This FREE Drum MIXING TECHNIQUE is just AMAZING

#mixingtips #homerecording #mixdownonline
Mixing live drums is always fun, but can be challenging. Bleed is often a big problem. Getting stuck with a bunch of kick, cymbals and hi-hats bleeding on a Snare recording is not uncommon.
Using a Gate to control the bleed is often a good solution, but sometimes, even a Gate will not do a great job and will be hard to work with.
Here's an amazing Drum Mixing Trick that I started to use not too long ago. It is now my "Go to" technique when it comes to remove bleed out of a snare, kick, tom or floor tom. This technique comes from Manny Nieto, a well-known L.A. producer, engineer, and mixer but I learned this one from Warren Huart • Is this the Best Free ...
The good news about this trick is that you only need a Compressor and the one that comes with any DAW with will just fine. In this video I will explain and demonstrate this cool mixing trick and even show you something extra you can do to bring this technique to the next level.
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[@Producelikeapro]

Wow! Thanks Chris!! This is a wonderful video!! I appreciate the shout out my friend!!

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks Warren and thanks for sharing this amazing trick to begin with, You Rock! :-)

[@creativedwill]

You are by far my Favorite KZbinr!!!! Your videos are so good! Keep up the great work!!!

[@DennisWardsTrakShak]

If you just pull down the fader of the compressed track it will change the amount of cancellation giving you a bit of track bleed. I never gate the snare more than 15db because I often like a bit of the interaction. But you might want to try just copying your snare track and letting it side-chain trigger the gate on your main snare track. You could use negative delay to make sure it opens a millisecond or two before the initial hit and even better you can then remove parts of the track to eliminate opening the gate in places you don’t want it to. Equally, you can edit the track triggering the side chain into clips and turn up the level of the clips to influence the threshold of the gate.

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks for sharing Dennis!

[@BukanIbuMu]

Thank you for making this tutorial free

[@mixdownonline]

You're very welcome!

[@abeubrotherhz]

Very good trick but sadly i can't find the polarity button, using 10pro

[@johnpatitucci7919]

You just changed my world... Unlike my previous engineer that chopped up the tracks and butchered the natural sound of the drums.

[@mixdownonline]

Happy to help!

[@ninergoldrush2680]

awesome video !!New subscriber here newbiee at protools going on my 5th month. Is there a way that we could get this signal maybe record it into another track kinf of like a commit of sort? Would i have to send the signal of both channel and record it maybe ?

[@plubioaguilar]

Hi intrested in mixing an album with you guys. Can you send me info please

[@66fitton]

This is way outside the box thinking!! Just amazing!! Thanks for making this video. I love that you focus on Cubase and free plugins. Most of the tips you pass on can be tried right away!! Your channel is by far the most useful one out there. You don't waste a bunch of time doing gear shootouts, or talking best preamps or mics. It's all about technique, work flow and efficiency in cubase. This technique was really crazy to see!!! Thanks yet again Chris!!!

[@TheGarageRecordingSC]

Awesome trick, very natural sounding and super easy. I imagine once you get the sound you want you could always commit to one track and deactivate the originals, to save on computer processing power.

[@mixdownonline]

Absolutely, but the stock DAW compressor is not CPU heavy

[@surgerywithoutknives2353]

Excellent ... saw Warren doing it and the fact that you are doing it on to cubase with stock plug ins and adding the eq stuff is fantastic !

[@mixdownonline]

Cool, thanks!

[@M1k3_ABGT]

thats a Manny trick. gotta give credit where its due.

[@walterwa256]

I am watching this for the second time

[@J-DUB-F1]

I saw Warren's use of this trick.....thanks for the refresh. I want to try it on kick

[@johnmurphy5739]

Always great to see new tips on this issue... im always trying multiband gates and stuff like debleeder... especially for metal or styles with open, sloshy hi hats its a tricky one to solve, must try this!

[@canberkcebecioglu]

How can ı this tecnique on Logix ?

