutanywildfluctuationsinlevels.Ifyouwanttototallylevelsomethingout,usezeroattackandlongrelease.However,flatteningdynamicsinthiswaycanbedetrimentaltothemix-onlydothingslikethisifit’sabsolutelynecessary.Removingdynamicstotallyfromasongwillmakeitflat-soundingandfatiguingtolistento.Learnhowtouseyourcompressorproperly,sothatyoucantamelargedynamicfluctuationswithoutsquishingthelifeoutofthemusic!

5. More tips on resolving mixing problems

Alwaysrememberthatyoucanchangetheapparentbrightnessorlow-endweightofasongjustbyadjustingthelevelsoftheinstrumentsrelativetoeachother,withoutgoinganywherenearanEQorcompressor.

Ifyouarefindingthatthedrumsarenotbrightenough,trybringingupthehihatandoverheadsinthemix.It’sagoodideatofilteroutthelowfrequenciesonthesechannelssotheydon’tmuddythelow-endmix.

Addingsomesubtledistortion,perhapsasanauxsendandreturn,mayhelptopushthedrumsforwardinthemix.

6. Panning, space and reverb

Afteryou’vegotaroughmixinmono,youcanstarttointroducesomespaceintothemix.

Panthesoundstotaste,butbesensible...extremepanningcansoundover-the-top.

Whenitcomestoreverb,approachtheambienceinBFDinthesamewayasareverbunit.YoucanofcourseuseacombinationofBFDambienceandartificialreverb.

Don’tbeanxioustoget‘everythinginthesamespace’.Usingconvolutionreverbonthetrackssimplywon’tsoundlikeabunchofmusiciansplayingtogetherinoneroom.It’sreallynotimportanttoworktowardsthisaim.

Inanycase,youdon’tusuallywantto‘hear’thereverbtoomuch...it’smuchbetterforittobesubtleandnotintrusive.

Itcanbegoodtouseafewreverbsinasong.Brightplatesworkwellforsnares,whilelongerroomverbscanbegoodforsnaresandtoms.

Trytoavoidaddingreverbtosoundswithlotsofhighfrequencyenergylikehihats,tambourinesandshakers,asitwilloftenendupsoundingmessy.

Monoreverbscanworkverywellinpin-pointingasoundinthemixiftheyarepannedwiththesound,orevenifpannedoppsositeinthestereofield.

Foramoremodernsound,itmayhelptomixin‘earlyreflections’louderthanthemainreverbtail.


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Payattentiontothetoneofthereverb.Anoverlybright,washyreverbwillbedistractinginthemix,whileareverbwithtoomuchlow-endenergywillriskmuddiness.ItcanbeaverygoodideatoEQthereverbreturnssothatyougettheimpressionofspacewithoutclutteringupthemixtoomuch.

ADelaylineisanalternativetechniqueforintroducingmorespaceintothemix.Itcanalsoaddtotherhythmicfeel,especiallyifthedelaytimeissettoatriplet,dottedoranyothervaluenotstraightonthebeat.

7. Creative processing

Thereareallmannerofthingsyoucandowithcreativeprocessing,whetherit’sextremecompression,wackyFXorwhateverelse.It’simpossibletoprovideaguideforthis-sometimesitwillbeobviouswhatyouneedtodo,andsometimesitwon’t.Ifitsoundsbetterwithouttheeffects,thenleaveitalone!Don’ttrytoforceitjustforthesakeofutilizingyourgear.

Perhapsthemostimportantthingtorememberistotrynottolettheeffectstakeoveryoursong,unlessyouspecificallywantthemto!

8. Vocals

Rememberthatifyou’remixingasongwithvocals,theyarereallythemostimportantaspectofthesong.Ifyoucanthearthevocalthenthesongwon’tbeabletogetitsmessageacross.

Tryingtoaddthevocalatthelastpossibleminuteisneveragoodidea.

9. Almost there...

Alwaystryandcheckyourmixinmono,andinasmanydifferentlisteningenvironmentsaspossible!Yourproductioncouldendupbeingplayedinavarietyofdifferentformatsandmedia-youshouldtryandmakesurethemixtranslateswelltomanydifferenttypesoflisteningsituations.

10. Final thoughts...

Atthispointit’sprobablyessentialtomentionatime-honoured,favouritephraseofmixengineers,crudethoughitsounds:“Youcan’tpolishaturd.”(sorry!)

Apoorarrangementcoupledwithpoorperformanceswillbeveryhardtomixwell.

Awellarranged,wellperformedsongwillbeeasytomixevenifrecordedinafairlyrudimentarymanner.

Ifyou’refindingitdifficulttomakeeverythingfittogetherinthemix,thechancesarethatthere’ssomethingverywrongwiththearrangmentortheperformance.Sometimes,youreallyhavetofixtheproblematthesource,ratherthanattemptingtofixitinthemix.


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