Mixing Drums is Hard

Mixing drums is hard. At many live events, they sound somewhere between a cardboard box and a kids toy. But drums at a professional concert sound great. Not just good. Great. They are full, but they still leave room for everything else. They are punchy, but they don’t overwhelm the mix.

But most of our drum tones aren’t like that. They aren’t full, and they certainly aren’t punchy. They get lost in the mix or buried by the other instruments. No matter what you do, we just can’t get them to cut though.

And it’s not just about the way the drums sound. Good drums in a mix allow you to feel the music. They bring you into the music. It’s part of the experience. If you have bad drum sounds in your mix, it’s virtually impossible to get a good mix. They are that important.

The problem we see is that people often try and add to the drums. They try and boost certain frequencies – or maybe they don’t do any EQ at all. If you’re mixing a jazz band, maybe no EQ is fine. But for rock, pop, and most other forms of music, the drums need help.

The secret is taking away. Using EQ, we can cut certain frequencies to emphasize different characteristics of each drum. And as we remove more frequencies, we also make space for the other instruments. Suddenly your mix fills full, complete, and engaging. The drums are punchy and full. Not by adding, but by taking away. With drums, less is more.

At Mixcademy, we show you how to make your mix shine. In fact, we’re giving away much of the drums section of the course for free. Over the next six days, we’ll send you six emails highlighting how to mix each individual part of the kit. At the end, you’ll have the knowledge you need to get punchy and full drums in your mix.

You can unsubscribe at anytime. And the course is completely free. What are you waiting for? Enter your email in the box, and start learning how to make your drums sound awesome.