Drums to Music Volume

[Czarkasm]

I want to get my drums to knock more and I understand that one of the most essential mixing aspects for this is proper level setting and gain staging.

Everything but the drums need to be lower in order for the drums to be louder, but I find that my keyboard instruments are either too loud in comparison to the drums or too soft.

What is a good starting point in terms of finding the sweet spot when mixing drums with the rest of the beat. Thanks

 

[Nutek Studios]

EQ can do a lot of work for you, cut any offending freqz. Your ears will tell you the sweet spot, i disagree with turning everything down to make the drums punch (unless they are punchy), if they don't punch to begin with it doesn't make a bit of difference.

 

[Ametrine]

My rule of thumb with drums is to turn them up very loud, and then turn them down to the point that I start to not hear them anymore. Sometimes, you just have to go with your ear and mess around with the EQ until it sounds just right.

Personally, I use some percussion (tambs for example) to add a hint of feeling to a groove without making it too audibly noticeable. You'd be surprised, but a little bit of volume is sometimes all it takes.

 

[grongk]

Try referencing the levels to some tracks you like, take a break and come back fresh etc but in the end you're going to have to trust your own judgement, thats why this shit is art!