QUESTION:...Bringing Drums To Front In Mix

Does anybody know how I can bring my drums to the front of my mix? It seems that everytime I make a beat and start doing some mixing I end up with things sounding a bit more balanced/blended together than actually having a clear seperation between the Drums and my sample.

Any help would be much appreciated....

try some parallel compression, will fatten your drums and make them hit harder. maybe some reverb on the snare to make it stand out more in the mix.

of course also the eq is a very good friend of yours, use it. roll out all the frequencies on the arrangement that you won´t need, for instance low kut a piano sound, cut the high frequencies on bass sounds and so on

I think there is a bit of comparing of home grown stuff with professional studio stuff.
And to get that drum separation is real easy if you got some side-chaining going on, which is hard to do if you haven't got the facilities.

Look into side chain compression & ducking.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep11/a ... 0911-4.htm

If you got a compressor and a mixing desk then you can scoop out holes in the mix for kicks & snares to drop in to. Then it all sounds spot on. Mind you this technique has got a bad rep because of it being done excessively in dance music. But when done subtley you don't even realise its being done, the drums just seem to work.

mix your drums first

learn bout ur " Key Frequencies ".... very important in mixing.......
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn ... isplay.htm
this is ur Key...... Sisssssssssy !!!

turn the drums up, lower the sound of the other tracks, lol

Move the other tracks back! Apply a mild highpass shelving filter to bright tragks to dull them slightly, and try adding a bit more reverb to them to push them back. And/or do the opposite on the drums, have them brighter and drier than the rest. Subtle changes go a long way. And turn the tracks down a bit as mentioned

forknspoon wrote:mix your drums first

+1

And cut all unwanted frequencies, from all instruments.

Don't use EQ to boost, use it to cut.

Don't complete a mix in one session, give your ears a break!

stereo imager, eq, and compression is a great place to start

percussion ( like shakers, tambs, hand drums, etc.) i usually have some reverb and have them panned one way or the other, with something like slight ping pong delay to really expand the stereo vibe.

hats and cymbals are panned as well, but usually keep kicks, snares and bass dead center and in mono. the kicks and bass RARELY have any reverb on them.

cut unwanted frequencies with EQ and maybe use slight compression with the main drums that you're trying to bring forward. might try some sort of ducking effect with your drums, sidechain them to the bass or some other element within your track, to have them really stand out when they hit.