Drum EQ Basics - Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro

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➡️➡️Download the multitracks here: bit.ly/2C7VYiy
In today's video we will be going over Drum EQ Basics! We also have the multitracks for you to download, so you can follow along and mix them yourself!
EQ is one of the most powerful things you can do to make a drum kit jump out of the mix. Today, we will using a very simple drum recording: there are two kick drum mics, two snare mics, a hi-hat, rack, floor tom mic, overheads, and a stereo room. I will be showing you how to get really quick, simple results from nearly any type of drum recording.
First, we will be working on the inside of the kick drum. This one is a little bit clicky as it is picking up some of that snappiness of the beater hitting the head. Let’s apply a stock EQ plugin to get us started. Most of you know the principle of finding ugly areas and getting rid of them. To do that I am going to make the Q narrow and give it a boost, and once I find that ugly area, I will widen the Q. With that wide Q, I am going to do the opposite and cut that, which gets rid of some of that unwanted excessive bleed that you hear, as well as getting rid of that ugly mid range. Now, I am going to cut and widen it a bit more, and this cut exaggerates the clickiness more and that low thump below. Even on a kick drum, high-passing is not a bad thing, so I am going to make the slope a little bit more aggressive here.
With EQ, we often do compression, reverbs, delays, and more, but many of you have asked me to keep it simple! Watch the video below to learn more about drum EQ basics and see the changes I made to get this cleaner sound!
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[@Producelikeapro]

What are your go-to drum EQ tricks?

[@Kevin-vq6rv]

Boosting the fundamental tone of the kick & tomtoms by 2dB while cutting that fundamental on the other shells is pretty much a go-to for me. Still, I find it quite an exercise to EQ a tomtom groove correctly so it has punch, tone, dynamics, and sustain when the drummer uses his/her kick, snare (snares off), Tm1, Tm2, TmF1 & TmF2, well, the whole nine yards actually.

[@iwantappledumplings6187]

Cleaning up the tracks with High Passing just like you did!

[@ricolync]

High Passing, Boost and cut on unflattering areas and Low passing too! And I have done what a mastering engineer told me to high pass from the lowest instrument (usually kick for me) from around 30hz...

[@Am6-9]

I recently learned to not be afraid of drastic EQ moves, if necessary. Go ahead an cut/boost by 10dB, why not, if it helps. Cutting a bit of ~500Hz is something I regularly do on the overheads or room.

[@Producelikeapro]

@@Am6-9 I agree 100%!! Talking with so many amazing Mixers they will do whatever it takes to make the tracks sound good!

[@drmedwuast]

2:17 Kick In 5:02 Kick Out 6:28 Snare Top 8:46 Snare Bottom 10:56 Hi Hat 12:11 Toms 14:56 Overheads 16:24 Room Mics

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!!

[@brianhughes5528]

Dude, you are like the embodiment of "You don't get paid for your time, you get paid for your experience". The ease with which you clean that up and get it banging, even without compression etc.. Awesome.

[@Producelikeapro]

Aw shucks thanks ever so much Brian! You Rock!

[@alexeysoloviev2924]

Thank you so much Warren really love these “Basic” series!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Alexey!! You Rock!!

[@davidsklubal]

Hi Warren, I have followed along for many videos in your mixing basics series and your longer discussion videos. I am happy to say my mix for a brand new song is sounding great, between you and Rick Beato my passion for music and song writing has been restored after a long depression. Thank you.

[@parachuteman4]

Excellent tips ! Thank you Warren !!

[@edwincrain986]

I'm always looking for tricks on live drum mixing. So thanks for more great tips!

[@trollstjerne]

Awesome video Warren! Drums sounds great! Those cuts and boosts really made a huge difference. Thanks for sharing!

[@paulEmotionalaudio]

Great to see you back in the studio. :) Love these basic intro vids, never cease to learn something from them. 🤘🏻🥁

[@999Lucas]

That floppy room mic sound is awesome for building a few harmonics that you then crunch up and use to layer. I love that energy i get from saturation on hp room mics.

[@michaeldruce6929]

I love these videos. Very helpful. Thank you, Warren.

[@michaeltablet8577]

Great video! Drums sound amazing! I hesitated recording all my songs because I didn't think I had enough gear. Then I found your channel and I'm having the time of my life recording and mixing my songs. God bless you for encouraging and inspiring all of us!

