How To EQ Toms - Drum Lessons

[@highfructosefun7503]

All this time I thought my floor tom sounded bad because I was comparing it to an edited sound, but after hearing it unedited it sounds a lot like yours and I'm really happy :D

[@Ankylophobia]

I'm not sure I agree with ALL the sounds he pulled out of the toms, but I did learn a lot and now I can apply what I want to my kit. Thanks dude

[@kpec3]

Something I learned is that low end clarity is scarce. It's either deep toms or bass guitar. I prefer bass on the bottom when I record so I usually have trebly-sounding hard panned toms. That way the chords are supported by the bass and the toms have clarity in the fills or beats. That goes also for the bass drum, it has to have a high end attack to poke through. But if it's a drum solo, yes I go for a full deep sounds.

[@BennehWennehDrumBoi]

These episodes are great! Really clear and detailed, much appreciated :)

[@whenmountainsmove]

You are such a humble, awesome dude. Thank you so much for cranking out content that is so helpful!

[@BitterrootRambler]

We record everything flat and then eq during mix down. we use a hybrid mixing desk that allows us to reroute all signals back into the console from the DAW and mix out of the box. their way is fine unless you make a mistake or change you mind on how you want something to sound. then your forced to either retrack it or use treatments to change your sound back.

[@aaronSPSS]

good shout on panning the drums to the players perspective. never thought about doing that before will be from now on :) great vid guys

[@mesatost]

WOW! I don't even play drums. I'm a guitarist. However, I just subscribed yesterday and I'm finding your EQ and mic placement tutorials invaluable for great drum tones. I'm psyched to try them out next time I run sound. You guys are great.

[@zvukoper]

I can swear I heard the legendary gain knob "cracking noise" :) Have it on old Behringers and Mackie too :) It is something that appears after some years of frequent use :)

[@leroywesley1]

It All Sounds Really Good if we got to believe the audio engineer i'm glad mixing is a taste thing!

[@andygingerichdrums]

Great video! Thanks so much for this content. I wish you would have shown your bottom mic placement and mic choices.

[@maladykiller]

Look like Sennheiser e604 on toms

[@lorenzo5007]

thanks i also use a mackie 8 bus 32 channel mixing console at church and it awesome

[@ConnerYoYo]

I have a Sound Percussion kit. I also prefer unmuffled drums, but my toms just sounded ridiculous. I could tell they were well tuned, but the ringing was overwhelming. I ended up having to put one Moonglel on my rack tom and THREE on my floor tom! It's actually helped them sound like nicer drums. They still resonate just fine, and the nasty overtone is gone. I'm sure all that dampening would completely ruin a kit like the one in this video. It's amazing how different drums need different things.

[@cameronjohnson6305]

Great video guys. In fact all of the EQ'ing vid's that I watched were very helpful. As a guitarist, you have helped me get a good starting point on eq'ing VERY usable drum sounds. Subscribed. :)

[@phillipmaz]

@JeminiMedia You can get a limiter or gate and set the threshold and attack high enough to only pick up the sound of the drum. You can do these either with outboard gear or, if you have multi-track recording capabilities, you can add a limiter/gate in your DAW on the tracks you want to rid of bleed. However, the more attack you have and less sustain, the drums start sounding kind of dead and boring.

[@kcbszone]

idk why but, I laughed so hard in the beginning when jared just hit the 8" tom. dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom...dom.. great video thanks :)

[@greensleeves32]

Great video, and lots of good advice. Gonna check out some more vids. Thanks!

[@TheProgmagog]

The room is your first priority. The exposed rafters may actually help. You want a combination of absorption (foam) and diffusion (reflective surfaces that scatter the sound in many directions). Start with making some bass traps using Corning 703 panels (really cheap compressed fiberglass.See youtube tutorials on that. Its cheap, easy and makes all the difference. Put them in all 4 corners. Put the drums far from the walls as possible. Don't overdo foam or it will sound dead.

[@tnapdarb]

You can get a tom sound that punches you in the face by using gates and actually boosting the resonant low mid frequency rather than cutting them, add sustain by changing your gate ratio and add some reverb. That's my perfect tom sound, at least in a live setting. I like the toms to resonate through my body when I stand in front of a speaker stack.

