Mixing EZdrummer & Amp Sims - 3 Tips For Pro Results

[@FrightboxRecording]

►► Download your FREE Impulse Response Octopack by clicking HERE: frightboxrecordingacademy.com/ir-octopack/

[@babalonsfinest6054]

I agree 100%. The IR (emulated cab and mic) or real cab, for that matter, make an insane difference on tone. So much of a difference that you could make almost any modern tube amp head or tube amp emulator sound almost indistinguishable. Also the amount of processing done on samples doesn't need to be much either, but that also goes for a real drum kit as well, because if that drum kit is good and tuned just right, then you don't have to do much anything to it to make it sound appeasing. This is why back in the olden days all you needed was a console like an SSL, because if your gear is good and tuned right, after running it through that SSL channel strip you didn't need much anything else on it, but maybe a reverb of choice for snare and toms, and a little on kick. The later Superior Drummer 3 and EZ Drummer expansions sound insanely good, and Superior Drummer 2 is good as well. On the dark side of things, the music sounds mechanical and boring these days. More than usual when I hear newer music I will think, "Wow that sounds so loud, clear and polished," but I rarely ever think, "This song is written very well and has such soul and feeling, and is memorable, let me memorize the lyrics." There are no more Hotel Californias, Free Birds, Don't Fear the Reapers, Master of Puppets, The Number of the Beast, or Ronnie James Dio style music. The de-evolution of music. But yeah, good advice here.

[@brachlandmusic]

I am relatively new to these topics and was about to learn about gain staging. And this is the first time I heard of the term of "printing" and just tried it in Reaper and it's like a complete gamechanger for me in the future! This was so important to hear and I watched a ton of mixing videos so far. Thank you so much!

[@FrightboxRecording]

My pleasure!

[@gregnott7157]

This is pretty sound advice. I am guilty of not practicing these techniques and I have many "in progress" songs to show for it. Time for a change, I think. Too much technique research and refinement, not enough pressing the red button.

[@mdwayne741]

Sounds good...I really love how the bass growls ....nice bass tone.

[@jacksmith4460]

Yes I print after the production stage, just naturally started to do it. With processing EZ drummer, I do slam drums with 1176 style compression, but I use an emulation that has a mix control,so I can dial it in to taste, I focus more on saturation and clipping with my EZ Drummer drums. Thanks for the IR pack :D

[@silversu919]

You're giving very good information. It took years to get it for me. Great job! Keep it metal!!

[@deathmetalglenn]

I've been printing drums to audio ever since i started bedroom mixing about a year ago or so out of pure necessity, the laptop i was using was basically a potato n could not handle the smallest of processing, i literally just replaced the laptop earlier in the week n finally have the cpu power i need n printing the midi to audio is a deeply ingrained habbit now 🤘🏼 thanks for everything you do ok this channel its been a huge help for me!

[@guinganfg]

Nice tips, my friend!! Still waiting for your “in the box” recording and mixing course!! Cheers!!! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@FrightboxRecording]

Keep an eye on your inbox next week :)

[@guinganfg]

@@FrightboxRecording looking forward to that! Cheers my friend! And congrats on the channel! Very helpful since the day I’ve found it! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@leearmitage]

oo I recognise that song haha, personally I started printing my midi drums to audio a little while back once I decide on the basic drum tone and maybe a 2nd or 3rd snare sample to beef up the main snare and for a bottom snare sound, even though someone said I was stupid for doing it. I don't usually print the guitar tracks down but once I've done with the pre production faze and got the tone I want from the amp sim and IRs I never touch it once I start mixing, great tips as always

[@cfh13]

I've been using Ola Englunds IRs. Last night I finally bit the bullet & bought EZ Drummer 3 bundle w metal machine & metal. Amped CB4 (trial) sounds amazing all by itself but Ignite is the one free metal amp plugin that works without a purchase key window popping up. Used the drums a little bit so i have a ton to learn but loving how it sounds.

