How to Mix Drums Better

In this episode, I take you through my mixing process, showing the techniques and plug-in's I use to get my ideal drum sounds.
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[@seanmichael8411]

Love all the content on both channels but THIS is what I have been missing!! Really miss all the videos you used to do with mixing, compression, EQ, etc.. The production stuff. I bought all the Beato material available and would love to see some production and mixing material offered up in the future. Keep Rockin!!!

[@skipchip8315]

I second this!!

[@splashesin8]

I third it. 😊 ...because you explain it in a way that I can do it, without needing to see, in regards to where each thing sits in the recording, as well as mic placements.

[@ParisblueCos]

Fourth!

[@jordon7999]

100% this. I love this content too.

[@joeys24]

5th it!!

[@Charis-ul2xh]

I would just like to add my voice to the chorus of fans asking for more content like this - the old videos you did like "How the Pros use EQ" and "How the Pros use Compression" remain saved go-to videos for me to the point where I often have them open in another window while I'm working on a mix. I think all your content is fantastic and understand completely that you need to take your market into account, but for the subset of your subscribers who are burgeoning engineers or producers this stuff is pure gold - thank you for making it and sharing your knowledge with us free of charge, I appreciate it.

[@jakethegiant8267]

I’ll just join the crowd in letting Rick know we love ALL of his content… but please more of these tutorials!!

[@tortugulaproductions]

i feel like it should be noted that the drums are also well tuned and well performed. the playing is balanced. and the mic technique sounds good as well. I would argue these are more important than any plugins. So with these bases covered, it makes sense all you’d need is a lil compression, a sample, and a reverb if needed.

[@7171jay]

@tort. Exactly. Great sounding raw drums are easily fattened up and made big sounding fairly easily with compression and reverb / room mics. Getting really good raw tracks is the far more difficult task. A not so great drummer, poor quality drums and cymbals, poor tuning and muting, and a bad room can make for tracks that simply can't be made to sound great without basically just replacing the whole mess with samples.

[@milanpolak]

Great video. The real takeaway and #1 lesson though is record your source sounds well.

[@tommj4365]

yea the kick especially was very nice, mine always sounds like turds dropping

[@johnlarson8367]

Rick ....please more of this kind of content, your approach is so clear.....no hype, walk through clearly & to the point......love it !!!

[@dougmcpherson2045]

Rick, your interviews have been really great, and I hope you keep doing them. But I also hope you can find time to keep sharing awesome production/engineering lessons like this. You're such a natural teacher, it's a pleasure to support your work.

[@justinreynolds3935]

Snare is awesome! The player. The room and the drum tuning are the biggest factors. People don't talk about the player enough Also why samples are used 95% of time. God forbid your drums sound different than the radio for once. Lol. Dude def knows how to record a kit. And it's not easy. Ssoooo many factors to worry about. Awesome advice!! Thank you!

[@saintkevinofficial]

We need more of these types of videos. As much as we appreciate the interviews, this is equally invaluable.

[@lagpressure]

I think some of the best drum sounds came before a lot of the technology. Moving a mic away from the drum head will naturally compress the sound, and adding two condenser mics.... one near and another far across the room can do wonderful things in a stereo mix. Joe Morello had some great drum sounds working with Brubeck for example. A good room is one thing... knowing how to utilize a good room is another. I'm on the side of "the more natural they sound the better". That being said, in the virtual age, everyone wants great sounds without great rooms or even great mics. That's understandable, but doing things the right way is still best. Thanks for your great content as always Rick! It's wonderful!

[@Maggai]

Damn, those drums sound fantastic right off the bat!! Amazingly well recorded.

[@JordanLapping]

Please do more content like this! Love watching people who know their stuff do mixing in real time while explaining to us mere mortals what it is they’re doing. Great stuff!

[@silentskystudios]

When Rick presses play and his raw drum tracks sound better than my fully mixed and edited drums! 😂😢

[@sergio_grez]

Exactly what I was gonna write!!

[@tommj4365]

yea I really preferred the more raw sound, especially with a bit of the room mics... the additional stuff he did made things a bit too squashed, but maybe that's what the full mix needs, I dunno

[@jacobfife7273]

Something you learn with experience is that life is much easier if you record the instruments how they will sound in the final product. If done right you could record a whole song with no mixing and editing other than track levels.