[@homerecordingstudio9844]

I really appreciate. Thanks in Advance for this This Trick, the Mixing Snare is my enemy, So now it's Become my Friend.

[@Robinmusic205]

Sir can you mix my track ??

[@dmgl]

this technic is amazing and powerful tool, mix is very clean. thank you for share!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad you like it!

[@seankelly6139]

do you have any videos on doing this with a vst with cubase. I record vdrums thru addictive drums 2 and i need change it from midi notes to audio for all the tracks then somehow put all 4 toms in one track. or is that was group does? thanks for any answers

[@mixdownonline]

Maybe this video will help kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWmop6KwgMt5nMk

[@DaveDickens]

Great technique guys! And a cool addition Chris. Thank you. Cheers Dave

[@michieladriaansens5977]

Great video!

[@Al69BfR]

Can I also use this technique as a Deesser with an EQ on the reverse phased channel which pushes the S and Sh frequencies with a high q-factor? Or do an external sidechain on the compressor via another duplicated channel where I can use the EQ to accentuate the S and even the pop frequencies?

[@triple_x_r_tard]

ye

[@mixdownonline]

Never tried it this way, worth a try. For De-essing, a good de-esser and also a Dynamic EQ is gonna work well

[@Satnamtaro]

Amazing!! This tip is golden. I just got recorded drums files for my next project, so I'm definitely giving this a try!

[@danielmarceau6745]

Incredible

[@marstudios7879]

Hi Chris, you just use this technique on live acoustic drums recordings because when I use Groove Agent or another Vst plug-in drums I don’t hear the bleed from other parts of the drums. Is that make sense? You know what mean? Any advice?

[@thesoundresidence]

Use with care when having a drum recording with ghost notes as an important part of the performance

[@mixdownonline]

for sure

[@Emiziki]

This is so dope. Ama try it out today on the mix I am working on. Thanks Chris

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome

[@pangenium]

priceless!

[@guitrldy]

Nice! Can this technique be use for removing noise from a vocal track? (I have USB data noise issue I'm currently frustrated with) Thanks!

[@paullennox2404]

Great tip! When EQ'ing and processing the snare further, you would then do that on the 'SN Gated' group to retain phase cancellation etc?

[@lalchhandama7039]

What kind of drums you used? that snare sound is fat and nice i ever know..

[@mixdownonline]

The snare is a blend of one snare out of the DEAD SNARE Sample pack on Splice and THAT SOUND 80's Drum Pack on Splice as well. The That Sound Sample libraries are awesome btw.

[@enricmarshal]

amazing! thanks Chris

[@mixdownonline]

My pleasure!

[@cfpradiocreationsfredetpie8120]

What ???? Wonderful trick. And very useful for other tasks. Thank you so much. Other videos are great too, high end stuff on this channel. It can be general stuff but also very detailed stuff. Very well balanced informations here. Thank you again Chris 👍

[@CinerioMix]

This is awesome...thanks alot

[@mixdownonline]

Of course!

[@mullewap6670]

Can i do it with basedrum and hihat, crash to?

[@mixdownonline]

That could work on a Kick, try it and check if you like it!

[@loubennett9849]

Thanks for the lesson Chris. Can you use this technique on any tracks with bleed?

[@theogaletka9145]

Isn’t this the same as using a gate ?

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, but I get better and smoother results with this than a Gate which I'm usually not a big fan of.

[@triaHmar]

Helo from india...ive been using Cubase since 2008 yet still learn new thing from this channel....thank you so much...

[@mixdownonline]

Welcome!

[@fildrums2836]

Merci! Cette technique va m'aider bcp pour mixer mon drum pour mes drums covers

[@nicok5630]

So useful

[@mixdownonline]

Glad to hear that!

[@bronson1392]

These drums are live. Maybe change your title. Alot of people are using Vst’s, just saying, big difference. Thumbs up 👍

[@mixdownonline]

No need to change the title, a lot of drum mix technique will work on live drums, but the VST drums users can still benefit of learning these techniques.

[@Eurodrummer666]

This is goldmine knowledge.