[@smoreshaunted]

This was extremely helpful! I had thought that I had my perfect snare sound and then I messed with EQ just for a few minutes and realized my "perfect" snare could've been so much better! I was also experimenting with subtracting with one EQ and boosting the same freq with another style EQ and I couldn't believe my ears, I definitely discovered something. Thank you for these videos Warren, love em.

[@lukehart1642]

It was great seeing how you approach eq on drums. Im right in the middle of mixing drum tracks right now and so I appreciate the EQ video very much. I''ve tended to take a split EQ approach to my Kick and Snare by only highlighting the bits I want with each Kick and Snare track and then balancing to get my sound. Thanks again for another great video. Cheers!

[@briankingart]

Love your fabulous style!

[@susiminavaja]

thanks Warren for all your great effort and work!

[@AnyDrug]

Very smooth walk-through, regardless of probable differences in taste, I can always relate to your intention. Eventually, I can learn the most on un-common ground. Obviously the first step in EQ-ing was already mastered: drummer's playing suits the intended genre.

[@Mickey_McD]

At San Francisco City College the instructor there didn't let us boost anything -- it was only cutting allowed. So, it was boost, sweep, and cut with the parametric EQ, and cutting with the low and high pass filters. This was an intro course, of course, and really didn't cover much about mixing, just basic tracking.

[@radioglyserin]

Great video, as always! For years I found recording the drums the most daunting undertaking in my home studio. It felt like such a complicated subject that I was sure I was never going to wrap my head around it. I almost wanted to avoid the whole thing. But slowly but surely things started to improve. The two biggest factors I found that got the snowball rolling, was getting to grips with phase correlation, and getting better at tuning the kit. Both those things were truly eye openers. Suddenly I didn't have to try to frantically "repair" while mixing, resulting in a much more natural, punchy sound. I'm in no way saying I'm an expert at recording the drums now, but things have improved a lot. Now, recording the drums is my favorite thing to do in my studio. Keep up the good work, mr Huart!

[@HJCF0520]

Thank you as always for these videos. I really appreciate how “friendly” you are with the tutorials and it really shows how much you enjoy what you do. Keep up the fantastic work!! Have a wonderful day! :)

[@SaS-Music]

I really appreciate this (and all of the shared knowledge). So much to learn, yet so much room for creativity. Thanks for the files too.

[@derrickbaranowsky5715]

Of all of your videos Warren, this should be a "sticky" at the top of the list! So many non-pros get this wrong, yet there is not much real world, simple demonstration such as what you have done beautifully here. Watching someone demonstrate this concept a few years back was THE biggest boosts to my self taught mixing. One note to those starting on this concept, be mindful of trying to make things sound good soloed individually like you are hearing here... it's more about getting rid of what's not needed or adding what's missing then sounding good individually soloed. I thought the EQed floor tom sounded wrong in this video, but when Warren played it in the full drum mix, it was brilliant! What sounds great soloed isn't always what works best in the mix and vice versa.

[@ejaymo6095]

Can't wait to try these tips, great stuff Warren!

[@benyano1]

Love the basic stuff for we poor chaps and chapesses with only a few mics. This is really helpful to me. Thanks

[@davidjonathan3854]

never hurts to go back to basics.. Thank you Warren.. Cheers!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much David!

[@splashesin8]

Thank you very much Warren! This is fantastic!

[@hodcor]

Thanks so much Warren, I mix live in a church and we just got a new acrylic drum kit. I had to brush up on mixing.

[@chrisibbetson]

I was thinking but what about people with only 1 mic on BD, SD.And then you demoed just using one mic. Great Stuff Warren! I love your back to basics videos. Even for more experienced mixers there's always great tips here. What a great community this is! Many thanks for your hard work!

[@michaelorourke5848]

Love these videos.Thank you Warren!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Michael!!

[@isaaccameron7852]

Thanks Warren! A video on EQing alternate percussion, like shakers, tambs, and African percussion, particularly about leaving room for the vocals in the EQ would be fantastic too !

[@skuthepoo]

I have a simple array of drum mics.... *imagines kick, snare, overhead pair* ...2 x kick drum mics, 2 x snare mics, rack, floor, 2 x overheads, 1 x hats, 16 x room mics, 2 omni anbients in the next room, individual crash, ride and crash ride, a mono behind the drummer low down near the floor, 2 x PZM’s on the wall, etc. 4 channels = simple. Over 6 = complex...

