Mixing Basics: Drums - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro

➡️➡️Download the Me and The City - "The Owl Song" multitracks here: bit.ly/2lKQEww
➡️➡️ Join Produce Like A Pro Academy Here: bit.ly/2rGRhHz
We’re back with another episode of Mixing Basics. In this episode, we’re going to get into the Basics of mixing Drums.
If you recall in the previous episodes, we balanced the mix using panning and volume and got the mix to a place where we could start making better decisions. then took a look at some really subtle ways you can make your vocals sit better in a mix using compression and automation.
We have a song by Me And The City called “The Owl Song” this is actually a song we have used in the academy. So those of you who are academy members will know this song very well. but for those of you who aren’t in the academy yet heres a little more info.
➡️➡️Learn more about Mixing Basics: Drums here: bit.ly/2k5ZAfy
➡️➡️Watch the First 2 videos from the Mixing basic series here:
The Basics of Starting a Mix - Setting Levels: bit.ly/32pgEPc
Mixing Basics: Vocal Compression: bit.ly/2Hi1KRF
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❤️❤️Free 3 Part Mixing Course:
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[@Producelikeapro]

Today we are talking we have another part of our 'Mixing Basics' series! You can download the multi tracks for the 'Owl Song' by 'Me and the City' below the video! Thanks everyone who watched the premiere live! That was a lot of fun!

[@MRVIDEOMASTER-yw1qw]

God loves you all! The Father sent the Son to die for you and your sins so that you could experience freedom to the fullest! Believe in Christ's death and resurrection (which sealed the work done on the cross) for your salvation and the forgiveness of sins! Amen!

[@inthemix]

The way you made the bass drum fill out the low end without the mud was really amazing to hear, plenty to learn here!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Michael! Eric and I filmed this almost in real time! Haha Wanted to make sure that people knew you can do this fairly quickly implying simple techniques!

[@NightDocs]

In The Mix the man himself! Love your videos as well!

[@MRVIDEOMASTER-yw1qw]

God loves you all! The Father sent the Son to die for you and your sins so that you could experience freedom to the fullest! Believe in Christ's death and resurrection (which sealed the work done on the cross) for your salvation and the forgiveness of sins! Amen!

[@MRVIDEOMASTER-yw1qw]

@@NightDocs God loves you all! The Father sent the Son to die for you and your sins so that you could experience freedom to the fullest! Believe in Christ's death and resurrection (which sealed the work done on the cross) for your salvation and the forgiveness of sins! Amen!

[@MRVIDEOMASTER-yw1qw]

@@Producelikeapro God loves you all! The Father sent the Son to die for you and your sins so that you could experience freedom to the fullest! Believe in Christ's death and resurrection (which sealed the work done on the cross) for your salvation and the forgiveness of sins! Amen!

[@manulovesyoumadly]

***KICK*** 2:00 Polarity 4:07 EQ 7:17 Gate 8:47 Sample as side chain signal for gate 9:50 Compression 11:45 2nd EQ 13:53 Bus Compression 15:36 Bus EQ ***SNARE*** 17:56 Polarity 18:35 Gate 19:30 EQ 20:55 Bus Compression 22:14 Bus EQ 23:13 2nd Bus Compression ***OVERHEADS*** 25:08 EQ ***TOMS*** 26:10 nuthin 26:24 Snare Reverb ***Master Drum Bus*** 27:40 Compression 28:56 2nd Drum Bus, Heavy Compression 30:48 in the track

[@Producelikeapro]

Wow!! Thanks ever so much for doing that!!

[@manulovesyoumadly]

@@Producelikeapro And thank you for making the video!

[@TheRando69]

Nice.

[@chrismartel8145]

This was great

[@donjohnson7550]

Great for recap

[@TwangTown]

This is the beauty of KZbin. Professionals sharing information that was impossible for someone with no budget. Or who is living in a remote place without access to engineering school like we have here in Nashville etc... Brilliant channel! Thank you for sharing all of these, and your interviews.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! I’m glad to be able to help in any way I can!