[@porlyworlyfantastic]

you got the pants brad. im with you.You gotta feel it with your jelly and hear it with your bones. that said, studio is a different approach..... for some... He he..

[@tnapdarb]

I can see that honestly. I have been taking some live recordings directly off my board feed and while live the toms sound fierce and full and mix in well out of the stacks, the playback has some overwhelming toms in areas, especially with the floor toms. They almost sound like bass dives sometimes. Keep in mind I mostly mix jam bands and funk rock bands. The drums are punchy, loud, and kick you in the face. Not every style calls for that.

[@TheProgmagog]

If I may, there are many programs out there and contrary to popular belief and opinion, they all are very good. I am a Pro Tools HD guy myself, but that is definitely overkill for you at this point. I suggest trying Reaper because it is a good program and a good company. You can download it directly from Reaper and pay for it if you like it. (Students or personal home users pay only $69!). The only thing is that it comes with no plug-ins. So all the effects and instruments are separate 3rd party

[@InDoe420]

THX a lot.. im about to start recording a demo for my band.. this will help us!! :)

[@TheProgmagog]

Continued from below, if you use a Mac, Logic Pro is only $199 these days (I paid $1,000 in 2002) and it is better than ever with full plug in effects and instrument suite. Everything you could really need is there, but it is Mac only. If you use a PC, go for Cubase or SONAR X series (which is really great) or check out the one by Harrison. Not many talk about it but it is a really good layout by the Harrison console manufacturer. Or try the Presonus DAW.

[@zepproxx]

I work with a lot of live drummers and none can tune their drums.

[@mattvdh]

What's your secret sauce to tuning?

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

There is your new career, charge them an extra 10 bucks to make the drum sound awesome.

[@louisismael5887]

Pro tip : you can watch series at flixzone. I've been using it for watching loads of movies these days.

[@adonisroyal4999]

@Louis Ismael Yea, been using Flixzone for since december myself :)

[@mojorisen74]

Also, if you are going to EQ, if you cut your frequencies in the right spots, you wouldn't have to boost the high end to hear the attack of the stick hitting the head. Boosting introduces artificial harmonics that add noise and feedback, cutting doesn't add anything and makes things sound better if done properly.

[@BigHeartedMan65]

I was taught #1 , Kick , # 2 Snare , # 3 Snare , # 4 Tom 1 , #5 Tom 2 , #6 Floor tom , # 7 Overhead Left , # 8 Overhead right . This is for a Normal 5 piece set . You have it all Backwards . You guys in the UK ?

[@StevenMcPeterbilt]

@Ryxify There are so many things that affect snare buzz. Make sure the snares are aligned properly, make sure they're tight enough to have a good crack but not choke the drum, if you have a 10.12.16 tom set up, either have the snare tone between the 10 and the 12, or even easier, if you have a 14, 16, 18 set up,then just make sure its way above the 14. Snare buzz is caused when you hit a drum that has a similar frequency as the snare drum, just change one drum or the other and should it go away.

[@6midlan]

@JeminiMedia I believe to remove bleed, you have to add a noise gate, rather than eq it. You can find some videos on YT about, SnareSpectre does a good series about it

[@kwstaslukovasmplis597]

very good video and great sound. i would like to know how you gating properly a drums set when you use mics both top and bottom on the toms. cause i thnk that you will double your bleeding problem from the snare wires when you have bottom mics on the toms. so it would be nice to show us how you gating the bottom mics compare to the top mics. :)

[@illumicaust6225]

I'd love to hear some flat/EQ comparison at the end.

[@datamasked623]

Pretty decent. If you can get toms to sound that good with just a Mackie console and it's stock channel strips, that's impressive.

[@Phrase]

Great tips as always Jared and co! Thanks for the wealth of information on your channel!

[@mojorisen74]

I've always felt the best way to go is to use as little micing on a kit as possible. Using no more than 5 mic's you can get a great sound, and not have to use much EQ. When you close mic, you're having to EQ to remove the proximity of the drum head, the further away from the head the mic is, the less EQ you have to use because you're capturing a more natural sound, such as the sound the player hears when behind the kit.