[@sergio_grez]

@@jacobfife7273 yeah! It's incredible how talented people can record drums that already sound produced and mixed. I remember someone saying: "record like there's no mixing and mix like there's no mastering"

[@fireworks_music]

He's got a much more extensive setup and has had for a long time.

[@powlobo.m.b.]

one thing I struggle is to have the snare mic without hi-hat bleeding. Your top snare track is very well recorded in that sense. I've tried so many techniques and plugins to get that right but nothing compares to a well recorded sound like this!

[@MWesley75]

I used to have the same issue with a drummer who didn’t have great technique. He hit the high hat harder than the snare. I built a little baffle out of cardboard and carpet foam (maybe 8” x 5-6”?) with a hole in the middle just a tad smaller than my snare mic diameter. I slip it over the snare mic above the mic clip. Reduces the amount of HH bleed to the capsule facing the snare. My favorite technique now though is to use electronic drums (direct) and acoustic cymbals (mic’d). No bleed anywhere! Max control of individual tracks.

[@MasterIvo]

I like what you did by using superior drummer to add in room ambience/reverb

[@alexanderstuartpetty485]

Ivo!! I'm glad to see you here!!

[@marcosaruca5283]

Rick ive been watching sonce the end of 2016 the first video i saw of you was breaking down andy wallace mixing style...now that youve announced brendan o brian i would love to see you interview andy wallace he is my favorite engineer

[@panosskentzos]

Of course 70% of mixing drums is having already recorded them properly and having (at least for me) a GREAT room mic sound (personally I have a booth, so I mic the room next to it and it sounds huge with compression) and then broad strokes of EQ and Compress to taste, I love the Waves Omni Channel for that.

[@LITZjams]

Love this! As an ableton user , watching people use protools I’m like … man why haha

[@LITZjams]

Mainly talking about navigating plug-ins and the grouping of tracks…

[@michaelnilsson3103]

One thing that is nice to do with Superior is to trig kick, snare and toms, but only use the room micks in Superior. It give more resonance and tone of real drums then a room reverb 🙂

[@briancooper2844]

As usual, a video totally crammed with useful information. What would we musicians do without you? Seriously. Thank you for everything, always!

[@visionsick]

Great video! We need more. I would really like to see this again but with how to use the actual room mics. I’ve recently gotten a session with room mics and I’m not so sure how to make the best use of them.

[@Pete-Fisher]

Love this kind of content Rick, really helpful for budding producers and musicians...As a lonely analogue dinosaur tracking to tape without computer stuff, some tips on conventional EQ and compression settings for the individual drums (especially bass drum) would be really cool!

[@kevinkey7241]

I use the UAD Neve 33609 compressor on my drum sub, which I call “drum squeeze”😊

[@audioglenngineer]

My mentor showed me to send the kick to the drum reverb, but send it through a high passed bus. Works pretty well, if you don’t want to make another reverb.

[@rogerdat7807]

As soon as you added the reverb 15:55 I heard: Kick em when they're up, kick when they're down... "Dirty Laundry". Sing along. Sick drum mix Rick!

[@Molt408]

great ad for superior drummer

[@DanielGuillaud]

All right. but I would have liked to listen and compare the plug-ins in the context of the song. For me, adjusting the sound of any instrument solo makes no sense. in addition this drum recording and I find it excellent. Et merci Rick de partager avec nous. Bravo

[@MWesley75]

Agreed. Once he unmutes the rest of the instruments, all the drum tracks have to be readjusted all over again so the frequencies stand out and aren’t fighting for space.

[@mannysmiclocker]

Out of the gate I’d be happy with those basic tracks ❤

[@oldguysplaymetal5517]

This video shows how important it is to get the source sounding good as the first priority. Your instincts as to what to add is, of course, spot on, and in 10 minutes you had a super professional sound. Thanks !

[@rockboy360]

That kick sounded amazing in those room mics! Very well placed, they beef up and glue the whole kit.

[@jg1503]

Ah you don’t need to mix it when you use all those 1073s behind you .😮 Sweet studio!

[@mrmusic21]

Rick, this is exactly the kind of content I've been looking for. I've been recording drums in a small room experimenting with double mic'ing and stereo room techniques. Now I'll have some things to try in order to make the drums sounds bigger. Thank you. Also, nice beard.

[@kirkallen5578]

Wow!. The possibilities are Endless... Awesome vid! Makes me miss recording...

