Can't find any decent tutorials on eqing drums in ezdrummer.
Anyone know any good video tutorials, preferably on Eqing ezdrummer 2? I checked YT, and there are many videos showcasing ezdrummer, but not eqing/compressing the drums in the program.
I set up EZD so the individual pieces are routed to their own tracks - that way you can add EQ comp etc to those that require. For the snare, I first use EZD's mixer to balance between the 'body' of snare top and the 'crack' of snare bottom - I can generally get a good sound that way without having to add an EQ. Similarly, cymbals and hats can be tweaked with the overheads fader as well.
I've searched on this topic also. The best advice that I've come across is to treat the kit as you would a normal one. Using the 'original mix' I think.
That said I wonder do they need much treatment at all? The samples are so pristinely recorded, and evenly played back, that perhaps they don't need much?
Interested myself to hear how other people approach EZ Drummer in a mix.
If you mean mixing the drums entirely within EZDrummer... you can't - that's what they make Superior Drummer for.
Anyway, I personally find that the best way to go is the Original Mix preset, since it removes some of the processing and effects you get on the other presets, and then sending everything out to individual tracks.
If you mean mixing the drums entirely within EZDrummer... you can't - that's what they make Superior Drummer for.
Anyway, I personally find that the best way to go is the Original Mix preset, since it removes some of the processing and effects you get on the other presets, and then sending everything out to individual tracks.
What I mean is making each drum/cymbal POP and be louder and more dynamic.
What I mean is making each drum/cymbal POP and be louder and more dynamic.
thats a bit vague.. but in any event, the only way you can have full control of the mix is to rout EZD2 with its outputs on seperate tracks.. basically you click "yes" when you insert<virtual instrument in reaper
Then in the EZD2 mixer, you can select what output each piece outputs to.
then you can mix/route add fx etc to your hearts content in Reaper. Mixing drums is a challenge.. the closest thing to an easy button is using EZdrummer2 and fining a preset you like. Each preset gives you a couple adjustable fx in the mixer.. they are all you get in EZD.
You should be able to get some decent sounds going. EZD does sound really good.
Getting "pop" and louder.. etc.. I don't know what you mean really by that. Louder, you can just turn it up, and pop.. maybe parrallel compression maybe equing.. Id just be guessing unless you had a mix or something we could reference.
You said you were watching that youtube series on metal production I sent ya. That goes pretty far into putting a metal drum mix together. He does it in superior drummer, but the concepts are the same everywhere.
I will say this though.. when you do get the drums routed the way you want.. and the tracks organised, named, foldered just how you like it etc.
Save them as a track template!
especially when you start getting sounds you really like. Not every drum mix will sound the same in every song, so you might end up with a few track templates but you will save loads of time.
I will say this though.. when you do get the drums routed the way you want.. and the tracks organised, named, foldered just how you like it etc.
Save them as a track template!
especially when you start getting sounds you really like. Not every drum mix will sound the same in every song, so you might end up with a few track templates but you will save loads of time.
Quiet, attached is link to a sample clip. Double tracked distortion, bass (From my new bass guitar!), and drums. A bit of work went into this. The mixing needs some tweaking though. I think the electric guitars don't stand out quite enough.
Two really obvious things to me in that mix - turn the bass, maybe 6-10db, and turn the guitars up at least 3db, just to get a better balance between drums, guitar, and bass.
Other than that... hard to say. I think you probably just need to spend some time reading articles and watching YouTube tutorials on mixing drums. EZD is no different from real drums, for the most part.
Have you tried the presets for the EZD2 Modern kit? The metal one is surprisingly good. Also, do you have any of the expansion kits?
Two really obvious things to me in that mix - turn the bass, maybe 6-10db, and turn the guitars up at least 3db, just to get a better balance between drums, guitar, and bass.
Other than that... hard to say. I think you probably just need to spend some time reading articles and watching YouTube tutorials on mixing drums. EZD is no different from real drums, for the most part.
Have you tried the presets for the EZD2 Modern kit? The metal one is surprisingly good. Also, do you have any of the expansion kits?
Thanks for your input!
Turn the bass up to 6 to 10 or down to 6/10?