[@PedroLacerdaArte]

Every minute he does a single alteration on the kick EQ I think "DUDEE ITS GETTING DOPE HOW IS HE GONNA MAKE IT EVEN BETTER???"

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha thanks ever so much Pedro!

[@drmedwuast]

30:01 it's amazing how the processing makes it seem like the tempo is about 5bpm faster than it really is

[@rajnaidu5521]

You know, ppl like Warren n Kenny of Reaper lessons are Gods gift to us,Newbies. Tq so much ,Bros. 🙏🙏🙏

[@Producelikeapro]

Wow! Thanks ever so much

[@richwebster117]

Ever since a friend introduced me to Cubase, I entered the arena of music production and was greeted with a thousand eager KZbinrs telling me this, and not to do that whilst simultaneously attempting to sell me their wares. Watching your methods made me realise that music production is the one pursuit that teaches me the meaning of the word humility. Thanks so much for your tuition. I like the way you communicate the language and your tutorials form a solid foundation on which to build my mixes.

[@wonderming1]

Just wanted to say a big thank you for all you have done for people like me who are trying to absorb as much as they can. I've been playing drums professionally since I was 19. I'm 46 now and have my own studio for doing drum tracks. Now, I'm wanting to mix other people's songs. It's a passion I didn't know I even had. After watching your videos, it's no wonder why people want to work with you. You have offered so much, you take the time to engage, you have a great attitude, and you are full of talent. A shining example of what it takes to carve out a career. A true inspiration. I cant thank you enough. Here's to many more years of getting to do what you love!

[@nascen7]

2022 I'm just now getting around to watching this, and it's amazing. You kept doing things a little bit differently than I've seen done in other videos and done personally but there is no denying the before and after results.

[@visbalricardo]

It is always awesome to comeback to these videos. Makes me remember how I got into producing and mixing music! Thanx Warren and EVERYONE at PLP!!! U ROCK!!!

[@EricGPLAP]

Great series and now multitracks to play with!

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes! Download and mix to your hearts content! Haha

[@RobinSchenk1]

This series is so far the best mixing tutorial I found on YT. Thanks a lot, sir. Cheers!

[@jordyrowlandsmusic]

Followed this video step by step mixing the drums for one of my own tracks. Gave the whole song a lift it needed. Thanks Warren!

[@darlenesheffield9835]

Thanks Warren for the wonderful video and answering our questions in real time!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Darlene!

[@441snipes]

Wow! And this is where a true mix starts from, just eq and compression and not all these other fancy plugins...i do believe though that fancy plugins have their use, but eq and compression are like the block builders of a beat/song. Amazing job you did here..🔥🐐💯👊🏽

[@jessejukuri5202]

Honest, down-to-earth yet super informative. I really like how you're bopping your head along the tracks. It's really about feeling the beat, isn't it? Warm thanks to you, Warren!

[@progression_decibel]

Thank you so much Warren for showing us these mixing techniques with mostly stock tools and methods! The final mixing really brought clarity to the drums and the overall song. I get better each few weeks with your help. Stay marvelous!

[@javieral1448]

Huge difference in the whole drumset! Thanks for sharing! Every step counted as each one was improoving the character of each drum further and further! No waste here. Master.

[@47halide]

Why have I never thought of inverting the phase. I literally took physics for two years. I KNOW this stuff and how waves work. 😂😂

[@ankanmunakokkeli9255]

I get usually bored by all tutorials but I like your personality so i cant get bored :)

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@edwincrain986]

I'm probably gonna have to watch this a couple of times to get those tricks right.. Thank's for the knowledge !

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Edwin! I really appreciate it!!

