RAYZOON

ProfRhino wrote:Basic Drumsound Tutorial Pt.2

[b:7d4cd641d2][Preparations][/b:7d4cd641d2]
Please make sure you're familiar with pt.1, we'll need those concepts again as we're going for even more control over individual kit pieces.
Set up a project exactly as described in pt.1, with G1 to G4 and the respective plugins and routing.
One exception though : Don't set up the sends feeding G2 and G3 yet.

[b:7d4cd641d2][Setting up individual outs][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- in the mixer window choose 8 outputs and ambience - "send to last".
-- You might have to reload JS to activate the new output configuration
-- in the center at the top of the kit window you'll see the output routing menu - choose the one at the bottom - 8 outs
-- depending on your host you might have to activate the extra outs, in C4 it's done in the VSTi rack.
-- Voila - if you look in your host's mixer, you should see each "class" of kit pieces (kick, snare, toms, hats, ride, crashes, percussion and ambience) having its own mixer channel, 8 in total.
-- From now on the sky's the limit as far as complexity goes, this is how I personally approach a typical "natural" rock- or pop kit, of course there are several other equally cool approaches.

[b:7d4cd641d2][Routing and getting the basic sound][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- the outs for kick, snare and toms go to G1 "Drums", the others including ambience go to G4 "Drums Complete".
-- next you can set up sends to feed G2 "New York" and G3 "Drum Room", but this time we'll use the sends from the individual channels so we can adjust what kit pieces get a "NY" boost (typically kick, snare, toms) and how much "Room" you'll apply to each channel (snare and toms more, kick and cymbals a bit less)
-- check if everything's going where it's supposed to, turn down the faders of G2 and G3 for now and save.

[b:7d4cd641d2][Getting creative][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- now you can EQ, compress and further treat individual kit pieces without affecting others.
-- next are some tricks and things I tend to listen for personally, ymmv massively.

[b:7d4cd641d2][Kick][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- a bit of compression to make it more "solid", followed by EQ.
-- You'll want to have dry punch relatively low down, however definitely cut the sub-bass below 40 to 80 Hz radically using a HPF (high pass filter) and a spectrum analyzer since your monitors probably can't reproduce those super low frequencies anyway, just like 95% of all other sound systems.
-- A bit of boost in the 2 to 5 kHz range to bring out the "beater kick" or "click" better might be in order
-- Finally we carve a hole in the low mids (200 to 400 Hz) so that the bass (guitar etc) gets some room to breathe
-- Bass and kick have to be approached as a team, two sides of the same coin

[b:7d4cd641d2][Snare][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- arguably the most important kit piece, worth some closer attention
-- again a generous amount of compression, followed by EQ and (optional) a dedicated FX reverb (anything is possible, room, hall, plate, inverse, gated) in the last insert
-- the snare verb should be seen more as an integral part of the sound than as an effect, affecting the frequencies as much or even more than the EQ
-- some folks add subtle distortion, one plug I like for that job is the free RubyTube (http://www.silverspike.com/?Products:RubyTube) - well worth a try !
With more extreme settings it can even replace comp and EQ in some cases - and I'm still talking about a "natural" drum sound, no lo-fi or trash in sight atm.

[b:7d4cd641d2][Toms][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- compression and EQ again
-- you want the toms to be anywhere between clearly audible and thunderous, but rather consistent in volume and "energy" from high to low - clearly a job for compression
-- more often than not I'm using a HPF to reduce some low frequencies and maybe EQ to control the "ringing"
-- a little bit of drum room if desired

[Hats & Cymbals]
-- not much to do here, mostly I just try to get the levels right and maybe apply a bit of HPF if that silvery sizzle is desired
-- drum room optional, not too much in most cases

[b:7d4cd641d2][Ambience][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- anywhere from untreated (swing) to extremely compressed (80s pop, metal)

[b:7d4cd641d2][Filters][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- it pays off big time to have good flexible filters, the best I've heard yet are from UA's Cambridge EQ, but do a search at kvr, there certainly are lots of freeware alternatives
-- You are looking for fixed filters, not the synthesizer type of time variable filter !

[b:7d4cd641d2][Gates][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- often used with live drums, rarely really needed with good samples like JS.
-- can control excessive ringing or sustain, especially for kick and toms, though I tend to use the damping control in the JS2 kit piece editor instead, sounds more natural to me
-- ringing can also be controlled by EQ amazingly well, just like the amount of the "snare wires"
-- the other purpose of gates in drum mixing is to control the bleed in the microphones, won't explain further here since that doesn't apply for JS' cleanly recorded samples

[b:7d4cd641d2][NY compression][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- If you're still not 100% happy with the punch you can dial in some NY compression, remember you can adjust it individually now since you have set up individual sends

[b:7d4cd641d2][Tools][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- it's a wonderful time to do recordings and mixes, there are so many fantastic choices for pro quality FX - maybe we can discuss commercial stuff in dedicated threads
-- some freeware that works fine imho:
Kjaerhus Classic, Voxengo, SlimSlowSlider, DigitalFishPhones, and there are lots more, check @ kvr

[b:7d4cd641d2][Final thoughts][/b:7d4cd641d2]
-- of course this little article can only scratch the surface, and it can only describe my preferred way of working, I'd very much like to hear about your personal methods and tricks !
-- Maybe somebody could write a bit about getting a great jazz sound or how to get cool contemporary non-"natural" drum sounds for example?
-- if it sounds good, it is good
-- please don't think you'll have to do all this to get a decent sound out of JS, for many jobs I'm very happy with the way JS sounds right out of the box and only add a bit of verb and NY as in pt.1
-- the stuff mentioned here is meant for those occasions where you have to get the sound precisely right to fit a certain arrangement, know your options, know your tools !
-- obviously served with generous amounts of YMMV and IMHO !
-- most important, HAVE FUN !

Cheers,
Rhino

ProfRhino wrote: [b:7c21b99640][Sub-Groups][/b:7c21b99640]
We'll be working with stereo out only for now, individual outs will be dealt with later.
First create four subgroups in your host's mixer (I'm using Cubase4, the exact procedure might be slightly different in other hosts).
Route the output of JS2 to the first group called "Drums" (G1).
G1 should be routed to G4, called "Drums Complete".
Route G4 to your stereo out.
The 2nd group G2 is called NY (for New York parallel compression, more later), routed to G4

fulvia wrote:I'm trying out NY compression but I'm not totally happy with my results....

ProfRhino wrote: [b:273d659b95][Sub-Groups][/b:273d659b95]
We'll be working with stereo out only for now, individual outs will be dealt with later.
First create four subgroups in your host's mixer (I'm using Cubase4, the exact procedure might be slightly different in other hosts).
Route the output of JS2 to the first group called "Drums" (G1).
G1 should be routed to G4, called "Drums Complete".
Route G4 to your stereo out.
The 2nd group G2 is called NY (for New York parallel compression, more later), routed to G4

Is it normal when you raise the fader of G2 for there to be,
1. some slight flanging effect (especially noticed in the snare) when the levels are about equal, and
2. when the level of G2 goes higher, an overall reduction in the stereo width?

I'm getting the "punch" for sure, but I don't like these side-effects.
I'm using cubase, and have tried both post and pre-fader settings routed from G1.

Any advice welcome