Monday Mix Tips: How to get a Huge Drum Room Sound

[@annekedebruyn7797]

"Roomus, Biggus" - some ancient greek drum engineer when he build his pyramid as echo chamber.

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Great, now I've gotta go watch The Life of Brian!

[@gilbertspader7974]

Biggus Dickus. Best Reference Ever !!!

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

That sounds more like Latin

[@aldenleo6649]

I guess im asking randomly but does anyone know a method to log back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly lost the account password. I appreciate any assistance you can offer me

[@emmettfrancis9894]

@Alden Leo instablaster ;)

[@Kadotus]

Best drum sound comes from cupping every mic you use to record them. Even better if you download free drum samples from the internet and use those! *Dear Glenn, haista vittu!*

[@kingbassk83]

but be aware that only singers can cup the mic. so, when you're in the studio, bring along a few singers.

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

or get a Bananadyne EH4000 ultimate microphone enhancer.

[@gilbertspader7974]

@@SpectreSoundStudios Can I get a link in the description!!!!!!$$$$$$

[@EBTwitts]

You gotta use a sample, play it through your iPhone, and record it with cupped mics. That’ll get you the best sound.

[@likeanuuk6612]

what kind of super human can cup every mic on the drums??

[@CameronFleury]

Was not expecting those results. Definitely trying this out as my drum room is also small. Thanks Glenn!

[@CameronFleury]

@@JasonCGuitarOfficial looking forward to it!

[@razmigdemirjian6361]

This is the greatest tutorial by the greatest KZbinr , teacher , producer and sound engineer I fucking love it Please teach us more of your skills Thank you so much I really really appreciate 🤘🏻

[@patientmental875]

I wasnt even aware that there was studio room simulator in Waves & ive had it for a year! These type of videos are the best Glenn has done!

[@KyleSevenoaks]

Could not have come at a more convenient time, thanks!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Glad I could help!

[@DmitryPuffin]

Thank you for tutorial! I am preparing to record drum kit for the first time in my life, and your tutorials are just golden mine of knowledge!

[@Neil-Aspinall]

Great sounding kick sound Glen, Mmm the first real compliment I've ever given you, enjoy as they will be rare.

[@alexharper5660]

That is an awesome reverb plugin. I will definitely be playing with that in the near future. Thanks, Glenn.

[@theaddictofgaming9174]

Hey Glen, This isn't a question or anything, but I just saw a preformance at Manhatten School of Music, playing Avant-garde modern classical music, and when I was walking out, I thanked the sound guy, and he said "you're the first person who's ever said that to me." Sound Engineer is really a thankless job.

[@smmydvr]

Very cool! Really liked that San Francisco hall sound, very old school and gave me the expectation of a guitar diving in at any second... Another great video!

[@drumfeck5970]

Definitely something I'm gonna try out, as the room I'm working with is not only small but almost completely dead! Thanks to mr. Constantine for coming up with this!

[@JasonConstantineGaming]

You are most welcome, but I cant take 100% credit for this. I learned it from someone back in the 90s when I was working at studios in New York. I wish I could remember who it was to give the proper credit. But I have been using this technique forever. Its a great way to add some vibe and bigness to drums when you dont have a really good room to work with! :)

[@Stefan-]

I have used similar techniques for years using room reverb to create a bigger room, it it also works great if you want your guitar amp to sound as if its in a room instead of just closed miced, if you record direct and use IRs then you can add a simulated room mic.

[@leebrennan5790]

Yeah, cool and all, but can it produce that classic St Anger sound?

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Hopefully not!

[@gilbertspader7974]

Sit on snare , hit metal chair

[@FinalBaton]

+Lee Brennan Lol

[@pipelineaudio]

ReaComp can, set release to zero and RMS like 1-5 ish, or even 0 if you dare

[@Stefan-]

You just need a trash can....

[@FuneralFrogMedia]

amazing, what a great tutorial! made my drums sound HUGE!

[@julianholmanaudio4807]

Great tip, I've tried it this evening and it's amazing! The drums really come alive!

[@CameronFleury]

Thanks for the mixing tips Glenn!

[@Microang]

This really reminds me of Space Designer built into Logic, which comes with all kind of room reverbs. You did a great job on that sound though.

[@mapex75]

Glenn! Thanks for the great Videos! I have seriously picked up some great techniques on recording my own drums from simply being a dedicated sub to your channel! Im always looking forward to the next video! Keep that shit up!!!!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Glad I could help, Ricky!