[@zazoomatt]

1-2024 7 years before you made this video, many got me started in this. Now I have built my 10x10 Studio, good equipment, learned guitar, Sound design, music Theory, learned some piano, electronic Analog/Digital recording with all Studio One DAW just now starting learning How to mix the Tons of Drums (TT-EZ2. XLN, IKMM 3.5 MAX & BFD3) . ALL SMILES Can NOT Thank YOU Enough 😁

[@andrewarbogast1]

I basically repeat everything you've shown me over the few years that I've been following you but if not for you, I'd have no idea what I'm doing. I kinda still don't haha but you have been so helpful!

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Andrew Arbogast that’s very kind of you my friend!

[@audiotalestudio9710]

Thank you so much for this Warren. I always feel so inspired just watching you mix and listening to your thoughts behind your techniques. Awesome video.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!!

[@avebac1]

I'm studying audio engineering but I'm learning more from your videos

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Ted Josiah aw shucks thanks ever so much my friend! I’m so glad to be able to help!

[@aaronpohl9817]

Just wanted to say thank you. Nothing completely mind blowing for me in this video, some nice tricks and ideas here and there - but in the end it comes down to you, taking all the time explaining it. Thanks for that, thank you for making these videos.

[@bumbpp1257]

Super informative! I really picked up a lot of compression fundamentals from this video that I wasn't aware of. I also like the way you are using several eq's on the same track. Really cool to hear the overall difference in the end. Keep the good work Warren!

[@edmoor9366]

You are amazing man, a sound machine. Thanks for all the effort you put into this channel. Cheers from Berlin!

[@philvandewand7182]

Learned so much from this one! Apart from the great EQ techniques especially the sampling of bass and snare brought the old drumkit in my mix to the next level! Thanks!

[@richmillerofficial]

That was great. Very helpful to hear you explain what you were hearing and why you made the adjustments that you made and to see and hear the evolution from dull drums to exciting drums. You were right, too, the better drum mix made the rest of the mix sound a little dull.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much my friend! So glad to be able to help in any way I can!

[@LukeBass1000]

I love this! I know all of these basic principles but I never know how far to take them.

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi LukeBass1000 thanks ever so much! I’m glad to be able to help!

[@paulEmotionalaudio]

Love this. Always learn something new to try or some tip on why a thing works the way it does! Thanks for sharing so generously!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Paul! I really appreciate it!

[@alexeysoloviev2924]

Really awesome series! Thank you so much Warren!

[@Producelikeapro]

Alexey Soloviev thanks ever so much my friend! Glad to be able to help!

[@adsertheblade]

Beautiful result. The best part for me, is that I was making similar decisions as we were going along.

[@Producelikeapro]

That's great to hear!!

[@wimdewild9345]

This is absolutely fantastic. I'm learning so much. Thank you.

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Wim De Wild you’re very welcome!!

[@paulkoester7039]

Thanks Warren! This is filled with so many great tips. Does anybody here have good advice for mixing drums when you just have a single mono recording of the drums? My cover band usually plays at my company's annual picnic, but due to social distancing the picnic has been cancelled and so we're going to do some "quarantine videos" instead. My performers don't have good recording equipment, so I'm mostly just pulling audio out of mp4s recorded from their phones. (Constraints breed creativity!) This worked out okay for most, but the drums were particularly tough to mix. Here's what I ended up doing: 1. Copied the drums into two separate tracks. 2. Aggressively high passed at 3k on one copy of the drums; basically using this one as a proxy for the overheads. 3. High shelved the other copy of the drums, allowing to compress the kick and snare without getting too much cymbal wash. 4. Converting the drum track to midi was only able to identify the snare, not the kick. :( Then did the "Andy Wallace" reverb trick, using the triggered snare just to add reverb to the live snare.