[@inclinedtoshadows4545]

Great tips! I use EZDRUMMER 2 quite a lot and frequently use Parallel compression. That makes the already great drums sound even better. Best of both worlds. You get the original pre-mixed and terrific sounding preset from ezdrummer but also a Parallel buss smashed as much as you need (or want). Parallel compression makes already great sounding drums, sound even better! Thanks for the IR's! I don't use sims much since after discovering the fredman technique with 2 sm57's on my Mesa Rectumfryer and 2x12 with an e906 on the other speaker but I will keep them in the bag-o-tricks! Just subscribed and look forward to more videos dude! Kill!!!!!

[@hristoistoyanov]

Awesome stuff Bobby, I ma just now discovering your channel, love it!!!!! 1. "printing your drums/guitars" meaning rendering them to a WAV file and then mixing that WAV file? That is the opposite of what I have been told to do, but it will save CPU processing power big time, especially on mixes with large number of tracks. Gotto try that! 2. Not altering virtual drums is a solid advice too (in my case MODO Drums) . Good to know! 3. I keep on hearing that its is not the amp sim but the IRs you use, and the biggest impact on you sound comes from the speakers and the mics and their placement (and the room). Your video confirms it!

[@firdeye2681]

I dont even mix much atm and this channel rocks for info

[@schwalf1886]

Awesome mix, I like it a lot

[@peterviuff5693]

Really informative. Thank you very much!

[@sidripster506]

Guilty as charged. Thanks for the amazing advice. Back to the DAW to try these techniques.

[@henrik640]

Your videos are amazing, and I can't wait to try out those IR's. Thanks man!

[@uselessoldman7964]

The MOTU M series audio interfaces are little gems, I own the M4 model as well as higher end gear, but I needed a mobile small light interface that plugs into my surface pro and after some research decide MOTU would be the best bang for your bucks. I have to say it surpassed my expectations when compared to gear that costs considerably more the preamps are great and it can drive high quality headphones with ease unlike many other inexpensive audio interfaces !!

[@Paulriffer]

Whaaaaat!? This is Awesome! Thank you very much for the Octopack! ...and the tips in this video are great! I just have to remember to burn them into my mind for when the times come to track and produce... 🤘😈🤘

[@hamfistTBHP]

Loving that bass sound!

[@kellc1347]

One thing to note is most of those EzDrummer packs will have the raw recorded unprocessed option as well so you could do more traditional mixing. Has anyone worked with those before? I only have once. Great tips!

[@stevewills735]

The Guitar sounds killer!!! Still I can't help but keep looking at the VHS of ZOMBIE in the back . Love that movie, and this channel cheers Bobby!

[@anthonydahl5454]

Really useful video. Love your stuff Bobby ! Thanks ! I was already commiting to guitar tones but I actually was heavily processing drums so I'll try to maybe back it off to see if it still sounds good.

[@correametal]

Excellent tips Bobby, you are always the best!!!

[@piratedungeon]

This is so helpful! I'm guilty of over processing my virtual drums... They ended sounding REALLY powerful but they lack of that "natural" playing feeling. Next time I'll keep this in mind. Thanks once again Bobby!

[@MattyB3]

Hello, Great info, just one quick question. Not to sound naïve, but new to the this all, but in the last section what is impulse response. Thanks

[@xDamageProducer]

Seth Rollins on vocals.

[@LykaonMetalMusic]

Great Video! I love these Tips!

[@aplanebagel]

thanks for the tips !!

[@brandoncooke6564]

Good tips, but I would say it totally depends on the software you are using on whether to process your drums further. For example, SD3 is intended specifically to NOT sound like fully mixed drums, rather to sound exactly like a recorded kit, just as you would get tracks from a recorded live kit. With EZDrummer, you are absolutely right. They are intended to be fully processed.

[@jcisternas]

Nope, ezdrummer libraries have the same exact raw samples and sounds of the SD3 expansions. The differences between SD3 and EZD are the number of kits, articulations and microphones. Besides that, both are the same.