[@unbreakablehobby3]

Awesome!!!! Game changer💯

[@whytewavestudios3039]

Does your SN gated group track get routed to your DRUM MIX BUS? if so does this mean you dont use your snare group track with the blue colour?

[@mixdownonline]

My SN Gated group in this case becomes my main SN channel, so I route this one in my Snare Group Buss.

[@southsidesoderlund]

You are truly an amazing asset in the blurred KZbinWorld...And a hard working man! Thank you for your contribution! Micke.

[@mixdownonline]

I appreciate that! Than k you!

[@jacqueskorb879]

Thank you!

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@666cordyceps666]

can I remove the snare and tom bleed from OH with this technique? The other way around that is! Awesome videos Chris! Keep up!

[@PerimeterAudioStudios]

I would use other techniques for that, like a really fast compressor and using the original snare (or a keyspike) as the sidechain key input. Maybe even do it with a multiband compressor or dynamic eq to just do a really fast ducking of specific frequencies using the snare as input.

[@zeppo20]

Really amazing.

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks!

[@TheouTRace]

Powerful and simple.

[@hanappe75]

I know this technique but you added some cool points at it enhancing the result. Thx!!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@gospelmuvgospelmuv]

Great technique! Thanks Chris for sharing.

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks for watching!

[@Ryan-wy6qk]

Awesome technique! Thanks for posting. What hi-hats were used in this session? 😍

[@mixdownonline]

Don't know which model, but it's a blend of acoustic HH and some looped hh added in the chorus , I didn't record this song, only mixed it.

[@ivanchimoy7309]

I just have used it in my last mix (kick and snare), in combination with a gate ('cause I had so much bleed). Great great tip Chris! Thanks a lot! :D

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it helped!

[@RudalPL]

I watched the Warren's video back when he's done it, good stuff. One thing though... Did you try this trick with toms?

[@PerimeterAudioStudios]

It is the same, so yes, it also works with toms. And if you use a compessor with an internal sidechain filter, you can target the tom fundamental to get it to trigger more accurate.

[@mixdownonline]

That's a great idea!

[@lalchhandama7039]

how did you do to mic up? have you direct mic input to your interface? Or rout to your outboard compressor and preamp?

[@mixdownonline]

It depends, sometimes I go straight into my interface (AXR4) and most of the time I use my Preamps and console's preamps that are connected to my interface and my other converter that is also connect into my interface via ADAT

[@Drummeritemm]

gokil.. kepikiran juga ya cara nya begitu.. keren om !!

[@orochimaru623]

Wah ada orang indo juga hahaha

[@kennethbiondikharsyntiew4329]

Man!!! This just saved my life as I’m working with church online and tracking my drums with just two mics from home. I could separate a snare from the over head for better mix. You are awesome.

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@mathiasg3335]

That's genius

[@comrestudios6040]

absolutely cool idea!, Never ever thought about it!

[@mixdownonline]

It's a cool one for sure!

[@sammychalabi2724]

Love you Chris ❤

[@mannysmiclocker]

BADASS!

[@Dubravko_Sabolic]

It is really great. I'll try to use it for another purpose. Sometimes I want to get rid of the room reverb from, say, vocal tracks recorded in an acoustically non-treated room. It could probably be used as a more gentle gate for almost anything. Thanks!

[@mixdownonline]

For sure!

[@sameerkulkarni1574]

Amazing trick !! but the source recording should have no phase conflict !!

[@mixdownonline]

Yes, a drum mix with no phasing issues like in this video. Important to note that a source recording will not have phasing issues by itself but it might in relation to other tracks recorded at the same time :-)

[@sameerkulkarni1574]

@@mixdownonline Totally agreed :)

[@joek2904]

Cool stuff

[@ndtaylor40]

Amazing. Thanks for sharing!

[@mixdownonline]

Hi Noah, glad you enjoyed it!

[@orochimaru623]

This reminds me of Wilkinson Debleeder

[@siriusfun]

Great plug in!

[@lalchhandama7039]

I love the techniq you use... so useful to me..

