As technology marches on, drum processing is another everevolving field. Once, engineers may have made their way with a stereo pair of microphones above the drum kit, as well as a smattering of EQ and compression, but today's modern music demands a lot.
It could be pumping, light-butcomplex, heavy-hitting, impactful, artful or biting drums - and it also demands the processors, techniques and knowledge to be worthy of that level of sound quality.
So how do today's drum parts tick, production-wise? One end of the spectrum requires the drums to be as powerful and full-bodied as possible, fitting other instruments in around them. Another end sees other instruments take over, leaving sparse drums that have to make use of the room they're left with. Either way, you'll need to know how to use your tools to make everything work.
That's where this Masterclass comes in. Over these pages, we'll take you through some of the most essential techniques and tools for getting a modern drum sound. From basics like multiband compression that were once envelope-pushing supertools, to modern treatments for layering, stereo enhancement and sophisticated reverb processors. So grab your tuning key, limber up, and chalk up your hands for some… dragging into your DAW!
Processing a drum buss with multiband compression
Multiband compression is one of the finest tools easily available in the digital world. Whereas once we had simple compressors, today we get to have several - one for every band of the frequency spectrum. For lows, low-mids, high-mids and high frequencies, or more if your particular multiband compressor allows them, you can dial in