[@germdisco]

Some techniques to try: EQ automation (so you can enhance a kick drum, snare drum, hihat, etc only when it is being played), layering in samples to get the transient effect and tonality that you want, or at an extreme level, adding in a multi-mic studio recording of the duplicated drum parts (note this can be very difficult)

[@twitchgrass3849]

Super amazing info as usual. I love how clear you explain this stuff. Very helpful. Drums are a huge animal, thanks for letting me attempt to grab those reigns. Yeehaw!!

[@Melvin7727]

Brilliant. Really amazing work on that kick. Made it so meaty and powerful and clear compared to the starting point.

[@MrBlockHead]

I really like this series! It;s great to be able to listen to the sounds you are going for on the same speakers that I mix on!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! So god to be able to help

[@ralphmullan9854]

@Warren, you're a legend. Thanks for all the tips and interesting doco's

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Ralph!!

[@pco2004]

This really helped me. Thanks Warren.

[@musiklab]

Always excellent and priceless advice. Thanks Warren 😁

[@MaksymMalaiko]

It's awesome, thank you, Warren, you help me so much!!!

[@LostInAce]

Can't wait to try. Mag job, professor!

[@Torsten08]

Another neat trick to boost 60Hz (and only 60Hz) on the kick is to create a channel with an oscillator at (you guessed it) 60Hz. Then you insert a noise gate with a side chain triggered by the kick for opening the gate. That is the cleanest way to boost 60Hz without touching any other frequencies or risking the boost of any unwanted noise in the kick signal.

[@ryKirwan1]

A wealth of great knowledge here. Awesome 🎤🥁🎼

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Ryan!

[@outofviewband]

As a Drummer I would be very happy with your finished result. Thanks very helpful.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!! I really appreciate it

[@LILTRACUZ514]

Hey Warren I was listening to Dream On earlier and all I could think is wow, I freaking known the guy who recorded this! Great job

[@Producelikeapro]

I wish that was me! That was Jack Douglas! He is amazing!! Check him out in the channel! I’ve interviewed him lots of times!

[@RobertoMilano]

Thank you so much Warren! Your videos are amazing! Would be fantastic a "Mixing Basic" for the treatment of VST drums in cases where there are no organic drums in the mix. I guess there are small differences to apply

[@WhereAreWe7]

Thanks for another great video Warren!!

[@darlenesheffield9835]

It was wondrous wasn't it?!

[@Producelikeapro]

You're very welcome Chad!!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@darlenesheffield9835 Thanks ever so much!!

[@vl292]

Great tutorial, thank you!

[@mattbacon285]

DUDE!! Thanks for doing this! This is exactly what I commented about.

[@Producelikeapro]

Matt Bacon that’s amazing to hear!!

[@ragingchimera8021]

1:41 Boooooo! ; ) Super informative lesson Warren, thank you.

[@Producelikeapro]

Raging Chimera thanks ever so much!!

[@safouen1989]

Thank you so much i learned a lot here ❤️🙏

[@ironweedstudios]

Thank you, Warren! 😃

[@Brpwndood]

Beautiful.

[@royalroomstudios7251]

Great Warren! I love the way you explain..i would like you come in Italy for a mixing or recording workshop

[@Producelikeapro]

That would be amazing! Fly me over! I love Italy! I was in Rome two weeks ago, beautiful City!

[@matteodifra]

AWESOME!THANK YOU

[@Sigh875]

I like how at 19:39 you had eq'd to the resonance and wire buzz, rather than cut it, to add just a bit more character.

[@TwinSphinxMusic]

Amazing tutorial! I’ve watched countless videos of yours and learned so much. I’ve been eyeing looploft for drum samples and wanted to know if you’d recommend it? Many thanks

[@edwardlee6516]

warren your just too good. great job" now that's great mixing. the bass drum sounds a whole lot better

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much my friend!!

[@GiovanniMascheroni]

This guy is great

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Giovanni Mascheroni aw shucks! Thanks ever so much my friend!

[@mladen777]

Amazing video Warren, thank you for all the content you create. I have one question about mixing the kick, did we use the gate here just to get rid of the bleed from other parts of the drum-kit, or is there another purpose here? Thanks!