[@THESLOWDEATHHOOKS]

great sound design

[@MathyuB.W.89]

Yo Glen, Is this exactly the video i requested a few videos back?? Awesome, bro!!!

[@jasonmare33]

love when you look at the camera when the plug in works good

[@TacoTommy]

I honestly prefer your sound a little more than his, both are great, but yours sound wayyyy better

[@jera2150]

This was awesome. Thanks, Glenn.

[@UnearthlyViking]

Been messing with reverb on drums lately, I'm gonna try this compression trick when i get home.

[@TrentSolo]

Killer sound. Thanks for this!

[@rgriffo13]

I was taught a similar technique in uni with "all buttons in" on a klark Tecnic compressor (failing that, something that emulates it) it gives a huuuge sound. If you have 2 rooms mics, I find it really nice to apply it to one track and mix it low. Similar effect.

[@trueservant11]

That’s a great trick . Added a lot of focus to the punch I thought too

[@JohnMassari]

So cool. I have done the same in a variety of ways. I will definitely use this on my latest mix!

[@MetalLanham]

Hey Glenn. Thank you for making these awesome videos. Because you put these out it inspired me to attempt to record drums.

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

14:29 “So because of these faders... .... ...” Me: Still wondering Glen: Man, that’s some strong weed !!!

[@jeffvigrass2875]

Now THAT'S a tutorial!! Yes, this old dog learned a trick or 2. Also nice to know I'm on the right track when working my drum tracks... we share a couple of secrets... huge confidence booster, dude!!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Glad I could help, Jeff!

[@tnikiforov]

Great stuff dude, keep it up!

[@jonnysophisticado]

Hey Glenn, like always, excellent information. Thank you very much

[@heret1c385]

*Intro kicks in* Step 1: Get a huge drum room *outro kicks in*

[@matbell1514]

Congrats on reaching 300k subs!

[@davidhodgin8900]

it started to sound even better after you put the gate on that snare because of the kick bleed. I was honestly shocked.

[@tbcreative562]

Awesome tutorial man, not sure if you have it set up in default or not, but you can adjust the send volume without actually clicking into it to get to the fader, you can just click and drag your mouse across the send icon to adjust the volume. Just thought it might be a quicker way if you didn’t know already, good stuff though keep it coming

[@studionomad6206]

in my experience, using the bonham style of overheads instead of drum-mics always gets a more balanced and fuller sound. Usually add a mic on kick drum if recording in a big room

[@TheGarageRecordingSC]

Just picked up Wilkinson audio De-Bleeder this weekend and that thing is fucking awesome definitely get that before it goes up to 80 bucks it’s only $30 right now !!! So easy to use and amazing how much of the original sound you can leave while still cutting out cymbals etc.

[@camoamocha]

Does this tips also work on programmed drums?

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Yes

[@medievalrobot]

It definitely does, and it should work pretty much on anything - that's how I get certain instruments to sit better in the mix a lot of the time. If you think about it, the main purpose of basic reverb is to simulate space. Another neat trick is applying a longer reverb (while additionally cutting the higher frequencies) to make something sound distant - like a battle horn or thunder. Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, just speaking from my experience.

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

I generally time the reverb tail to work with the tempo.

[@royferntorp3575]

I find using the verbs on snare bottom and bussing all snare mics works really well.

[@joeyvpoisonfree]

Sounds very close to the drum mix that Jamie King got on the last Contortionist record. He really goes nuts on the room sims as well. Cool shit!

[@skunkproductionsMLA]

This is so awesome! But truth be told, the drummer, the tuning, the skins, the cymbals, and the overall setup and miking techniques have a LOT to do with the overall sound. I also found it handy to do a separate buss for the snare and detuning it by 3-4 semitones and sending it to a lush reverb then compressing it then set it low in the mix. It kind of glues up the whole kit and fattens the snare. Also works for overheads and room mics in a fairly dry room. Cool stuff as always Glenn!

[@danmenez]

I hit like after you said "Armored Saint". Everyone here with good taste must like 'em.

[@Theearswe]

Have you test any of the Warm audio gear?

[@jsamaofficial]

Yes! Solid and hard hitting sound drums is good to the mix :D

[@zach7485]

Grate video Glenn! Thanks for this one

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Glad I could help, Zach!

