How to achieve this drum sound/texture?

E

ew1

New member
Hi

I’m trying to figure out what ingredients/mixing techniques are involved in creating this particular type of drum sound.

I’m able to identify the fundamental things like what samples are used, how the samples are composed in the beat, what some of the key frequencies is are, how the elements are panned etc.

However, there seems to be that certain “je ne sais quoi” that I can’t quite identify.


- The drums (particularly in the 1st two examples) have this exciting dynamic energy to them. I have a feeling that compression has something to do with it, not basic attenuation type compression but compression that is used specifically for colour. Am I right? If so, what specific compression techniques might be used? (Note:I'm already well aware of sidechain compression so it's not the pumping sound that I'm hearing that I can't understand. It's something more elusive and hard to identify than that. My gut feeling tells me it has something to do with the cohesiveness and togetherness of the drum blend)


- I also have a hunch that glueing the sounds together with effects (like compression) on a drum bus has something to do with it but I don’t know why or how. Can anyone shed some light on this?


- Finally, the kicks in this style, particularly in the 2nd example, have this really aggressive tone to them. I almost hear a bit of clipping on the kick sometimes. Does anyone know what is creating that aggressive sound?







Here are the examples along with some notes I’ve made. I'm using Adam F5s.




Example 1 https://www.beatport.com/track/track...al-mix/7917497


Claps - Wide. short. Alternating between multiple clap samples on every 2nd and 4th beat for variety. Some sort of bus compression responsible for that really tight sound?
Hats - Bit crusher?
Kick - Some stuff below 40Hz. 60 - 75 Hz (main body). 120 - 140Hz (another kind of ‘body’)



Example 2 https://vimeo.com/172375561

Kick - aggressive. bit of clipping?



Example 3 https://youtu.be/MOfib-llmDA?t=27s

(Admittedly this one probably isn't one of his higher quality mixes but it still has some of the stuff I'm going for, particularly in the claps and snare)

Claps - Wide. Flams used. Not sure if the claps on either side are different or it’s just a sample delay on one clap (or a layer of claps) in the centre? Key frequencies - around 1k to 4.5k
Snare - ‘pop’ sound. Some sort of sweep going into the snare?
Hats - 808 hats? Key frequencies - 8k and above
Kick - short, tight. Bit of dirt on the sample. Key frequencies : 60Hz, 120 Hz (‘pop’), 150 Hz (‘body’?). Some bite being provided by 2k to 12k.



Thanks for helping.
 
Last edited:
Wow, love the examples you posted... Janet Jackson - If (Kaytranada Remix) has great drums indeed...
Want to post some of your drum tracks? and try to improve it together? or add some stuff. If so share a loop of yours!
 
The first example is super complex so i cant give you the profile of each sample but the most common samples. So first off the open high hat is extended and pretty long compared to the closed ones, you wanna add tape saturation, boost the highs and get rid of the low mids, keep the high mids at around standard levels (-6dbish)
The kick is reversed at some points so make sure you have that reversed kick at some points.
The kicks in general have a boosted 1000kh mid range and a heavy bass range (40-150khs) , i believe its been stretched (warped in ableton) and also maybe a little of tape saturation. Closed hi hats are short lived 100 - 200ms max.
The most important thing i'd say is the tape style analog saturation, theres tons of tutorials and methods online if your wondering how you do it.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top