[@Yurkinz]

Great video, thank you! :)

[@jorgecaicedo1982]

I've been using EZmix Metal Guitars 1 2 and 3 expansion packs

[@hcj1967]

I’m a newbie and this will save me so much x since I will be recording in the box for song demos. I am fortunate enough to have real Mesa, Engl, Randall, and other real tube amps that I plan to record using my Two notes Captor X… so it sounds like I would definitely benefit from downloading your IR impulse responses! Can’t wait to give it a whirl! I’m new to your channel and dig it even though I mainly record Alt Rock/Pop and utilize metal elements. Any experience and advice using the Captor x? Thank you 🙏🏽 much!

[@nowaytoinvent]

Hey Bobby, thanks a lot for the great and straight-forward infos and tips! Wondering, what Eq and compressor do you use? Do you know if I can find those or similar in Logic? Btw a video about Eq and compression specifically would be awesome! Thank you.

[@karolrucinski3484]

I print only the drums, because thats the only way i can process them. I don't print the guitars though because it's not tempting for me personally to tweak the settings - once i set them i leave them if they dont need further setup. And i definitely try to get it right at the source so i pay close attention to finding great IR and then settings on the amp etc. About processing the programmed drums i just try to follow my ear and do to them what is needed

[@zackkorth2410]

i have sup drummer 3 and i don't really mess with it at all, it sounds fine the way it is. i have all thes busses mapped out and if i do anything, it's just adjust volume sometimes.

[@jorgecaicedo1982]

Don't understand what you mean by "printing" to audio..When I'm done recording, I just hit Save Project

[@KondGames]

could you make a video drum mixing lesson showing the heavy metal mixing process.

[@chiefpotpipe]

Think I'm going to join your Masterclass. Axe FX III is good for recording but finding the right IR is a buzz kill!

[@chuckcostello5167]

I agree that finding the right IR IS a buzzkill. However, if you know the sound that you're looking for ahead of time (in his case, a Mesa Boogie cab miked with an SM57) then 99% of the work has been done already! The trick is learning what different cabs and mics sound like and using that to your advantage. If you're recording someone else's cab in the studio for a session, Joey Sturgis did a great video describing the method of creating IR's of every cab/mic setup used and taking DI tracks from guitars so they can be processed later and/or if there's an issue later in processing. I use a Fractal FM3 live and all my amps are run through my own IR's of my own cabs. Just a little something extra "cool" I can say to the nerds who care about that sort of thing. Good luck!

[@chiefpotpipe]

@@chuckcostello5167 Well stated brother. I think for enjoyments sake, I'm gonna buy a stereo power amp and run into my new Mesa Recto OS. When I get comfortable with it, I'll shoot a few of my own IR's.

[@beantownmusic3532]

great tutorial, very useful....this channel rocks! So my question is on using SD3 or EZ2. When you bounce down are you using a toontrack preset that contains the overall sound of there internal mixing effects...eq,comp, dist, verb...etc? Or... are you bouncing down the raw recording of the drums bypassing the preset with the effects...someone said there still processed with some eq & comp but very little when they recorded the samples? I am still trying to figure out the best workflow...I do like the sounds of alot of the presets but if I bounce down to audio to eliminate high cpu and eliminate tweaking like you said I may want to tweak later but now I have alot of processed audio so not sure if better to try to copy what they did in the preset mixer in the DAW mixer after?

[@seanedwards94]

Truthfully, it shouldn't matter too much. I would recommend taking the the effects off if you're going to add your own processing. But if you like the sound then it's not an issue

[@jorgecaicedo1982]

My Metal Machine exp pack looks nothing like that..wtf?

[@josipmalkoc8382]

As always, great stuff Bobby 🤘🏼 probably the best sound I’ve ever regarding EZ drummer and the biggest takeaway is to not over compress. When you know, you know. Just wondering if you’ve had a chance to muck around with Neural DSP amp sims by any chance and if so, what are your thoughts? Cheers dude

[@vejichan]

can you share your mixed ez drummer template for eeaper?

[@AlbertodeVictoria]

Excelent advice!

