How I Mix Part #7_Drums; you or me

Pete Townsend said: “The audience votes you to the stage …”

The audience Faces the Stage

Recording engineers are the audience’s representative. We are not drummers, guitar players or keyboard wizards. We are the audience’s advocate. We present the show. We should be presenting the show as we see it, not as we fantasize about being a part of it.

The show is being performed by others for us, the audience.
Generally, when doing a straight mix of modern music, you pan the drums across the LR stereo spectrum. Most likely you’ll put the kick drum in the center, which places a whole lot of energy smack dab on top of soloist instruments; lead vocals, lead solo players, etc. Remember: You only have a limited amount of air space to allow your instrumental tones to shine, after that it’s just noise.

I’ve seen many operators change an eq setting of a snare drum before they ever touch its pan pot. Look at a recording console and think about its lay out. Isn’t the pan pot closer to the fader than the eq section? Do you think it’s “just there” or is there engineering logic behind the pan pot's location? There is a logical reason why it’s placed where it is; you should listen to a sound in its preferred position before you go changing its tonal quality …that’s why.

To pan your drums just look at the drummer from an audience member’s perspective. Where are the drums placed on your stage?  I’d bet most times you’ll find the snare placed to the right and the floor tom to the left. If you want to hear them like you’re the drummer …drop the fader and pick up some drumsticks.

Next up …Drums; how big is your window?

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