[@jettjaguar8150]

thank you very much for this video

[@curtisforbes1876]

These are awesome! Would love to see this on gospel or urban drums

[@Producelikeapro]

Curtis Forbes Ghana ever so much! Yes! Will try that soon!!

[@diegooliveirabenjamin]

Amazing info my friend, just a little thing, that sidechain sample trick you did, you actually forgot to enable the sc input on the gate. I'm sure you got this sorted on the final mix tho. Lots of gems in here as usual.

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Diego, thanks ever so much! Yes, I forgot to show that being enabled later on!

[@chrise13]

This guy's the best.

[@valeriorizzotti]

Hi Warren, depending on what do you decide if processing every kitpiece with EQ > Comp or the opposite Comp > EQ? What are the differences in these two different signal processing? Thank you so much for all!

[@Producelikeapro]

Valerio Rizzotti marvellous question! The basic answer is if I’m trying to be aggressive with EQ and maybe bring out some snap on a snare for instance, I will heavily boost high end into a compressor! If I want to be a little more subtle then I might apply some EQ afterwards to remove unwanted low mids or any frequencies I don’t like. That’s a very basic idea of what I do!

[@philu9319]

Any advice for making the snare stand out in the mix without being too harsh and without a sample?

[@MrRocksana]

Thank you for this video :)

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@mwintersteinsmith]

Awesome 😎👍🥁🥁🥁

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Martin Winterstein-Smith thanks ever so much my friend!!

[@tomhigham88]

Interested to know with regards to the reverb; obviously it depends on the type of song and how the drums were recorded but do you more often than not find that just having verb on the snare is enough? Or would you then go and apply a bit to the whole kit also? Never thought about doing it this way but you got a nice roomy sound using very little verb!

[@Producelikeapro]

Marvellous question! Yes, you can definitely apply Reverb on the snare or the whole kit as desired! Obviously great room mics will bring drums to life as well!

[@lens8933]

thank you

[@kenselcer]

I'm watching the video and I am at the kick drum part. I generally like it! The one thing I don't like is the adding the sample part because I don't have the ability to do that, and I won't for the foreseeable future. Do you have any videos on mixing drums without the sample addition? Thanks. Great stuff!

[@matthiashippler983]

Great tutorial, thank you so much! But isn‘t it an issue, that the outputs of some plugins are clipping? (e.g. at 22.15)

[@Progmium]

I really like your style of teaching. Very clear and engaging. Quick question, at which point in the production of a song (e.g., the owl song) do you achieve such a 3D sound to the mixes where it feels like the bass is coming out of everywhere? The vocals sound so full! It is like your ears get a load of perfection. Is it the mixing, the mastering stage, etc? Would love to learn to mix/produce a song to this level.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! I have quite a few songs where I mix them live and also there’s a lot of tracking videos! Feel free to dig around and learn, we Kato’s have an Academy if you’re interested

[@sam1308]

Nicee! This puts a lot in perspective for me!! One thing I don't understand though is why are you making use of additional kick and snare samples? Is it always recommended? If not, when do you use it and when not? Thanks.

[@rinconmusic7639]

Sorprendente

[@lahattec]

Warren, what do you think about pitching one or the other of the kick drums so that their waveforms match better later in the hit? Surely not a big thing at the lower levels, but might be interesting.

[@Producelikeapro]

That's definitely a good idea in many situations! Getting the samples close to the original source is a great way to have your drums sound as natural as possible!

[@pernormann4869]

That's it, I'm using this as reference. By the way, do you have any video on how to mix drums played with brushes?

[@joaodanieldemello2137]

amazing content

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@DarkSideofSynth]

You are spoiling us with marvellous stuff, dear. Thank you.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much my friend!!