[@BarryWarne]

nice vid. Two things - what are your thoughts a) recording EQ vs. recording without EQ. and b) Just wondering if you could do the same with say, bass and guitar or bass and piano - to get an idea of how those would work in a band setting. Drums that sound great solo sometimes don't fit with bass, most especially.

[@MrMoenielal]

Thnx for insructions. I only have one question. On which toms do you use the low cut filter (mostly low cut 100 hz).

[@TheProgmagog]

If I may step in, I am pretty sure he is using it as the analog front end. Preamps and eq. I did exactly the same thing for a while.

[@krysborek8724]

how is it live situation? where exactly is the stage?

[@fffunky1201]

Hi guys. Thanks for really great videos. I enjoy them and apply your techniques to my drumming and recordings. All the best and greetings from London UK. StuArt \m/

[@Videditor1067]

Victor, do you EQ the drums from the board, thus feeding ProTools for recording a CD? Or are these videos more like a "live event/recording"? One would think for studio (cd) purposes you would record a flat signal and EQ within your DAW afterwards for more flexibity. I know there are no rules, but what do you do when recoding a cd? Thanks

[@jthunderbass1]

The overtones just kill me!!! Awesome video though. DW drums truly rock! My first step with drums, either live or in the studio is make them sound there best before I even touch the console. That goes for everything too, guitars bass and anything else.

[@heatsquad1247]

People, I think this tutorial was only meant as a point of reference. Obviously we will all do what we want when it comes down to it. EQ (if necessary) will come down to what type of music one is recording or performing. Studio environments and live environments are night and day differences as well...just saying.

[@Drumwannabe17]

On my drum set, I've decided to remove the bottom heads, and it has opened up my sound a lot more ( made everything louder). In that situation would I put 2 Mics on the single drum head or would I use only one mic and sacrifice some of the extra sound quality I would get w/ 2 mics?

[@SONORSQ2guy]

@Videditor1067 The EQ is recorded through the Mackie, there's no EQ in the software used.

[@JeminiMedia]

What can you do about bleed (other than mic placement), are their eq settings that help lesson the amount of bleed? Do you take out the bleed in post? I ask becase my main problem is that I like my cymbals low so my snare mics and 10" tom mic pick up quite a bit of bleed. My snare mic picks up bleed from my hats so when I boost the hi's it increases the bleeds highs from the hats. (by the way for toms I use Sennheiser e604, Audix i5 on snare These lessons have been great! Ermin.

[@eugenebaker5384]

I'm hearing the snare wires while tuning. I would disengage the snare mechanism before tuning. Overall nice job. 💯

[@callummcrobbie8758]

Joining the keyboard warriors!!! Personally I think you'd be better with 904's or beta 98amp microphones. Using 604's which are inherently dull microphones are making you eq more. By eq'ing channels you are changing the phase relationship between each mic/instrument. You're always much better finding the right mic to get the right sound - after the musician can create an amazing tone, of course!

[@tonyvegas13]

Awesome video! really helpfull! wether is for trying to match my drum kit sound like yours, and even the tunning! thums up!

[@zxracer04]

thanks for sharing, good info!! I think im more ready to record drums now! thanks! great vid guys!

[@monsterjazzlicks]

Would you still use top and bottom mics if the drummer was playing with BRUSHES ??

[@isaacnewtonaranas3770]

This is great! Why are these people hating? Goodness!

[@Fabmus3]

Yes that's a Mackie 32/8 mixing console, I have one myself

[@andygingerichdrums]

What analog board are you using there? Great video!!!

[@fatguydrummer]

What type of counsel are you using and what DAW do you guys use?

[@bismarkboafo5355]

Please any lessons on eqing keyboard

[@DrBendover100]

MOST ACTION PACKED VIDEO EVER!

[@MrMoosey1987]

What is a muffler for drums? Sorry if that questions seems a bit stupid. I'm learning the trade, I'm a noob haha

[@TheProfessorWilliam]

I will send you good vibe's .

[@123lowp]

Thanks for the amazing detail video. and great playing.

[@justinsokoloski]

mackie makes a great board, just as good as anything else

[@GinSabre]

whats the idea behind using the mixing console and logic?

[@basjar2]

Great sounding toms, thanks

[@Small.town.records]

I would also like to know what Mixing console you are using. Thanks.