[@tcmixpro9933]

Hey Glenn, love your videos!...but I have one little nit to pick. Maybe it's just semantics, but I find it annoying how many KZbin videos refer to basic recording and mixing techniques as "tricks". I feel like it implies that there are countless secrets engineers use to make stuff sound awesome, and don't wanna share with the rest of humanity. In my 30-ish years of professional experience I've found that nearly all producers and engineers are, like you, happy to teach anyone who shows interest in learning. The most important lessons are often the most basic anyway, like if you want a great recorded drum sound, start with great sounding drums. I'll never forget, early in my career, sitting in on a session with a very famous recording engineer. When the drummer listened to the first playback he said, "I though you were supposed to be so great at recording drums... why do my drums sound like suitcases?!" The engineer replied, "Because your drums DO sound like suitcases."

[@marineforces3214]

Nice natural sounding drum, not that drum-computer junk. Nice natural drum sounds, sounds real sick and than all the opportunities ! I can feel the fun !

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Real drums are where it's at.

[@chrismarcyy]

Hey glenn, is not using impulse response on a professional level the same as using drum samples? i mean, we are using the mic technique from another engineer. i was debating that with a friend last night and he said is not the same because the player's playing style influence the tone more than the drums... sorry for my english, cheers from Puerto Rico.

[@AudioReplica2023]

Basically a gated verb. Thats from the 80's and its been making a come back.

[@johngiovanni]

And what do you do with the rooms itselves? You just blend them with the rest of the drum sound? There's no video for that I guess. Anyways .... I've tried this... huge 🤟🤟Thanks dude 🤟

[@metalheadofmordor9169]

Perfect!

[@ZethKeeper]

So, basically, it's NY-like compression on room reverb, right?

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Can't say I'm familiar with the term....

[@ZethKeeper]

NY stands for New York compresion.

[@SNDTEK1]

Awesome..really happy to see you using the Stillwell stuff.............his compressors sound amazing as well. I am planning, on my next tracking session, to try using a mid/side mic technique for my drum room. Was thinking a ribbon for the Figure of 8. I track in a small room as well, its 12 ft by 16 ft with a 7 and a 1/2 ft ceiling, traps, etc etc......im thinking it might give a little more "air" to the take since it is such a small room. Any personal experiences trying this for drums ? And.....up yours Glenn...

[@DropdeadGamingLive]

Glenn, Glenn, Glenn! Quick question ... do you route the Drum room to the Drum Bus or do you route it to the master ?

[@johndef5075]

Armored Saints late guitar player Dave Prichard was an absolute beast!

[@martinhovorka6612]

Hi Glenn, how about a full review of Fabfilter plugin suite (eq, (multi-band) compressor, reverb, limiter, etc.)? I'm using it for quite o lot of time now and I'll be interested in your opinion. IMHO some features are pretty neat for aspiring sound engineers, for example to visualize/to be able to hear "what you are doing" if you are unsure (for example what compressor is doing with the waveform)... But overall review would be nice! Cheers from Czech republic!

[@aragorn767]

I recently got the waves gold bundle. Was that one of the verbs that came with that?

[@TSBfixitnow]

Great video, I can always use your info even though my setup is a bit different. I use 3 mics kick, snare and overhead going into soundcraft ui12 digital live mixer. ( bought it for 200 used, it has eq,comp and fx mixer for each input, and every thing can be saved and preset) Output the mixer into m-audio interface then into daw. Not as versatile as I have to record, listen and make any changes, then record again, but once you got it all setting can be saved. Workable and under 500 bucks. Great channel keep up the great work.

[@johnnymegabyte]

I gate my kick and snare independently with a DBX 166xs between the Mic Pre and my audio interface.

[@dragonfly3312]

Hey Glen, I like metal but blues rock is my true love. Could you talk a little on how to get great blues tones? Maybe a guest engineer? Love the channel.

[@MrSpasticdancer]

sounds so big !

[@benwake7625]

Hey Glenn, what reaper theme are you running? I'm slowly getting my teeth into it but find the icons a bit blinding to the eye (I'm a text button kinda guy). Loving the basics video too! :D

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Fusion Beta

[@ValentinPane]

You can create your own buttons and place text in them. check this out kzbin.info/www/bejne/jISkqoxtfrd9gaM

[@The_Absurdistt]

It's good to see you back in your studio... There is just something warm (saturation?) and fuzzy (overdrive?) about SMG Studio.

[@gilbertspader7974]

This is not just for drums it works on any recorded sound !!

[@austinfreeman9040]

Thanks for the tips Mr. Fricker! Although I think I liked your drum sound a tad bit better. When will you be doing more Studio One videos? I'm a Full Sail student and many friends who use Reaper also seem to like S1. It would be great to see more of your delicate finesse on that platform. Thanks and *love* you Glenn.