[@DarioToledo]

Thank you for the tip #2. I have always wondered about that: do the drum mixing techniques apply on VSTs as well? Because you often see pro engineers work on live recorded ones. I've always thought the answer was yes, because I assumed that Superior etc. had raw instrument recordings, and needed some tweaking anyway. So, thanks for covering this.

[@Bogdan_Tolm]

I do all of those BUT, I do NOT print my guitar tracks, because of the twicking. I mean if the band want less gain at amp sim, to hear their pick attack, why would I need to create a di tracks distortion to hear it or parallel compress them, when I can go back and twick the gain knob?)

[@Bogdan_Tolm]

The only time I do it, if need more CPU and that’s it

[@AlanDS89]

You could print your guitars and still have your DIs muted and plugins turned off

[@Bogdan_Tolm]

@@AlanDS89 I do final twicks with the band and then print those, for CPU save

[@SMCAndre]

When in Reaper would you rather freeze or bounce the tracks before adding eq and stuff?

[@jcisternas]

Bounce the tracks before adding any fx 👍

[@marcorodriguez7694]

When you say it saves in CPU when printing as audio, how so?? Printing on audio saves more in cpu as suppose to mixing in midi??

[@FrightboxRecording]

Yes, having live amp sims and midi drum software all open once you start loading a ton of other plugins will start to eat up CPU. Also, it always tempting to tweak these tools when they're not committed to actual audio.

[@marcorodriguez7694]

@@FrightboxRecording Ohh I see! Thanks for the reply!

[@Dave_TheMetalJester]

I do follow tips 1 and 3. Usually using Ownhammer IRs, PRETTY sweet. The second tip though, has me worried. I always try to use the raw presets or the "No FX Bus" ones but I Fear those may also have a little of processing. That leads to the confusion of facing a wrong drum mix or a wrong selection of preset. It would be nice to know your opinion about this Bobby.

[@FrightboxRecording]

I'd say use your ears. If they sound processed, they probably are. Not necessarily a bad thing, just keep in mind that they probably won't need much EQ and compression.

[@brandoncooke6564]

I would second that notion of using your ears. Please keep in mind that just because you add processing to your drum tracks does not automatically make them over-processed. It is about the sound you are going for, and what will get you that result. Slapping an EQ on an EZDrummer kick doesn't mean you're wrong to do it. He's just saying to be careful with it, and be aware of what you're doing.

[@Dave_TheMetalJester]

@David Sweat thx for the advice, I've been using It since quite a lot of time but still I find traces of mixing in terms of compression and EQ, which may be more accused depending on the preset.

[@maplefoxx6285]

I use a Saturation plugin on the overheads on slate drums and it makes it sound less dull and more realistic, it is a trick they do with real drums too. I'm not a pro or anything, I just read about it in a drummer's blog, i also play real drums, but it really helps make them sound a lot better just don't over do it with the plugin. Thanks for the tips you are great. And thanks for the Mesa IR files... i have Mesa IR files for bass from another youtuber too. do you want the link for those? i bookmarked it. it is free. anyway. thanks these are going to be awesome.

[@-Mardos]

Im using Klanghelm or waveshaper for this stuff... What are you using? Too much and youll kill the dynamics tho

[@maplefoxx6285]

@@-Mardos ferric tds mk 2 does a tiny bit of compression and saturation. It is a tape plugin... I also try a bit of compression on the overheads using roughrider 3 for some tracks. I am mixing metal and i just find it sounds better on the Slate drums overheads, EZdrummer may be different a bit. I do know what good Sabian cymbals sound like, I play drums. I like bright cymbals, not a washed out dull sound. I only use a tiny bit on the plugins tho, and do not notice the dynamics being effected but I will start listening for that , thanks.. .

[@avsnutz]

Guilty! Thanks for the face slap back to reality.

[@Roadtoconsciousness]

It's always the cymbals that sounds less realistic

[@magnobeliero236]

The beginning of the song sounds kinda like cradle of filth

[@fredriksvard2603]

Cpu usage is a non-issue