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes, indeed! If you follow the video all the way through you'll see I use 4 mics quite often to show the drum sounds!

[@seanmccarney271]

I always start with the overheads first when mixing. Getting a decent centered full image of that seems helpful for me. Obviously it depends on how the kit was recorded/where the mics were set. But placing the o/h where if you pan them hard l/r, should ideally give you this. Definitely agree with the hi-passing on stuff that doesn’t need the same info as the kick, just ends up eating your headroom as well as taking away focus. Great video as always! Cheers from the woods in Ontario!

[@timbrunt7813]

Just brilliant Warren, thanks so much.

[@donaldryder5534]

Yes! Basic is great, glad to be able to understand it

[@humhead08]

Hey Warren, I do much the same(with the same EQ) but I usually make the LF band a bell setting. Doing that instead of pushing a low shelf against the hi-pass feels a little more intuitive(the freq. setting seems more precise in my mind). Great stuff, none the less. Keep sharing the knowledge!

[@techbit7607]

thank you soo much Warren

[@AG-wg4zi]

It helps a lot thanks!

[@Dan-ho2jw]

I definitely need help with this. Thanks as always, Warren.

[@joshrainbow-IceTenor]

Fantastic video Warren, thank you for your always amazing teachings and free samples --Josh

[@quentinjames981]

Massive value Warren 🙏

[@deanmoore7239]

As always Warren, a great, informative video. Thanks for all the time and energy you put into your uploads. As a newbie to mixing all this info is like gold dust. Been many years on the other side of the glass, and left this side to the experts....lol. Again, thank you.

[@JCDRUM]

Just starting to learn about recording drums, what a fantastic video! Extremely informative, Thank you!

[@ryansullivan7804]

Man....You're really Know. Thanks Warren.

[@andrewbolam4346]

Wow, really helpful, nice to see that you can and should be brave enough to make cuts and boosts so extreme where needed. As ever Warren you open my eyes to what is possible. Great!!

[@Producelikeapro]

You're very welcome Andrew!!

[@WhaleBluePRS]

I use snare top/kick batter/kick front/stereo overheads (5 tracks total) and am really happy with what I'm getting. (Ludwig maple drums/Remo heads and Zildjian A Custom Cymbals). I copy the overhead tracks and edit out everything but the tom fills. Blended with the rest of the original tracks, I find I can really get the toms to cut through and process them however I want without affecting any other instruments. Best part is minimal mics gives me minimal phase issues.

[@gbashari]

Thank you so much!

[@rickyred001]

Just so immediately useful, fantastic. Thanks Warren !

[@Producelikeapro]

You’re very welcome

[@emach07]

I'm a little late to the party but wow!! Invaluable information! And man did I need this. Thanks so much 🤩

[@collideherscope]

Awesome Vid. Thanks again Warren

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@lipstickspeedball]

Fine tuning those ears to get it used to the right mix and keep that as a template for getting your best mix every time. Great Tutorial Warren. Thanks for the Trade Secrets, on how to Fine tune your mix, to get that perfect mix on drums. Dropping it down to the Bare essentials, What you can do if limited with not enough mics or Out of Track Spaces that you can use. Well done.

[@gaborzajzon]

Very nice!!!!

[@DG-sg6rp]

Very Helpful !

[@royglennie]

Always love it when there's free stuff! Ha ha! Very useful video Warren - I particularly liked the tom sound, seems to be tuned very nicely indeed!

[@stevematin6050]

This is really good -- totally saved my kick and toms!

[@theredrooms2079]

one of my favourite vids

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@philiplane3533]

I like Warrens' videos because they act as a good confirmation of my own methods, being generally in line with what I do already. This is really useful when you spend your life working more or less in isolation. I am based in rural Wales and Spain and don't get to meet up with many engineers/producers so I spend most of my time having to work it out for myself and these videos just help me to know that I'm working along the right lines. There are also the occasional extra tips and little tricks to try out that help - Really useful stuff, no ego, no mess just straight forward advice - thank you.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Philip! You Rock my friend!!

[@KoolteethDeBlog]

Thx, great video and help!

[@spitfiremusic3997]

Fantastic! EQ Basics!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!!