[@mixdownonline]

Glad it was helpful!

[@korkenknopfus]

That is a good idea. As I was watching the video I was wondering following: one could send the first two tracks to a bus X with this “still not perfect but without bleed” snare, and then use this signal to open a gate (with side chain) in a second copy of the original track, to get only the snares of it. Bus X must not generate sound, only triggering signal. And, as the triggering signal maybe won’t start at the exact time as needed (as it comes from a compression processing), the signal could be moved to the left a little. Then the gate gets a long release. So I get (if this works) unprocessed only the snares of the original track. I have no idea if this was understood 😹

[@mixdownonline]

Lol, I think I lost you here...Lol!

[@korkenknopfus]

@@mixdownonline Oh, I knew it! In very few words: the idea was to use the signal as a trigger signal, to clean up a new version of the original track using a gate with side chain. That is because I think (maybe wrongly) that the using of compressor in the inverted signal doesn't eliminate 100% the snare in that channel and the resulting signal is not perfect yet.

[@_musicmagnate]

NOW!!! That is GOLD!!! Thank you!!!!

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@RRStudioVelsao]

Awesome technique Cris!!!!!

[@mixdownonline]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@DrGray_Drummer]

I'm brand new to DAW, and I'm looking for my own snare's sound. I'm not a fan of compressed drums. There's no resonance, nor does it end up sounding like my snare. Wouldn't micing the kit optimally be best?

[@mixdownonline]

That depends on the music genre you're producing. Jazz will not require compression to get a good vibe, but pop/rock will. A good mic technique/placement is a priority to get a good drum sound, but even more important is the drummer itself. You might need less compression on a Rock song if the drummer is super consistent with his dynamics. Compression is a big topic that is hard to manage for a lot of people.You can kill a snare sound will compression but you can also add life and bring out sustain. It depends how you work the compressor. I'm a big fan of parallel compression, where you always keep a dry signal of the snare and blend it with the compressed signal. Best of both worlds :-)

[@DrGray_Drummer]

@@mixdownonline I hear where you're coming from, but when ya look at some of the greats from the 70's, ya had Purdie, and Parcarro sounding great for the top artists, and Rock, ya had Bonham recording with 4 mics, and besides a couple tunes with some flange, or delay, I didn't hear much, if any compensation until the 80's. In today's pop/rock, drums don't have a personality, but when I listen to the cats from the 70's, I could tell ya who it was, gear etc... I just don't hear that these days. I'm not THAT old, but love my music!

[@mixdownonline]

Every decades has it's sound :-)

[@mikaelzakrisson5514]

Hi Chris! I have Cubase 10.5. This does not work the same way for me unless I also put a Cubase stock compressor on the first track (the one I duplicate from). With Ratio 8, Threshold 0 and Make Up OFF I still get a small bleed when listening to both tracks (with polarity switched on the duplicated track). As soon as I also put a stock compressor on the first track (with the same settings) it behaves as you show in the video (dead quiet). Any idea as to why this is? In the video it seems you only have a compressor on the duplicated track. Thanks for great videos, I learn a lot!

[@mixdownonline]

Your problem is that your Threshold is at 0. It doesn't matter if you put the Compressor on the first track or the duplicated track. Just put it on ONE track ONLY, not both. Then, adjust the Threshold like I did in the video to control the bleed. Hope that helps!

[@mikaelzakrisson5514]

@@mixdownonline Aahh... I get it, It's not supposed to cancel out at 0 Threshold! Thanks for the answer and again, thank you for great videos! 😊

[@xxrobkor]

I have the same problem. Inverting the phase on the 2nd track I get pure silence, but as soon as I turn on the compressor (trsh still at 0) I hear a strange, slightly out of phase signal. Isn't the (gated) signal supposed to appear once I lower the trsh? But I immediately hear a out of phade signal even if I bypass the comp. Only if I completely remove it the silence reappears.

[@xxrobkor]

... And it seems that any plugin which is bypassed(!) stops the cancelation. Perhaps the plugin introduces a delay time and cancelation is impossible? Any solutions?