[@harikrishnan4411]

Really helped lot love from india

[@graxav]

Hey Warren, been a fan for some time and not said anything as I recall on your bla bla down here - but I have to thank you brother for your great vids and sharing stuff that takes a lifetime to accumulate. Been in Electro/mechanical engineering all my days and it is rare to find people who pass on knowledge, they would rather make themselves indispensable instead! (Then just die ..) I have a mix of my own to get a crit on - any way to pass it by you Sah?!

[@fredyrocazaurus8420]

Thanks

[@obedanturi9820]

Thank You Sr.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thank you!!

[@josephzapinski5674]

Hi Warren, it seems like in addition to proper compression and eq on your live recorded tracks, samples are the key to giving your drums the really fat and punchy sound. If we don't have access to using samples like this, do we just have to do our best with what we have in the dry takes? Or are there things like reverb or something that can fatten it up? Thank you and love your videos.

[@GILLISH]

Question lots of people use a sample k over an Acoustic kick for punch and body can u make a video getting an acoustic k as close as u can to a sample k with out using a sample k (lets say dance song Bruno mars Vibe) thank u and stay safe

[@WilliamAzevedo]

Would you guys apply those techniques to virtual drums (ez drummer, GarageBand drums, etc)?

[@danerkel7404]

So for snare drums you gate and eq each snare track separately, bus them together, and then compress?

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Dan Erkel marvellous question! It really depends! In this instance this worked well! If the recording is mire or less compressed for instance you may or may not need gating, this would contribute to increased bleed and facilitate the need to gate.

[@qfz2112]

I like the 7/8 groove at 14:50! Haha

[@magamartinho9034]

Hi! Just one comment, for the side chain to work in the Dyn3 Expander Gate you should turn on the the Key botton... I found this information great!

[@RiotHomeRecording]

I didn’t see the Key symbol engaged for the kick side chain? Or did you do it another way?

[@thechrisricci]

Awesome video, Warren! This nuts and bolts stuff is really helpful.

[@Producelikeapro]

Chris Ricci Thanks ever so much! Glad to be able to help!

[@Dicoboomtime]

Hi Warren, I notice your levels on the left are in a safe place but the tracks have beautiful visible waveforms. I find that my waveforms are tiny and hardly visible despite my signals on the left being between -2 and -10 for instance on the kick drum. When I clip gain I can see the waveforms in a similar way to yours but then I'm totally clipping on levels on the left. I must have missed something basic, can you help me to understand how to zoom in on the waveforms without making the track heights massive so only a handful fit on my screen. Sorry for thr lame question and thanks for all your work.

[@Producelikeapro]

It’s a great question! Parallel compression on your drums will add energy and also increase overall level. Peaking transients need to be controlled, compression and limiting just shaving them off will allow you to get more level without distortion

[@stevegeorge7773]

Would you use Beat Detective before you do any of this? I also just wanted to ask about the polarity: What is the plug in to reverse it? Is it stock in protools?

[@Producelikeapro]

You can use audiosuite reverse polarity in Pro Tools or simply use the trim plug in and flip it. Also many other plug ins have polarity switches on them as standard

[@nicholasmullins3693]

Phenomenal video! Couldn't help but wonder, though... what was up with the output clip indicators on everything going off? Or was that something else?

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Nicholas! Thanks ever sop much! So glad you enjoyed the video! I never worry about the very occasional incredibly short transient hitting the peak indicator!

[@nicholasmullins3693]

@@Producelikeapro ah! Forgot about the fact it was a short section of time, so when it was going off left and right I was tricked into thinking it was all the time! Thanks for the reply!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@nicholasmullins3693 Yes, the clip indicators stay on, there may well be a way to shorten it! I'll have to look!

[@PhattStaxxTraxx]

So, I mute out the sample snare yet bus it to an aux to trigger the reverb and it works? Got to try that one!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes Sir!!

[@Spider._.dust_music]

Another great session 🤘

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much my friend!!