Volume/level is too often overlooked. Get everything sitting right with the faders. Lower all faders; and then start with the kick… Raise to peak around -6dB. Then mix in the snare by ear - a good rule is: slowly raise until it sounds "just a little too loud"… then lower it a little to where it sounds "just a little to quiet"… Then (obviously) find that spot in between where it sits right and clearly with the kick. Sounds stupid; but it's often overlooked… Continue with HH; and other things; and you may need to readjust things as you go. (You don't have to do things in this order of course! Works for me though)...
EQ: You can do this before or after level changes… I typically do this before level adjustment for each sound on it's own, and then also tweak it out after for each sound "in the mix".
It's important to know that many drum samples are ready mixed and eq'd to sound full. So you'll possibly only need to cut parts of the freq spectrum to stop things from crowding others. That said, I make all my drum samples, and for in case you do to (and for others reading), these need more attention ---> this is how I typically eq raw drum samples:
Think about each individual sound, and where it needs to be (or could be). Certain sounds will want to dominate (e.g. kick and clap/snare), so eq these across the spectrum to sound full:
Boost Kick in the sub; A little tight'ish para boost at around 100-200hz for the chest; and some high boost for the snap… Maybe remove some mid freqs...
Clap snare… similar but a bit higher in freq - boost the dominant low mid; and some high; and maybe scoop out high mids...
Depending on the style; other sounds may be "dominant" too… but you'll probably want some others to sit "around" the dominant sounds… so cuts are good like you're doing (e.g. cutting lows to free space for the kick). and then gentle para cuts of sounds to free other freq spaces (e.g. if you have an analog style 808 tom; then sure - it HAS high freq content; but maybe it doesn't need too much, so para cut around 2-6kHz… random example - you'll need to listen to what needs to be done!)...
Compression is another thread altogether - but again: If you're using 3rd party samples, you may not need much or any. If you're making your own; you'll almost certainly need to thin about dynamics and control...
