How to EQ Metal Toms to Sound 10x Better in the Mix

[@JoelDubay]

You have a pleasing teaching style. Confident, and you deliver great results. I’m happy you aren’t loud and boisterous like so many other youtubers. Thanks for helping us all!

[@chrise13]

Your willingness to boost and cut in large swaths is a damn inspiration. :) So glad I found this channel. \m/

[@sebastianlindon8992]

To quote CLA, "nobody's gonna die"

[@ChristianIce]

When it's about pushing the low freqs of the toms, I usually work with the specific note produced by its resonance.. Low frequencies in drums are very tuning related, so if a floor tom resonates at, let's say, 120 Hz, it would be better to push those 120 Hz, for the best result, exactly like you would do when you look for the body of the snare, which is not always 200 :) When you pick a freq to push which is not the natural one, you need more Dbs to start feeling the punch, rising some muddines around it and eventually having phase problems

[@xaosnox]

This seems to be very good advise. I usually work with fixing things in a pre-mixed file, or, if I'm lucky, stems from the buss tracks, and this is the approach I have to take to get things sounding the way I want them. But I'm starting to do proper mixing now, and I'm finding that I like the way drums are]sounding when I'm EQing them with the key of the key of the song as a guide. This is especially true with reverb. This is why I think FabFilter's Pro-R is the greatest reverb ever! I can not just use the reverb like an EQ so I get the kind of tone I want, but I can also have the decay emphasize frequencies that are in the key of the song. This is giving me some of the most amazingly musical and pleasing sounding mixes ever. I kind of feel sorry for Jordan. He's so stuck in the Waves trap that he's missing out on the incredible difference that UAD and FabFilter plugins make. When I put them side-by-side with the stuff as close as I can get it with the plugins he's using, the difference is astounding.

[@JacobraRecords]

go figure that the comments on Jordan's videos are actually good ones

[@miguelpessanha]

The idea that boosting the fundamental note is the way to go is just so not true. I often enjoy much more boosting before the fundamental, as things can get muddy if you boost the fundamental. Example: If you're kick fundamental is at 80hz, generally I find it sounds much better to boost 50.

[@JacobraRecords]

@@miguelpessanha the problem is, the frequencies are much farther spread apart in the low end. If the fundamental of your kick is 80Hz, that means it has lower harmonics at 40Hz, Higher harmonics at 160Hz. Boosting at 50Hz is a little random but if it sounds right then sure. But I think you'd probably want the bottom of your bass to sit in the 50Hz - 70Hz area. But really what frequency range your bass guitar is sitting in is based on the bands tuning and what notes they're playing in the song. So really you should try EQing the kick to cut/fill out where the bass isn't already filling.

[@Fire-Toolz]

@@xaosnox i appreciate your comment about the waves trap, cuz it's a real thing! but....does it really matter? i mean, listen to jordan's final productions. he knows what he's doing. some people get stuck in stock plugin traps, or fab filter traps...it doesn't really matter. the final product is what matters, i think.

[@settingfiretogiants]

I love getting a notification from this channel on a new mixing tip. Great video!

[@consumer365]

IT'S TRUE , we made our toms sound 10 times better. Thanks man

[@The_Absurdistt]

Samples just don't give authenticity. Proper eq and comp for the win. Love your keep them coming.

[@aureliengarcia1543]

Your mixing videos are sooooo helpful! Thanks so much!

[@rickblackers88]

Thanx man,now i'm cleaning my toms the way i always dream of.Your channel is the channel!!

[@g3rman045]

Was literally just looking for a tom mixing video. Thanks!

[@mikesperling9878]

I mostly work with midi drums because I play e drums in on my yt videos. And I also play in a band were I play acoustics... Now I really love to record guitars in my studio but I can't record drums xD so this happens in our recording room. Now I took the drum tracks to my studio at home and was trying out to mix em myself. Now what else do I have to say... with his cheat sheet we have now a KILLER drum sound with no sample replacement. I don't use any fancy plugins mostly the stock vst's from reaper... and one seperate fror time alignment and phase. Thats it. I also was thinking about making a audio engineer degree... but the more I get into this thing the more I think I maybe don't need that... many people say that because it's the practice what makes you good. Thank you man! You really made a huge change in my mixing!

[@peterarbour5021]

Jordan, thank you so much for these tutorials! It's really helped my mixing go to another level, given me confidence and motivated me to keep trying to do what I love! Keep up the good work!