I haven't played around with the modern kit too much. I do have drumkit from hell, which I use more often.
Btw, after I posted this clip, which sounded great on my studio monitors and Ipod, I burned it to CD and played it in my car. Sounded abysmal. Like it was a completely different recording.
I haven't played around with the modern kit too much. I do have drumkit from hell, which I use more often.
Btw, after I posted this clip, which sounded great on my studio monitors and Ipod, I burned it to CD and played it in my car. Sounded abysmal. Like it was a completely different recording.
Thats how the car test goes.. Ive been there. Compare to commercial tracks and youu have an idea where you are off.
What I mean is making each drum/cymbal POP and be louder and more dynamic.
I use BFD3, so this may only be partially applicable. As advised earlier, it is useful to route all the drums pieces & overheads to their own tracks in Reaper, then mix it as you would a real kit. Basics would be high pass EQ on cymbals, maybe EQ to reduce ring & ping on toms, or boxiness on snare. I tend not to use compression in the corrective way, like you would to correct uneven hits with some real drummers, as you can fix this by adjusting MIDI velocity instead. So I tend to use compression as an effect only. There are plenty of tutorials available on this.
A great learning thing for me was to recreate one of the BFD3 presets from the raw drum sounds after routing all the tracks to Reaper. BFD3 presets contain an already mixed kit with compression, EQ, and many other FX, so it can be quite a task, but I got very close, even though I couldn't match the BFD3 FX exactly.
This way you can learn from the masters - pick a mixed drum sound you like, and try to recreate it.
In this instance they got the drums to POP using a transient shaper, and I was able to do the same with the one included in Reaper, JS: LOSER/transhape . In a nutshell, it allows you to emphasise (or reduce) the attack of a sound in a way the compression cannot.
As hard as this may sound, you just need to start trusting and using your own ears for something like this.
What do you think we did before this crutch called 'video tutorials' was available? We used our brains and our ears.
Besides, what they say sounds good to them may not to you ... and vice versa.
There's enough tutorials out there that musicians and recordists can now spend (waste) their entire lives watching them. How much of a 10 or 20-minute vid are you really gonna remember anyway?
The setup is pretty simple. Insert virtual instrument on new track. Click yes to multichannel routing. In the ezdrummer mixer you choose the outputs.
The template has that already done with a kit that has no fx in ezdrummer.
OK, I'll give it a shot when I reinstall EZD on the new box. I know this shouldn't be a big deal, but it turned into a mess when I asked about this a few years back and I got a template for EZD that was so full of some guy's other stuff that it pretty thoroughly trashed my Reaper install. Then, there were the usual vigorous arguments among the regulars about the RIGHT way to do it, y'know? I just blew the whole thing off figuring I'd try again when things cooled down.
Thanks!
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I got the snare sounding ok, but the kick really loses its umph in the mix. You can't really hear it with the bass and other drums. Doesn't stand out.
Most likely freq clashing between kick and bass guitar. Find the kick "oomph" you want via EQ, boost a little, then cut the same freq on the bass guitar track (or vice versa). If that doesn't help you may want to try ducking using sidechain compression (@ 11:30 in video below)
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OK, I'll give it a shot when I reinstall EZD on the new box. I know this shouldn't be a big deal, but it turned into a mess when I asked about this a few years back and I got a template for EZD that was so full of some guy's other stuff that it pretty thoroughly trashed my Reaper install. Then, there were the usual vigorous arguments among the regulars about the RIGHT way to do it, y'know? I just blew the whole thing off figuring I'd try again when things cooled down.
Thanks!
Just so there are no surprises, here's how it will look when loaded.
What did you people do BEFORE video tutorials? Hey, I'll admit -- i've watched a few. Not lately, but I have, though. Essentially, I don't have a problem with them to a degree, but I've been watching the trends too, and it's got to the point that it seems nobody can even function anymore without watching a bunch of vids first.
Kick is one of the hardest sounds to get right in popular music. The OP would probably learn much more if he went through the tough steps of figuring out how to do it right on his own. Probably remember the hows and whys much better as well.
But, sure, the audio world is all dependent on video tuts now. It's just a crutch.