Dynamic Directions
The timbre and tone of the drum kit were starting to come into focus. But I couldn’t ignore dynamics.
One of the difficult parts of mixing a rock band is getting the dynamic range of the different parts of the band to sit in the mix with each other.
The drum kit is a very dynamic instrument, ranging from soft snare and cymbal rolls all the way up to bombastic cacophony, maybe 40 to 50dB between quiet and loud. But the guitar amps may only range from 25 to 30dB. Bass and keys even less.
Compressors help us match these up, but sometimes at the expense of tone and transient reproduction. It’s very easy to compress every channel and wrestle the drum kit into submission, but the old adage applies: “If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”
I decided to trust the dynamic capabilities of our drummer and use no channel compression. I set up parallel subgroup compression to thicken the drum sounds and raise the RMS level, reducing overall dynamic range but allowing the excitement of uncompressed drum channels to pop in the mix.
This technique improved when I switched to the Earthworks mics. The transient response of the capsule accurately captures the very quickly changing waveform, impossible with the much heavier capsule used in dynamic mics like the Shure SM57.
Impulse Response
These approaches produced the improved drum sound I wanted. The mix became organic and dynamic. When Kris plays softer or louder, his dynamics and tones are accurately reproduced. Every stick impact and shell decay sounds faithful and sharp.
It’s relatively easy to twist and shape tones and levels to make a drum kit sound like almost anything. It’s much harder to remove any evidence that someone is behind the curtain.
I’m reminded of a U.S. Navy electronics course that I took, and specifically a class covering amplifier theory. The discussion was about a hypothetically perfect circuit described as “a wire with gain.” In other words, a device designed to pass a signal with no loss, addition or distortion – a signal that does not lose any integrity when amplified.
That’s how I think about my drum mix now: it should be just like standing in front of the kit, at whatever volume I desire. The accurate translation of a small sound to a large experience, like the PA isn’t there and the band is playing just for the fan.
Of course, a band is more than just a drum kit, and I had to make this approach work for every other instrument in the mix. Up next: more about manipulating electronics to allow thousands of people to share in the musical conversation being held onstage by six musical geniuses. Stay tuned for the marriage of drum and bass.