[@Shadowsreach1]

Cool! What kind of audio interface are you using and how are you connecting it to the mackie? cool vid! THanks

[@coffeehigh420]

the best sounding mic is the one on the camcorder. stick that one on the drums, remove all the other mics, and you'll have something.

[@leonbrenner894]

I just recorded my drums with 2 Shure m57s, placed 5 feet from the drums, 4 feet off the floor. I played it back on my stereo that's connected to high end speakers. Guess what. The snare sounds like my snare, the toms sound like toms, all 10 cymbals sound like the actual symbals, the bass drum sounds like my base drum.........So, what am I doing wrong? Most people think old vinyl records sound better than today's CDs. The old records didn't have people with electonic toys to twist dials and turn knobs, that's why new recording sound dead and artificial. It is not the fault of digital recording or CD's.....Put the toys away. Record the music. People will like it because it will sound natural, as if the band was there with them.

[@zakwindle8859]

Yeah, I think it's a Mackie. I've got a little mackie 1402-VLZ made in '99. Nothin' fancy, but it sounds great.

[@AttilaThebung]

Yes. I personally don't see the point in mic'ing top and bottom on toms, there's always a chance the reso head is tuned differently and it won't come through nicely. However, on a snare I'd mic top and bottom.

[@danielmorales759]

The Drum Less sons haha. Play on the name. Thanks for the video I’m trying to es them at church

[@StevenMcPeterbilt]

@Ryxify Just bring the bottom and top head of the snare up about 2 steps above the 10 inch tom.

[@TheProgmagog]

Pro Tools is just one of many programs and they are all quite similar. Pro Tools HD (TDM) on the other hand is different because it runs on DSP cards and in my opinion is quite a bit better on the performance side. I did most of my albums in Logic though. I got Pro Tools HD later on in the game. I like it for many reasons, the stability, the quality of the TDM plug-ins, the ability to patch in external analog hardware in real time, and the high end controllers (I use a C/24)... about the room...

[@bartglez7920]

hi friends, what model of mixer is it and the software , tks, saludos from mexico city

[@d.v5237]

@ShittyMcPoopyBalls I have a 10 12 14 set up toms, and my Snare is between the 10 et 12. It buzz's when I Hit the 10 and a little bit when I hit the 12.

[@mormonbrae2]

Tune drums really well, get a good room and use 4 maybe 5 at most mics to record drums....kick, snare, hi hat and 2 overhead large condenser mics and you will get good drum natural drum sound..

[@JeminiMedia]

@6midlan Great thanks I will check it out. It's really not that bad but I find adding gates kinda ruins the "natural" sound of the recording. Also dynamincs on the floor tom or snare could vary so adding gates isn't a good option usually. I guess I'd just have to find a good harmony between the mics.

[@BADD400]

awesome Jared thanks.

[@RockVoice4Real]

Great video and info.Thanks

[@mrjn5786]

Hey. Are you using compressor in each channel for drums??

[@WaftureRobin]

the third rack tom and the floor tom sounded very weird with my ciem but the rest was okay.. there was two different pitch in each tom.

[@joshrexfordmusic]

little bit off topic on this thread...but what mixing board are you guys using?

[@anishmansingh8839]

I want to know is it necessary to hit hard drum on concert?

[@AttilaThebung]

No worries. Be sure to invert the phase on the bottom mic.

[@timmyg4295]

Great video!

[@XtremeDrummer30]

What software does your sound engineer use to record and edit your audio???

[@JeminiMedia]

@phillipmaz Thanks, I've experimented with some success but as mentioned in my other reply it takes away from the natural sound, because when those gates open you are getting more sound from those mics that were gated. And yes I don't want dead sounding drums. I'm sure I could find some sort of balance that I'd be happy with.

[@samuelrocknism1655]

do I loose the drums with the drum key before mic them?

[@homiegali]

Do you try to get unity gain in your mix? I am trying to mix a kit by myself (on an old Yamaha mc1202) and am having some issues with that part.

[@JosephGorbach]

what if i only got enough to mic one side would it be better at the top or bottom?

[@BokorugroRR]

Traditionally the top, but you can get some effects with unusual mic placements.

[@smeltnight2002]

What mixer are you using? I know it's a mackie but I can't tell the model.