[@TacoTommy]

Awesome stuff man!

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Glad you like it!

[@angelorozul241]

cool technique. Thanks man :)

[@AleArzMusic]

Hey Glenn! Which is guitar is that black one hanging on the wall? Thanks for your advices, I follow you religiously

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Ibanez 7 string

[@AleArzMusic]

@@SpectreSoundStudios thank you. I thought it was a Dinky, dot inlays fooled me.

[@hazrod13]

Great video ! Love your tutos. Have you tried Colin Scott's "Target Mids" pedal ?

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

I've got it, still need to try it!

[@hazrod13]

@@SpectreSoundStudios awesome ! Would love to know what you think about it in a studio use

[@johnstitt2615]

Hey Glenn, speaking of reverbs Overloud has great IR packs. If you have not already check them out.

[@gilbertspader7974]

As a nondrumner how can we get Bananadyne involved in drum recording ? Individual cups for all the mics ? Play with frozen bananas? Do we need a larger fruit for this application???????????

[@MrJared-pe3ls]

you may have done it already, but can you do a video on how to get good metal drum sounds from the raw tracks? awesome channel, keep it up!

[@MrCool144]

Conpress the sht out of the drum room but leave the fader low. Saturate and eq the snare and kick mics but leave them tight and loud. If you do compress them make sure not to much so you can use a transient shaper later for consistant added dynamics. Then group all tracks into drum bus and use bus compressor to glue them together. Which will bring the low level but extremely squashed room mic up to match the loudness of those tight kick and snare peaks.If you do need added punch use something like spiff after the bus compressor its the best transient shaper. This works every time and i have seen pros do this. They squash everything individually to like bass and guitar. The dynamics comes from the diferences in the frequencies and the individual instruments rather then the peaks and valleys of each sound. Like the bass will be squashed but the kick will be louder and tight. This difference is where the dynamics come from. From the faders. Not by leaving dynamics in individual channels. Obviously you dont want to sausage the wavefrom eithwr and eliminate all detail. Just consistent volume is what matters.

[@DanielRothman]

Glen, what is your opinion on control surfaces like the Presonus Faderport? I just got one and it has done wonders for my workflow, and having an actual fader makes me use my ears more than the digital faders. Cheers from Michigan

[@IshaanKunwar]

Sorry for the bass player question, but how are the sends to the drum verb any different than the sends to the other track? Aren't both of the tracks just adding reverb to the sends?

[@Yanthungbemo]

Confused with which track was sent to which reverb

[@TheIgnoramus]

@SpectreSoundStudios I’m impressed with the speed of your video releases, what software do you record your videos with? Thank you!

[@snowflamestr]

Great video once again. Kinda out of topic but have you ever had the chance to record/mix a band with 2 drummers like kylesa?

[@n8channel7008]

Hey Glenn! Have you come across On Trigger Gen.3 yet?

[@TheInsanityofGab]

I use a very similar technique although I find sending the just the raw overheads to the room verb and turning off the direct sound in IR1 creates a more realistic room mic sound. But when i saw you pulling up IR1 into a compressor i was getting some hard deja vu

[@Evilwhiteclownpunk]

So now that you've made the drums sound like they were recorded in a huge room, what about the guitars and vocals that still sound like they were recorded in a phone booth???

[@borndrumming1972]

Quit gessing at reverb decay times. Divide 60,000 by your tempo. That will give you the number of milliseconds between quarter notes. If you divide that by 2 you then get the time between eight notes. So 60,000÷120bpm=500ms for quarter notes and 250ms for eighth note decay times. Add some pre delay and Bam! Perfect decay between hits. Your welcome. Theres always the set it to your taste version if you dont like or agree with it..

[@laiferickson2673]

So what did u do with room mic and not close mics?

[@Masterjedians]

Hey Glenn. For budget reasons I plan to buy an axe fx 3. I used to have a dual rectifier, nice mics, a rack of lindell preamps, an api 512, lynx Aurora 16 and gear totaling at about 50k. Hard times caused me to let it all go. So starting from scratch again, I'm going to try the axe 3. Do you think "reamping" perfect lead and rythm tracks as my overdubs is the way to go, or go oldschool and overdub each guitar with a new performance. I prefer 3 overdubs (4 tracks in total) per guitar. I also like my lead and rythm guitarists to sound different so they can be heard separately in a mix. Also, do you prefer using the best guitar available and just changing your sim sounds, or still go with multiple guitars to blend? Thanks from New fucking Jersey.

