Welcome to Sage Audio. Today we’re covering How  to Mix Drums. To get the most from your music,  

watch the entirety of each chapter  for a complete understanding  

of the topic. Also, If you have  a mix that you need mastered,  

send it to us to receive a free mastered  sample of it with the link in the description.

Transient Drum Bus Compression

For this video, these chapters are in  no particular order but can be combined.  

Additionally, we’ll go over some  examples for both rock and hip hop drums.

If I want to simultaneously make  my drums sound cohesive and thick,  

and introduce subtle distortion to my transients,  I can use a bus compressor with quick attack,  

quick release, and a hard knee setting. If  your compressor offers a transient algorithm,  

that’s a good setting to include as well.

Let’s listen to an example, and notice how the  compressor glues the sound, but more importantly,  

makes the transients stick out.

2.  

Analog Drum Bus Sound

To achieve a classic analog sound on  the drums from the previous chapter,  

I’ll use tape emulation on my drum bus and  drive the input while reducing the output.  

This will cause mild harmonic distortion  while introducing soft-knee compression,  

indicative of the saturation  you’d find on classic recordings.

Each tape plugin is a little different  

so experiment until you find one that  works. Let’s listen to it and notice  

how my drums gradually become compressed,  and how harmonics fill out the sound.

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3. Stereo Spread Highs

Although I’ll want my kick and other lows to  mainly be mono, I wouldn’t mind some stereo  

expansion on my high frequencies. I’ll  use a mid-side equalizer, and introduce  

a high-frequency shelf on the side image - then  I’ll amplify it by about 3dB from 5kHz and up.

Let’s take a listen and notice how high-frequency  expansion really opens up the drum track.

4.  

Increasing Kick Sustain with Gentle Saturation

We’ve covered transients in previous chapters,  but if you want to increase kick sustain  

we can introduce saturation to amplify the  quieter parts of the signal. I’ll use a  

multi-band saturator, isolate the lows, and then  increase saturation until I find a good balance.

Let’s listen and notice how the saturation  increases the length of the kick.

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5. Very Subtle Transient Expansion

We’ve covered transients in earlier chapters,  but if you want quick transient expansion,  

simply use a transient expander. I’d  recommend Punctuate by Newfangled Audio,  

with which you can independently  affect 26 bands of transient  

expansion or suppression - I’ll introduce  very subtle settings to my entire track.

Let’s take a listen to a trap beat,  and notice how the transients of all  

instruments in the signal, become more apparent.

6. In Key Kick

Typically when equalizing an organic kick, we’ll  amplify the lows for more of the kick’s thump,  

and the high mids around 3kHz to get  the click of the kick. Let’s do this,  

but keep these boosts in key with the song.

For example, if G is the root note I can boost  49Hz, 98Hz, and 3,160Hz, all of which a G notes.

Let’s listen and notice how the kick becomes  more present, as well as slightly more musical.

7.  

High Hz. Tube Distortion

Tube distortion is a great  way to increase transient  

detail while adding harmonics  that’ll fill out the sound,  

in turn making it present and aggressive. Let’s  use Saturn 2, a frequency-specific saturator  

to introduce tube distortion just to the  high hats and other high frequencies.

Let’s listen and notice how the  high hats become much more apparent.

8.  

Massive 808 with Reverb

If you want a massive 808, use very subtle  reverb on the lowest frequencies to create a  

really impressive sound. I’ll use a reverb time of  under one second, isolate the reverb to my lows,  

make the reverb more centered,  and use under 5% of the effect.

Let’s take a listen and notice how this small  amount of reverb makes a huge impact on the 808.

9.  

High Hz. Reverb for High Hats

Similar to our last chapter, we can use reverb  just on the highs for an airy sound - I’ll use  

the same reverb as before, but now isolate the  reverb to my highest frequencies. Additionally,  

I’ll increase the reverb length to 5 seconds,  and increase the brightness, and stereo width.

Again, I’ll use less than 5%. Let’s  listen and notice how this effect  

has a unique quality and drastically  increases the airiness of the high hats.

10.  

Quick Lofi Drums

In the other chapters, we were trying to make our  drums sound better, but sometimes a lofi sound  

can really compliment a mix. To accomplish  this, let’s use an EQ to isolate the drums  

to just the mids, then add broken analog  component emulation and saturate the drums.

Let’s listen and notice how this could be used for  a creative effect or when producing lo-fi music.

If you have a mix that you need mastered, send  it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it  

with the link in the description.  Thank you so much for watching.