[@Oliasn8]

Great stuff here Rick! Thank you! 🙏🏻

[@jaymorin6847]

Thanks Rick! Love your teaching videos.

[@trollstjerne]

Great stuff! Thanks Rick!

[@dustofvraj8100]

GREAT TO WATCH YOU WORK!

[@michaelangelofalco9819]

Love everything you're doing. Thank you for what you bring to the inter-web

[@LP23D6]

Beard is looking great Rick.

[@buriedinadream]

So great to see this process

[@g_and_kikos_homestudio]

BAE= Beato Audio Engineering...Your music production vids are some of my favorites right up there with the interviews

[@mikeoz6643]

LOVE these types of tutorials, please keep them coming

[@mccloysong]

LOVED this.

[@3hooks781]

Rick, I swear if you create a third channel of mixing and mastering production tips just like this you'll pretty much run youtube. Great content sir!

[@finn2028]

Love it🤘🤘 Thank you, Rick

[@DocECS69]

I love this kind of video! Helps me get better at recording and mixing.

[@Andy_Yates]

This is gold. I'm using EZ Drummer in my compositions but I currently have all tracks going through a LA-2A plug-in. I should try not compressing the cymbals and see I can hear a difference. I really liked what the supplemental snare did as well as the verb on the snare+kick

[@DerSilvano]

Opto compressors on drums are quite unusual

[@jonathanwyman3869]

We need you for this Rick! I’ve watched so many KZbin videos on this but this is the best! Not sure why, but it makes such good sense, plus I get to see the decisions made in real time which is fantastic for learning

[@FronzSchornack]

Thank you very much Rick for this and all of your wonderful videos. I really like the fact that everything you do is for the love of music first trying to bring out the best in all of us so that we may all become better at our craft some day. Again from the bottem of my heart I thank you for all that you do.

[@jordon7999]

If you see this, Rick. Love the structure of this second channel. Awesome quotes and highlights from the longer form interviews I dont always get to watch plus epic production content. Thanks! 🎉

[@eweesplace]

Rick, I love your educational content. I've been watching you since your early advanced theory concept videos. You're a wealth of knowledge as well as entertaining while staying classy, but relaxed. Thanks!

[@DEATHATSPACECAMP]

Completely blown away by the Master X HD plugin...I don't know if it was just a volume increase, but I was impressed.

[@ezekieltsman]

I love your teaching Sir, your skills and well illustrated. Thank you ❤

[@sayloranderson6532]

Yesss!!! Thank you for this video!

[@joelarmendariz8876]

great content, insight, and techniques for mixing drums very useful

[@us3r11]

Rick, you can do everything! More mixing, please!

[@genephillips4809]

I LOVE using superior as either a snare replacement or for triggering!

[@montysweetmusic3458]

This was so helpful! I'm mixing drums this week on my debut solo release!

[@arrivalsband9201]

Thank you for that.... more like this please

[@hannanathan564]

Thanks for this one!

[@toddkreuzburg4162]

i remember the first video i ever watched from you, back in 2016. You lined up a bunch of my favorite songs, and pointed out how the snares all sounded basically the same because they all had the same sample replacement/treatment. Eye opening and just awesome. I was a fan right away. I still am. Thanks Rick!

[@deanofrankenstein6391]

Cool. Thanks, Rick.

[@yonatron5684]

It’s awesome watching a master in his craft

[@johnnybregar]

Ok. I’m not bragging. But I literally predicted just about everything Rick did before he did it. I missed a few things that I will try. I missed how he grouped the drums - I often leave the kick out of the drum group and put overheads in. Also I haven’t used triggers that much, although I know it’s popular. I don’t usually like superior drummer because the drums sound too perfect. But blending it like this is a cool trick. The one thing he didn’t do that I would have, is eq out a little of the ring in the snare. But I predicted almost all the comps and all the moves he made with the exception of some of the older plugs. Maybe I am bragging. But I’m proud of myself!!!! I think I would have ended up with a drum track that sounded a lot like Rick’s end product. If I started with the killer tracks that he did of course….😊

[@michaelharacopos6550]

More videos like this please!!!

