Deconstructing a Mix | Part 2: Drums & Bass

This is part 2 of the 4 part series, deconstructing a mix of Sammy Adams song, “Remember”. Today we are going over the Drum in Bass sections. This song has a ton of drums to go over so let’s get started.

The Drums were the hardest part of this mix. When I received the files it took a lot of time to make them all fit in the right place. I used a bit of parallel compression to help them stand out more. I also did quite a lot of EQ carving to help them punch through all the low-end synth sounds. Still, as I finished the mix it didn’t seem like the drums had enough energy. When Sammy and his team received the mix they felt the same way. So we had the producer add more drums to help layer the sound and get it sounding bigger. Layering drum sounds is one trick that really helps to get a big drum sound. Sometimes I receive sessions with 4-5 kicks 7 snares and it’s totally fine. It’s really about what works to make the song the best it can be. One word of caution though, make sure that the drums are in phase. If they are out of phase it can really mess up the sound. With kicks, you will notice missing low end, and it won’t sound as if it’s coming from the middle.
Adding more drums on a mix that was already “mixed” was an issue. I basically started the mix all over again so that I could get both sets of drum files to work. This brings up another great point. You can always start the mix over again. It’s a pain, but if your not feeling it do it all over. It will come together better and quicker. After we got the drums rocking the rest of the mix was easy.
In the video below I go over each drum sound so you can see how the process unfolded. If you have any question or need your song mixed feel free to hit me up! If you missed the first part of this series you can watch it here.