[@stevenswan6928]

A great video Warren. This one really made a difference to my mixing practices. Other EQ basics videos would be so helpful on all the other main instruments too, like bass, keys, guitars and vocals. But thanks so much for this one. 👍

[@michaelfrye7792]

And 2 great free plugins by Sonic Anomaly: transpire and Bass Professor Mark ii can help you shape the drums and Bass together after you get them properly eq'd. These are 2 of my favorite plugins, and I often use them on the Drum and Bass busses to either help me get that kick/bass solid punch in a mix or sometimes to add a little more dirt to the Bass. The transient button on Bass Prof gives a nice finger punchy sound on Bass VSTi's also.

[@themike84]

thank you very much

[@josealbertovanegas5072]

Thank you!!!

[@Producelikeapro]

You're very welcome Jose!

[@robertgray2301]

great insight Warren. i have had an issue with harshness on drums but quality of mics is prob also a factor. akg session ones. 1 kick, 1 snare top, OH pair, toms. going through ada8200 into RME digiface input to ableton. stock eq8. thanks for advice given here.

[@plantmuzikinc.8787]

Thank you! The session I currently have in front of me only has one mic on the kick. I duplicated the track, I'm using one to focus on the low end (inserting Bark of the Dog) and the other to focus on the mid/highs using your eq mindset.

[@PaskaBee]

Cheers mate, this definitely helped my recent mix, I got it sounding decent quickly without too much trouble. The problem I'm having with recording and mixing drums is that my drums end up sounding really dark (especially the snare!). Now, I generally like the tones I'm getting, but as soon as I compare my mix to a commercial track, it becomes obvious that my drums are way too muffled. Maybe I'm just shy to boost highs and upper mids? I saw you boosting quite mercilessly in the video, maybe I just have to give it a go and not worry too much.

[@13thJ]

Great video

[@Take-the-Ticket]

Hey Warren thanks for the tracks!

[@Producelikeapro]

You're very welcome my friend!

[@shestudiossheila7423]

This was great! Thank you!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Sheila!

[@twtobin941]

Thanks, Warren, great tips as always. Your process, and especially the sequence you go through (starting with kick, snare, toms, through to HH and OH) are exactly what I do every time with drums. I was interested to see if you would address the "other" technique of using the overheads as the primary picture of the kit, only using close mics as reinforcement as necessary. You essentially began to step into that near the end, but would be interesting to hear your thoughts on 'overhead-dominant' versus 'close-mic dominant' techniques. I've never had a large drum room to record in, so in my well-damped live room I tend to use close-mic strategy (often with a room mic and maybe a 'wurst' mic for character). Might I be correct that the overhead-dominant technique would only work well in a large drum room where you can take advantage of good acoustics to get a good, balanced full kit sound in the overheads?

[@peterbrandt7911]

Basic or not, there's always something I learn or at least remember. Thanks alot!

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Peter Brandt I hear you! I enjoy being reminded of even the simple things!

[@MontyCraig]

Great work Warren!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Monty!!

[@davetbassbos]

Awesome!, I just got a drum vst that has pretty much the same microphone options for the samples, thanks!

[@SouthShine01]

Killer man thanks!!

[@Producelikeapro]

SouthShine01 thanks ever so much my friend!!

[@KienLim]

Great! Helped tremendously!!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Glad it helped!

[@KienLim]

@@Producelikeapro Thanks a lot! :)

[@matthewhonnor]

Couldn’t have uploaded this at a better time. Just about to start mixing drums for my bands single! Cheers dude

[@Producelikeapro]

That's amazing to hear!! So glad to be able to help!

[@matthewhonnor]

Produce Like A Pro your videos have helped a lot. Would love to work with you at some point in the future 🤘🏻

[@ichabodbimble9793]

Cheers Warren, nice work! You make it look too easy.

[@Starcrunch72]

I've been going kick, Beta 52 (just inside), and single overhead, C1000, for years

[@Banditman]

Drums in your clip here remind me of "Hurts So Good", particularly kick and snare. Sounds really good, nice to hear you talking about concepts like this that are super helpful to allow us to understand that sometimes the answer isn't an expensive plug in, but using what you already have in a better way. Thanks!

[@fredfox3851]

@@pare4918 Good one! : )

[@Producelikeapro]

@@pare4918 Haha nicely done! Hahaha

[@Producelikeapro]

@@fredfox3851 Haha indeed!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Brian for your kind words my friend!