[@Donato2082]

On my phone when you boost midrange sounds incredible nice!!!

[@lennartgruenewald]

The way mix tutorials are supposed to be watched 😅

[@kinghengkeithleung3931]

very helpful and clear - thank you!

[@andreysavelev9004]

Thank you, very clear and informative. The most useful channel for musicians

[@TrevorOkonuk]

Siiiick video. I always agreed that tom's dont need sample enhancement often, but I can't say I got them to sound this good that easy.

[@normannutbar424]

Everyone else: “Only ever cut, or boost a maximum of 3db.” Jordan: Used 2 EQs because the 15db maximum wasn’t enough, on the SSL strip alone! Sounds amazing!

[@DruNature]

seriously!! I learned this in school from the prof at the real board, he got that kick to sound perfect with the board eq by cranking it in specific spots, I was blown away. The folly of digital is using your eyes and brain to mix more than your ears. I know this is old, so happy mixing!

[@jaredepstein5478]

I feel like I was cutting way more than I needed to be... I like this.

[@KenWatson]

This is gold, thanks Jordan. I had been do this type of EQing for a while, and getting fair results. The key from this video? "You can't be shy about this". I need to be more aggressive with exactly what I am doing, and it works. Thanks!

[@gearforest9746]

This was very helpful for a current mix! Thank you!

[@sordidmaxx]

Hey man, as usual your tutorials are on point. Thanks for the info.

[@xaosnox]

Thank you, Jordan! These videos are so valuable for those of us just starting out. It's so great to have these guide lines from which to start. Has it really become such common practice to use samples now, even with real music? I would have thought this genre was safe from that kind of stuff. Doing that would feel like I was stepping on the musicians' work. Don't think I could go there. But these tip are so appreciated. I've got more experience "sweetening" mixes, and often have only one mostly finished file to work with, so I know what sounds I'm wanting. I'm just starting to work from the stems up, which is great because I'm not doing what feels like repair work tools like Pro-MB, but I sometimes feel a little lost getting things off the ground-especially since I didn't have any input on the recording. These vids help so much!

[@BenevolentMutation]

You're always awesome, giving us free advice. Love it.

[@nathanhogsed7475]

Love your channel and all your videos man, fantastic job!

[@MBBGun14]

Im taking baby steos in home recording and mixing, but your videos and cheatsheet are really helpful to me. Thanks! Subs count +1 :)

[@recomusicofficial]

Thanks alot!

[@tonyojala4159]

Definitely giving thumbs up! re-edit ( and just watched that mix tip video for bass and guitars! There's some very good tip's that were completely new to me, and it was very well explained also. ) Recommending this for all, and seriously thinking about buying that e-book of yours. Keep up the good work!

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

$7 man... stop thinking!! LOL

[@musicbySTIX]

Hey, Jordan! I was curious as to what compression settings you aim for on the SSL channel for toms/floor toms? I was unsure of the ratio and gain reduction!

[@RonnieVaiArovo]

Nice Job Jordan 👍

[@louistotalcontrol]

Excellent video - I'm just mixing my toms for a tuition video!!

[@ncrstudio3108]

awesome vid Jordan! thanks!

[@zihengwang3648]

Cool!It’s very helpful!Thanks JV

[@kelvinsmyth8365]

big help thanks

[@xaosnox]

Great starting point for fixing flabby toms! Thanks. Still, I cannot for the life of me understand why people use that S channel strip. Especially when it doesn't do the job and you have to use another (crappy Waves) EQ to get the sound you want. Just go straight to the best: FabFilter Pro-Q³ and do it all! I've heard people make the argument that the S channel strip is more "musical". So not true. The EQ doesn't do anything special. The compressor adds some harmonic distortion, but the "Clean" setting on FF Pro-C² adds more harmonic distortion than that Waves thing. I had to test it with a tone to make sure my ears weren't tricking me, but, yeah, the FF compressor is actually more "musical" on some settings, meaning it adds harmonics. It also has settings that are transparent if you want them. Why use two crappy plugins when there's one good one that will do the job. The only SSL channel strip plugins that truly have the sound of the real thing are the UAD versions, but out of all the channel strips they have, the SSL is the least pleasant. The Neve and API plugins are so much better sounding with real instruments. All that EDM stuff doesn't really matter. Might as well just use whatever came with your DAW.