[@MrDrummerguy33]

Not enough sustain on the 8" Tom which I think is a tuning issue. Should loosen the Reso head slightly and I'm sure it would sound much better

[@benjaminbenedict5509]

oh! now i get it......the sound of the stick slapping the tom is an important part of mixing....

[@ottawadrummer]

great video thanks

[@microphlexx]

These toms do sound good ;)

[@emanttnf]

I thought that if you phase reversed it would cause phase cancellation? Does that only apply to when it's shifted exactly 180 degrees from another waveform?

[@porlyworlyfantastic]

because the mic diaphragms are both facing the sound source ie: one up/one down. both mic diaphragms move sympathetically to the skins. both skins move up/down in unison(roughly). as top skin vibrates towards floor,(away from top mic), bottom mic is approached by bottom skin.So one gets further away(top)(negative amplitude) as one gets closer(bottom)(positive amplitude). Phase reversal electrically allows the signal to "move in unison", thus eliminating phase cancellation. its because the mics are physically positioned 180 degrees out(facing) each other. if you had both mics facing the floor or the ceiling(as long as theyre facing the same direction) you wouldnt have to phase reverse one of them.

[@DamnDealDone]

porly worly Phase is a time variant. The correct word is Polarity.

[@porlyworlyfantastic]

thankyou for making that distinction:) im not an expert but in terms of actual electrical, or current polarity, they would be out of "phase", with each other by their 180 deg difference in direction, hence harmonic cancellation occurs. get your amplitudes occurring in the same pole in real time, .. of course then if you saturate your gains(unison amplification) or overtones, you'll get a number of situations presenting similar symptoms! there are no wrongs.. just betters.. ah.. the binaural cochlea

[@DamnDealDone]

porly worly We can say they are out of "phase", sure, but it's still not technically true as phase requires one signal to be moved in time relative to another signal. I'm all for spreading this so it becomes common for people to say Polarity instead of phase. I hope they bring back the term Sequencer too, DAW used to represent the entire workstation from desk, computer, interface, and keyboard, to distinguish it from a larger studio.

[@porlyworlyfantastic]

im happy there are others so passionate bout sound and music, science and peak experience!. some say the heart regulates the spheres, as in existence itself. the intellect is the offspring of conciousness/heartbeat, however some say intellect is the parent of form. The ego, or false personality, in its delusion, compulsively employs the intellect to label or define everything in order to differentiate, thus quantise, forms and ideas as a means of rationalising/controlling, essentially an un control-able anomally, such as existence, or "life".. And there I go defining how it is again!! ha:).. its habitual.. I think the assertion you make about phase being a relative term, over time between two entities/wave forms, is an important one:) And same goes for DAW.I also agree "sequencer" is perhaps a "better" noun to use for a DAW, because of its descriptive adjective. but they are just names.. or words.. The meaning these names represent ratify their existence, and the need for language.However my belief is that the compulsion to communicate accurately with each other stems from the desire to "know", or experience love, or peak experience, with each other, in real time, in harmony, in and out of phase AND polarity and in and out of Unison.. this is the dance of "dualism" in RELATION to the ONE!(harmony/love) One could then SURMISE that all experiences are expressions of love, including unloving thoughts, or inaccurate labels. My assertion ,is that this desire to label accurately is the same as my compulsion to surmise,quantify or articulate meaning. The root.. is love, or (a good tom sound). The "sound" is the expression. The content, is music, and my desire is to experience it.. With you.

[@juangarcia8612]

What mixer are you using? Thanks

[@Alwaysbaggyjeans]

lovely yamaha drum kit

[@GurnBograt1986]

Awesome Info!

[@SuperBigTerrible]

ridiculous gain staging.

[@OFFICIALPenguinSoup]

This is really useful, even though I produce electronic music

[@Mrmikeytheaccountant]

@joshrexfordmusic I'm almost 100% sure they're using a Mackie 8-bus.

[@deetermagoo]

The General Rule is get the sound as good as humanly possible before you start recording. EQing after recording is harder to make it sound really natural.

[@joshjeggs]

thank you so much

[@phugenla]

whick mixer do u exactly use the model number

[@glud800]

What studio monitors are those?

[@sabor33]

i think KRK RP6