[@troutstudio]

Hey Chris great video thanks. What interface are you using to record your drums? I am looking for a new one and having a hard time. I need good pres, 12 XLR and great monitoring! That’s an episode or two right there? Monitor mix so important for good takes. Cheers.

[@mixdownonline]

I work with the AXR4 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6Kmk4KAhq6Zisk When I record drums, I use the preamps from my TAC Console, I have access to 16 of them.

[@mixdownonline]

What's your budget?

[@troutstudio]

@@mixdownonline Obviously not enough! I have been using a Presonus RM16 for years, because I had limited budget. Turned out to be great for tracking because it has EQ, comp, gate, limiter on every channel; same on the Auxes; plus EQ on the master. Sent off songs for mixing and everyone liked the drum sound. But the firewire has begun to fade. Presonus gave me a Studio 192, so I bought a DP88 to go with it. Turns out, the old pres in the RM16 sound better for drums! Much more bottom end; more glue. And the monitoring much better too. So I'm recording vocals on the 192; swapping back to the RM16 for drums. I need to do something so I'm looking at the RME 802. Problem is - 4 XLR and 8 TRS - like your interface. But I don't have a console. Why no good quality 16 XLR interfaces? Because #1 drum kit in the world is Roland . . . Love your Cubase videos stay safe.

[@troutstudio]

Thanks Chris. I took a deep breath and purchased the RME 802 and an Octamic II. So German lol - RME described the effects to someone on GS as "mathematical equations" They sound better than than that description (fortunately). Old school DSP - 3 band EQ, compressor (no gate but expander) on every channel plus reverb & delay. Very relieved that the monitoring is fine; and the recorded drums very nice. Quality hardware for sure. Running Cubase control room, no issues. Thanks very much for your interest and everything you do for Cubase users. It's top notch work. PK.

[@ddsrecording]

I like to gate the top using Wilkinson De-Bleeder, but then leave the snare bottom wide open. The rattle it gives and how it picks up a lot of subtleties from the whole kit, makes it a great candidate mic to leave wide open because there is barely any cymbal bleed in it.

[@ddsrecording]

Also another free way to do what you mention near the end with the Multi band, you can just download Nova for free and it has all the same features without having to duplicate the track. Check out the Delta button on that plugin!!! Even more cool uses there. All free.

[@mixdownonline]

Thanks for sharing my friend!

[@ddsrecording]

@@mixdownonline Avec plaisir! Salut de Windsor, Ontario!

[@thesoundresidence]

An ancient trick for de-essing on a console... as I commented on the Warren Huart video ;)

[@dbtube]

WOW Chris, merci pour le truc!!!

[@mixdownonline]

Fait plaisir Denis

[@PerimeterAudioStudios]

For those who own Waves C1 and the (free) studio rack 11, you can do this on any insert spot without the need to duplicate the track. Using a parallel processing chain and setting one chain out of phase and adding the C1. For those interested, I have made a preset for it and it's publicly available. The coolest thing even is with the C1-SC version, you can tune the listen sidechain of the compressor to get even tighter results.

[@PerimeterAudioStudios]

BTW: The first time I saw this trick being used was about three years ago by Beau Burchell : kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIOWnn6OhLecn9k

[@mixdownonline]

I never saw this one... Thanks for sharing...

[@PerimeterAudioStudios]

@@mixdownonline you're welcome. And thank you for another cool video (y)

[@BukanIbuMu]

@@PerimeterAudioStudios Thanks for the studiorack tips. I tried C1 but I get a better result by using RCompressor instead.

[@PerimeterAudioStudios]

@@BukanIbuMu rcomp works well as well. I have a preset of both, I just preferred the C1, it's a little faster.

[@junorodrigues]

Thank's!!!

[@mixdownonline]

You're welcome!

[@HenryMittnacht]

Really awesome!

[@mixdownonline]

Glad you think so!

[@HenryMittnacht]

Chris Selim - Mixdown Online It's the right trick right on time for the song I'm currently mixing! Magic 😀.