Any good EQ settings for drums anyone wants to share?

[evengangstersreadtapeop]

Saying it is asinine is kind of like say suck my dick.
Oh yeah, suck my dick

I think it was quite eloquent. My first thought when I read the thread was "what, really? this can't be a serious thread." How are people ever going to know how bright/brittle/dull/muddy/harsh/warm/etc your room/drums/mic/preamp/converter/etc chain is? Boost some at 8415khz man, that's the magic drum frequency!

[firesine]

How are people ever going to know how bright/brittle/dull/muddy/harsh/warm/etc your room/drums/mic/preamp/converter/etc chain is? Boost some at 8415khz man, that's the magic drum frequency!

I have go to eq settings for drums and they usually work for me. I usually tweak them a bit but they are a good starting place. Some things just seem to work...

[MoreSpaceEcho]

be careful cutting low mids outta your drums. it's initially seductive, and lots of times you DO need to cut something there, but do it in context and really listen to what's happening, because in the quest for clarity you can end up with some fake-ass, thin sounding drums.

[losthighway]

Also, while Sm57 and an Audix can get a lot of drum recordings done, it might not always be the best choice, depending on what you want. A lot of times after one session where I look at drum eqing as a puzzle wrapped in a puzzle with a chessboard on top, I get the right set, with the right drummer, and the right mics and I think "who needs eq?".

That Audix is going to put your bass drum in a very particular part of the mix, and its curve is so steep it would take some extreme eqing to get it flat. Use the tool for what it does.

The eq setting you put up, was really extreme. It was also similar to the Audix mic's frequency response. So you took really exaggerated lows and highs, with super cut mids, and then eqed them further enhancing lows and highs, further cutting mids.

Mids are not your enemy. There are times where a certain middle frequency is over present and cutting it clears up the mix, but usually most of the weight of most instruments is found between 200hz and 1k.

What records do you listen to where you say, "Shit yeah that's some drums sounds." Because if it's Quicksand, or Slayer, or Mastadon you have a good start, mic and eq-wise. If it's Bob Dylan, John Coltrane, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zepplin, Al Green, Echo and the Bunnymen..... (keep naming records that don't sound like ultra modern heavy-rock production) you might need some new tools and some new approaches.

[firesine]

Mids are not your enemy. There are times where a certain middle frequency is over present and cutting it clears up the mix, but usually most of the weight of most instruments is found between 200hz and 1k.

True.

However, I'm not talking about shelving below 1k. Narrow cuts within this range can clean up your drums without them losing power or sounding fake.
A lot of this may be lazy (or rushed) mic technique or room resonance problems, but I always find taking some boom out of my kick and toms necessary to achieve the sound I am after, which I would not consider ultra or heavy but definitely a modern drum sound.

[rwc]

Saying it is asinine is kind of like say suck my dick.
Oh yeah, suck my dick

No, it isn't at all. I gave you a laundry list of reasons of why any advice would be spurious. If you are looking for meaningless presets, knock yourself out- but don't be surprised when one man's recipe for awesome makes your drums sound like ass.

If you want advice that is at least based in reality, you could put up samples of your drums and have them critiqued.

I agrree with this.

The only thing that can be discussed is philosophy because it's never the same twice, even with the same people and instruments.

have you tried a room mic? how can you start a thread like this and not even give points about your setup?

A room mic about 2 and a half feet off the floor, like an AT4050 in omni in front of the drums, really brings the drums together for me.

also a mic under the snare pointed at the kick pedal does wonders as well. 4050 in this case, too. people used to ask why I put the most expensive mic I had in the stupidest position, but when I bring up the fader on some rock music it really gets the "PGGGGGH TSSSSSST" snap I'm looking for.

[dynomike]

EQ and compression won't make up for poor tracking. If you're recording the drums yourself, you have lots of options for improving the sound before you go reaching for plugin presets.

tips for good definition and crackin snares, that have nothing to do with EQ:

1. maple drums with sharp bearing edges
2. new-ish heads
3. tighter bottom head than you'd expect, and good tuning overall
4. good sound in the overheads. don't filter the fuck out of the overheads.
5. room mics can add a lot of natural high end
6. wood floor, soft ceiling
7. take the pillow out of the kick, if its in there
8. good drummer
9. fast mics and preamps (earthworks, api, etc)
10. condensers inside the kick (sm91, beta 91)

i'm not really sure why i'm helping since you just want us all to suck your dick, but what can i say... i'm a helpful guy

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i disagree with #7, and would move #8 to #1, but otherwise yes, spot on.

[firesine]

I found this post over at Gearslutz interesting.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-prod ... ets-5.html

Scroll down to look at the presets.

[chris harris]

it's hard to respond to these kinds of posts without soundng like an ass. But, fuck CLA. Peddling eq "presets" to fucking hacks who don't want to bother learning what frequencies SOUND like, is pretty low if you ask me. He's selling a bullshit dream based on his name. Way tacky.

If your mixes don't sound good, it's probably not because you're not doing enough processing. It's probably because you're not doing enough listening.

And, am I crazy? Or, have we recently had a rash of people around here giving advice as if they know what they're talking about, when it's clear that they don't. Giving bad advice won't win you any respect around here. If you're using eq presets, you should probably be doing more reading and asking than responding.

I don't like being a jerk. But I also don't like seeing people confused by bad advice from people who have no business giving it.

[chris harris]

Eq is a dead simple concept. The hardest part is putting in the time necessary to be able to really HEAR what's happening. If you don't even want to do that, you should really reconsider doing this. There aren't any shortcuts to listening.

[firesine]

I don't see a problem with passing along advice from my experience, whether it be "right" or "wrong." As stated earlier it is hard to give answers to this type of question, all he can really to is try things until he finds what he needs, but why not give him some stuff to try if he is stuck. It might be a good place to start or it might turn out like total shit, but thats up to him to figure out and either way you end up learning something.

And I don't see anything wrong with checking out what CLA is doing, especially if you like his sound. Sure he might be a douche for trying to sell this stuff, but I'm not buying it so I couldn't care less.

[rwc]

I like to use the CLA presets as a wildcard. sometimes I put it on and think, "wtf, I would have never thought of that." same with the izotope ozone plugin, which has tons of presets.

For me it's a way of gaining perspective. Some painters adjust a painting, then walk away. then add something, then look at it with their head sideways. then take a walk and look at the painting, change something, fuck their significant other, look at the painting, change something, get high, look at the painting, change something. it's for perspective.

sometimes it's cool but most of the time it's downright disgusting. but I like having wildcards for those times where I'm at ends wit thinking of what I want to come out of the speakers. Even if what comes out of the speakers is terrible after scrolling through the presets, it's a way for me to get ideas for what I want to make things sound like. when I'm overflowing with ideas of what to do in a mix that's a good thing for me.

the weird thing about this thread is the lack of context. How I EQ drums, if I do, depends on the drums presented. Even then, how I EQ the drums will change drastically depending on what else is around the drums.

Not having any drums at all makes it impossible to EQ them. That is like asking if the painting needs more red without seeing a painting.

[firesine]

I was thinking it needs more blue...

[wedge]

asinine

spurious.

great words!