[@RedbackRecordz]

Nice work mate, very helpful, great vids mate

[@1shannonleggette]

So good.

[@DLR1976]

Great content ! I’ m using Studio One and when i launch one of it’s recording session template it comes with plungins settings. I use to AB the raw tracks to listen the difference and adjust from there... but your video here is great to show how to do it from scratch ;)

[@wesleysamples1615]

I've learned a lot from the videos you've posted. Honestly though I think this tom sound is just very thin. I realize its a genre-specific stylistic thing but to me these sound very clicky, almost more like I would expect a snare to sound. I realize the scooped tone might cut through these mixes better but I hate the sound, ha ha.

[@savatomic2]

Amazing, thanks for this!

[@RaphaelDantas]

Nice tips buddy! Thanks!

[@RickCarr]

Great video!!

[@PabloLaFrossia]

Awesome as always!

[@matthieuquietnoiseinc4033]

Hey jordan, haven't you forgot to change the HPF when copying the settings for the floor tom?? Should be a little lower that 100Hz no? Great tutorial by the wy! Great results in a fex seconds!

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Good catch, yup! More like 70-80

[@Ratfooshi]

Fire results 🔥

[@Juan6Meses]

Magnific, keep the good stuff coming please.

[@xE4syCoreX]

Please show us how to gate a floor tom properly, that would be amazing!!!

[@fif666fury]

Very clear ! Merci beaucoup !

[@TheKevbe]

My bigger concerne is how did you manage to get so little cymbal bleed in toms? I usually can't do any drastic EQ changes higher than 3 kHz because of the cymbals becoming too bright. Usuall gating makes things even worse because it lets toms to poke out with sudden cymbal spikes. I know it is generally casued by wrong mic placement but we have to deal with these things anyway. Any advice? Thanks.

[@iamycy]

You should check out the Mix Vault courses from Jordan and he show how to deal with this situation in the Intervals session.

[@ChristianIce]

The gate must be at the beginning of the chain, this way the eq won't trigger the gate to open. When the tracking is problematic and you need drastic measure, try to duplicate the track, and treat the two tracks differently: One with a high pass after the gate, the other with a low pass and without the gate. You can do that also with some multiband compression, but not all of them have the gating option.

[@akkitty22]

Thank you!

[@kalmkaos1465]

Jman, orsum vid dude. Any chance a follow up to go over the compression side of these toms ?

[@Oyhus]

What if you have crazy cymbal bleed into the tom mics, and when you boost the highs the transients sounds like dropping your keys on a glass table?

[@NickSchmidt89]

Yeah I need help with this too

[@sergiogutierrez5509]

mics with a tighter polar pater and better mic positioning

[@NickSchmidt89]

@@sergiogutierrez5509 what's the best budget mic with a tighter polar pater

[@strandedmindofficial]

Edit your tom tracks by hand and remove everything else but the tom hits. Then fade the tracks to avoid popping noises. It's a pain in the ass and takes time but sounds much better than gating the toms.

[@SebastianLindqvist]

You're the man!

[@theopinson3851]

Do you mind sharing your gate/compressor settings for these SSL Channels?

[@josefrancisco6969]

Great video.

[@JuanMartinezBTF]

Thanks a lot, great content!

[@RockVoice4Real]

Awesome mix move!!

[@joemayerski]

Hi Jordan! Any advice or tips for fine tuning the gate for the toms?

[@Percmannj]

Great explanation! I wished you showed some compression settings aswell, while at it. Since this video was a quick one. Oh well, perhaps another time :-)

[@chrismonaut]

great video as always. good thing imo that you switched to doing only teasers on facebook. mixing videos make no sense to me at all on fb with their audio quality!

[@thimovijfschaft3271]

Tbh I liked the 500 boost you did on tom 2

[@JirehAsis]

Thank you a lot!!!

[@iExistBand]

Super sick!

[@DruGaTecH]

I love to bring out the stick hits sometimes

[@chiefrebelangel817]

When I do replacement of toms, it's ususally because drummers tend to not hit them hard enough, but they smash their cymbals, especially in fast fills

[@tomverstappendrums3423]

Were those drums played that tight or did you do something that fixed small off-timings?

[@gabo182b]

Gold man

[@DruGaTecH]

What is that plugin?!