[@AmiliaCaraMia]

It always surprised me how little mixing / processing things need when they're recorded properly. Killer sounds 👌

[@diamondfieldmusic]

Nice one Rick - everything you were doing was exactly what I would do and what you were hearing is what I was hearing - I was saying 'yeah!" a lot lol

[@necroticpoison]

Silencer by BlackSalt Audio is a great gate. Doesn't kill too much, and is easy to use, super consistent too. You can sidechain it and clip gain stuff up or down if there are a few hits that are out of range. This combined with good ambience whether from verbs (on recorded tracks or on samples), shell ambient samples, regular samples, compr and parallel compr, clipping, drum/shell bus parallel compr, etc makes driving drums

[@PsychedelicSerenade]

The title of this video is amazing 😂. Love ya Rick, I learn something every time I watch your videos

[@nicholascastucci4547]

MORE CONTENT LIKE THIS PLEASE :)

[@simonwalker2073]

Totally agree that snare was too compressed for a bit there.

[@sgfdancecompany]

For Fake room also i use a mix of the drum and printed into an stereo track and insert the great Ocean Way Studios from UAD or the DVERB Room algorith in full wet, sometimes with the help for rock sounds of the Sountoys Devil Loc

[@atmos4197]

Great sounding drums without doing anything to them! Would be great if you could show how you tracked them and the gear you used to get them to sound so good! Thank you!

[@davidwhiteford4936]

Great content! I would love to see you provide the entire process from song writing, to recording, mixing, and mastering!

[@christinanoelwilliams2779]

Can't wait for you to make a mixing and mastering course.

[@kadiummusic]

Great useful video. 😎

[@mksrxwd]

Thanks Rick.

[@woodward_alan]

More of these!!

[@tommj4365]

another trick is only using the sampled snare for sending to the reverb, so you retain the original transient but can customize the tail end

[@tommj4365]

I mean you never heard the dry sampled snare, btw... it saves you from things sounding like 2 separate snares at the same time

[@GP-Music.]

Great lesson Rick! People like to over process the drums a lot nowadays. Sometimes less is more.

[@alekp6822]

You gotta love this second channel ! Thanks Rick you are the Mr beast of RnR

[@jasonpintea2332]

This is great! Drums didn't need much tho TBH. Great sounding takes. Would love to see one like this but for tracking the kit on a budget. Just plugins and 57s or something of the like

[@aceedmond8053]

Thanks Rick! when you have time... More of this anytime!

[@Rhuggins]

I like Rick the mixer ❤

[@Joormode]

I learn a few new tricks , so thanks !

[@TavaresProject]

Great demonstration. Love this kind of stuff... That snare sound great without the sample.. l would just reverb it on it own

[@guitarplayer5932]

superior drums 3 is excellent i love it

[@zeppo20]

Bonham snare like. I like it. I use the same SD3 lib too.

[@JohnSk82]

I LOVE the fact that you have spare NS-10s for precise monitoring of what you do with your gear on the right :) :P .Nice

[@seancostello7608]

This is awesome! More “producer Rick” please!

[@splashesin8]

I liked these as well, almost as much as the whiteboards. 🙂

[@DinoSvanhvit]

Good, informative.👍

[@audiomsg]

Put the gate before the comp on the snare Rick!

[@ESP77769]

Anyone else take a snapshot of Rick's plug-ins?? lol. Rick, we need more of these type of your videos!! 🙂

[@vinny2280]

Please do some more of these mix tutorials for different instruments I’d love to see it

[@geeman1754]

busy watching now, this is so great for us backroom producers :p thank you

[@SteveWattisDrums1]

Off the bat without the plug ins the drums already sound better than I could ever make a drum track sound with all the plug ins in the world!

[@MWesley75]

Yes, the key to good recording of all instruments is getting the best possible sound at the source (with the best possible mics, cables, and interface/preamp - not recording junk and spending hours in post production trying to artificially correct the deficiencies.

[@wayne3340]

Another great video Rick. What do you think of doing a video on the top 10 flams! I'm a drummer and I love the flam. I was just listening to Fooled Around and Fell In Love. Great flams! Also pretty much anything by Copeland.

[@joinushugabear5847]

i usually mult snare and kick and sometimes toms to separate tracks or auxes and parallell compress that, combine with original tracks and route to drumbus with some transient control. also do tiny amount of mixbuss comp for ”glue”.

[@joinushugabear5847]

live foh too. works wonders if you ride the faders and listen!

[@andre.1984]

Just what I wanted to learn more about. Thanks! Can you show how you've actually mic'd and recorded the drums?