[@craigwhite5913]

Thats great tip. does it only work for metal drums or would it work for other genres as well?

[@JasonConstantineGaming]

You can use this for any Genre. I learned the technique while working on an R&B record. The drums just werent vibing and the producer on that record showed me this trick :)

[@GoodGodFatherGGF]

So, what I'm gathering, is that you're using your reverb to simulate a room mic, and then squashing the shit out of it with the dbx compressor?

[@GoodGodFatherGGF]

@@JasonCGuitarOfficial right-o

[@lucas82396]

Fuck Glen, got a few questions here. Since we are on the topic of drums a few videos back someone asked a question about triggering drums from an electric kit for that human element. Ultimately you said to leave the performance the way it is and not quantize anything. What do you think about quantizing drums but not 100% to the click? Many DAWs allow you to set sensitivity so you can ignore hits as long as it is within +/-10% (or whatever percentage you want) of the metronome. This would still have the human aspect but for hits that fall more then 10% out of time you can pull those back to "close enough". From my experience it is very hard to make Time based effects, such as delays, to sound great with a track that is to far out of time. My second question is about latency for recording that way. Now days we are "blessed" with usb on most modern midi devices. I have a roland TD-25 that works great but if I introduce it into a DAW the latency is far too much and ruins the entire recording. Aside from getting a midi interface do you know of any way to get that latency down? As an FYI I run zero plugins and if I record drums later, the entire rough mix is exported into a two track and try to record that way to ensure zero processing is being done. If there are any other ways to minimize that please let me know! My audio interface is not midi capable either which is a HUGE drawback to the Apollo's BTW. I have tried everything I can think of to fix this. Setting H/W Buffer as low as my system can handle. Operating EVERYTHING off of internal M.2 ssd. Recording everything to an external SSD while leaving vst on internal and vice versa. All background processes shut down including within the DAW. Different usb ports/cables. Dropping sample rate down to 44.1kHz. Using instrument channels, midi channels to audio, etc. For the life of me I cannot find a solution short of recording built in audio from the kit and trying to match the performance to midi by hand in the DAW. Any input is appreciated! Love your shows and keep up the good work! Edit: grammar mistakes. Probably still some in there lol.

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Get a real recording interface for the TD25. One with ASIO drivers

[@lucas82396]

@@SpectreSoundStudios I assume you mean a midi interface of some form? I am quite unfamiliar with midi aside from daw controllers. Do you know of any stand alone midi interfaces that utilize ASIO drivers of the top of your head? I am already looking for some but open to recommendations. I use UAD Apollo for live audio recording and the plugins very regularly and have minimal I/O ports available on my machine. Thanks for the response BTW. I appreciate your work! keep it up!

[@hadleymanmusic]

When I lived in the bay area armored saint was the local HM band. I had ti ask what bands are local to a co worker. Then I asked if he heard of pantera and they said" no". Summer of 83.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

Waves DBX 160 compressor is just $49 today at Sweetwater!

[@ADGreen-es6hm]

Glenn what interface do you use , Thanks

[@divine_architek]

Notification Club what's up?

[@TheChadPad]

Divine Architek Aaaayyy

[@SamboatMusicBassCovers]

Yee

[@BrianBower]

Working and listening

[@Staminist-MMF-80]

@Glenn - please, read this, thank you @Samus66 had a live stream and your name came up about drum recording techs and your opinion about triggers. Since we all know Sam is a kickass drummer (and uses triggers exceptionally well in his playing/style) - he may be the perfect person to do a video on this "controversial" topic, I believe you two should set a date if possible and let's see what will come outta the collab.

[@wido123123]

GLENNNNNNN!!!! noob question here. If you have a DI signal and want it run it through physical pedals and stuff, but use impulses (what I would guess is called reamping), can you use a standard interfaze like the focusrite? set the output through the pedals and back to the input?

[@johnwallace2319]

So I should stay home, watch this, then doodle over the whiskey tribe on Monday? A guy on the internet told me, so it must be true.

[@1979er]

dankeschön!🤟

[@tozzlin2964]

what theme are u using ? can u share it :) ?

[@Willigrow]

I remember your tutorial on parallel compression with distressor for toms and snare, do you use that in conjunction with this technique? I dont see parallel bus in your mixer here.

[@PooNinja]

Made a huge difference even on a toilet phone I’ll check it in the car later 👍🏽 cool tip thank you Sir

[@SpectreSoundStudios]

Too much information!

[@PooNinja]

😂🤘🏽👍🏽