[@lodougherty]

Could you re-visit toms in the future? I hear so many modern records with toms that sound amazing, but don't have crazy low end build up, or excessive stick noise, and I can't for the life of me get my live toms anywhere near this good. :/

[@Hifcrea]

Dude same exact problem here. It drives me crazy

[@rune288]

hey jordan i'm really struggling with overheads atm. i'm working on a particularly troublesome over head, any tips on getting rid of really washy sounding cymbals. no matter what i do they seem to be really overpowering the drum sound. if i simply turn it down i lose the sound of the rest of the kit which i have sounding as i want?

[@madmuso5]

ryan bailey had the same problem a while back. Try inserting a desser which is set to the main offending freq. Another method ive used for really high freq cymbal issues is duplicating the overhead track, insert a high pass filter on it set very high so that the shells of the kit are gone, then reverse the polarity of that track and play the original and duplicate together while adjusting the duplicates fader to get the cymbals in the original track to come down. depending on where you set the high pass you may lose a bit of upper mid attack on the kits shells but you may be able to get it back with the spot mics.

[@rune288]

Thanks I'll give that a go.

[@JustinNathanielAdams]

Woooow!

[@primroseproductionsmusic]

are you seriously just on ns-10s for all of this?

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

yup!

[@davidxiu8020]

Damn good. Wanna become like you. :(

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

don't be sad. Keep watching and you will!

[@danielziec240]

Wow

[@TOTO-nr8vu]

How to EQ Metal Over Head PLEASE !!!

[@FateofTheFallenOFCL]

Does anyone notice the longer you listen to the rack Tom, the more it sounds like a bouncy ball 😂😂

[@AlmaRockeraOficial]

Yea

[@JacobraRecords]

You started with really good toms tho, they're punchy and quick and have no ringyness or (god forbid) warble. More interested in how you recorded the drums honestly.

[@petefaders]

Simply sounds like a close mic on a well tuned tom.

[@JacobraRecords]

@@petefaders mic placement is everything. "close mic" is like saying "I bet he used a microphone"

[@petefaders]

@@JacobraRecords It's not "everything" if it's not tuned well. That's my point. Too complicated for you?

[@JacobraRecords]

@@petefaders right, which "tuned well" is what I asked for when I said I was more interested in how he recorded the drums.

[@ChadKirk]

Hey look at that, a video on how to improve drums that doesn't involve replacing the fucking drum!

[@rmv9194]

Too bad in a cellphone they sound the same.

[@tomlewis4748]

No. Viewer beware: The 'right frequencies' are not a fixed rule at all. Your boosts and cuts are your personal opinion. You are entitled to it. You may think these boosts and cuts sound good. That's also only a matter of opinion. It's a good place to start, but only mimicking these is not the answer. All toms sound different. The thing to do is make your own decisions to the boosts and cuts, based on the toms you are using and your own personal opinion. Someone else's personal opinion means very little. It's better to dig in and do the work to find out what actually sounds best in your OWN opinion. We should have the courage to make our own decisions and to validate their authority, by questioning those decisions and improving on them if possible. That works exceptionally better than blindly accepting the advice based on someone else's personal opinion. That opinion might be a good starting place to jump off from, but it just as easily could be a terrible place to jump off from. Any engineer has discerning ears, or they should not be an engineer, so I suggest using that as the determining factor of what works best. Experiment. Figure it out for yourself. Figuring out how to EQ a tom to get it to sound its best, in one's opinion, is not that difficult. So the inspiration here, which I thank you for, is to just do the due diligence and hard work to find out what sounds best, based on your own ears, and not to take someone else's word for it. Do the work. There are no shortcuts. There can be general suggestions, but none of those are firm, or should be considered 'the rules'. Understand what presents as 'rules' well enough to have the knowledge of when you should break them. I am also entitled to a personal opinion, which is the toms I'm using and the EQ boosts and cuts I have made, which are radically different from yours, having done the actual work, sound light years better to me. Soloed, and in the mix.

[@BukanIbuMu]

Also, if you are entering a mix contest be aware that the jury have their own taste and if the jury doesn't have the same taste as yours you will not win even if your mix sound so good.

[@obijuan8466]

Those toms are about as bad as I have heard. 5h1t in 5h1t out. Your EQ technique is obviously effective, I imagine well recorded toms would be spectacular.

[@dvdpz89]

Thank you!

[@infinitesounds7785]

Thanks!