[@samchoate1719]

Killer video. So simple and it sounds great. Nuff said!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@MartinLuxen]

Just while I'm mixing drums, this video pops up! This can't be a coincidence! I always wonder... When would you decide to use samples? Is that before mixing or during mixing?

[@ronnieamighetti8499]

Ctrl+shift and you can solo each band (hpf and lpf too) in the stock Avid EQ plugin. A very handy feature. Much better than sweeping with boost or cut applied. My 2 cents. PS: it also works with bandwidth too... PPS: you can do the same "trick" with the TDR Nova eq, a very nice plugin with lotsa features (dynamic eq etc) and its free

[@GuitarFuel]

Awesome !!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@resington]

Amazing!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much my friend! I'm glad to be able to help!!

[@KingGrio]

Funny, I watched this 2 years ago I think. I had no idea what you were doing. Lots of training later, it all makes sense and I'm happy to notice I do the same things as you mostly. In a different order, I Highpass before I bring up any lowend. Also I cheat a bit with transient designers, but that's not eq so it's a bit off topic. Edit: haha uploaded Nov 4 2019 ! I can't have watched this 2 years ago. But I remember videos of you, and I was puzzled. I'm happy now I watch videos of you and you don't speak an alien language anymore.

[@stuartwrigglesworth9339]

Interesting video.

[@victorloya1590]

Great video.Thanks. The drummer is very well balanced, so there is not too much bleed and hits are even troughout the song.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic! Did you get get to download the tracks?

[@victorloya1590]

@@Producelikeapro I' m on it

[@carolinacuero3759]

Warrent from colombia i dont speak english . But i traslated with traduct and are good you tutorials greet congratulations from bogota colombia

[@TheGaryHughes]

hey Warren, I would love to hear how you go about archiving sessions post release as well as keeping backups of projects as I find it can get overwhelming. Also, thanks for your videos!

[@SirEggbertfartalot]

Cheers Warren and team, nice informative video as always, and thanks for the multi-tracks as well, more practice material ;0)

[@stigm1318]

Loved it! Interested in, if you use gating on drums and if you do when and where? Much love! ❤

[@stephenzeagman9985]

Thanks Warren, great video.............unrelated to drums, but just bought a Sansamp DI Bass Driver V2 and wondering if you use one, and if so what setting you prefer

[@theycallmefilip]

That's a really clean kit, after the EQ. I would argue it doesn't even need compression.

[@Producelikeapro]

Great! Thanks ever so much!

[@chrismataran8302]

Thanks Warren! I was mixing drums for the Lewitt mixing contest. EQ basics for drums!! such a good reminder. My go-to-drum EQ tricks? Hmmmm, let me think... Produce Like A Pro!! :-)

[@vaughn7597]

awesome vids

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@WalkerKoldplay]

Awesome video, Warren! I always like a refresher on drum EQ. We drummers can only count to four, after all. (-; Thanks!

[@markdunn8280]

Fantastic vid! Really getting down to the nitty gritty of where to EQ. I’m sure more regular followers than myself will know the answer to this question... I know the vid was specifically about EQ, but noticed you didn’t apply gates. I would normally apply gates to mics that are more easily gated, like the internal bass drum or snare bottom - is this something you’d normally suggest not to do? Thank you so much as always for sharing all that you do. All the best M

[@johnvcougar]

The only thing I'd highlight is the practice of sweeping the eq: I agree with Mike Stavrou who deems that sweeping is confusing to the ears: make sure that you always A/B any eq setting by switching it in/out for the selected frequency, and try to avoid the sweep where possible. You will develop a better feel for the freqs to boost/cut if you avoid sweeping. There is an argument for "sneaking up" to a frequency, but make the movements very small when you're doing that...

[@EricGPLAP]

Bringing it back to the Basics oh yea!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Eric!!

[@drummerjeroensimons]

Great job Warren!!!! As eq is related to tones, I suggest any drummer to do solfeggio, so their tone/pitch is developed, so you can tune your drums (beside the handy tunetools nowadays). Psp Audioware has a handy plugin for use it on not so well tuned drums:PSP hertzrider...;)

[@drummerjeroensimons]

You can also duplicate the overheadstrack and cut the toms out with nice fade in fade outs...Or in another phase of your mixingprocess: add samples than on those tomtracks and even tune them to the original...:)

[@odin21415]

Hello Warren, thanks for this great video.Very well described. But do you remember what other microfons were used? Thanks.