how do I get my drums to sound this crispy and clean?

[GPBear]

Queen or MJ, those recordings are from the 70s-80s. So they're analog. So that's where the warmth comes from automatically because there was no other way to record. But they were mainstream acts, so they wanted the songs to be as clear and bright as possible so the commercial audiences would buy more. A muddy and distorted record won't sell.

What I'm saying is that those disco/pop-rock cats, were not focused on the warmth, in fact that was almost their enemy. On Thriller for example, they wanted to "revolutionize the sonic landscape" basically make everything before it sound like shyt. Meanwhile a guy like Madlib wants it sound dirty and raw as possible.

I'm saying you're asking a tricky question. You want it to sound like audio engineers in the 70s who were focused on making it sound as clean/futuristic as possible. You want it to sound like the 70s idea of what the future is, you see what I'm saying. You want to go back in time, and then look ahead. That's like too specific to tell you how to get that sound.


School of hard knocks breh

 

[GPBear]

Here's a guy from the 2000s using the old school gear to appreciate it, I don't know if helps, but this is basically as far as anyone's pushed it in 'that' direction



(his shyt when he goes all out fukk it and works with Hip-Hop, DOOM)

back in the day (02-03?) he released "Ape Breaks" which are just drum breaks of him playin' that old school gritty shyt, but cleaned up nice. They're free to use so long as you manipulate them into something (sample)

 

[DJ Mart-Kos]

I'm not an expert at this but I personally think that warmth has nothing to do with the mix being dirty/raw.
Cause a lot of those dirty/raw mixes producers make with a Lo-Fi sound are not warm sounding neither.
While a cat like Dr. Dre has very clean/bright mixes but is still very warm sounding.

 

[DJ Mart-Kos]

For compression i use the Waves C-6 Multiband Compressor.
It has great presets for drums.

 

[GPBear]

I'm not an expert at this but I personally think that warmth has nothing to do with the mix being dirty/raw.
Cause a lot of those dirty/raw mixes producers make with a Lo-Fi sound are not warm sounding neither.
While a cat like Dr. Dre has very clean/bright mixes but is still very warm sounding.

I would agree, but I think it has more to do with being analog.

Lot of lo-fi guys put bit reduction on their ish, SP-1200 was like 8 or 12 bit, so it can kinda sound like that. But you're right, a lot of those lo fi guys definitely aren't using analog equipment and are just chopping ish off youtube, but there's nothing wrong with that because they're mostly just a giant circle jerk and no ones paying for their shyt anyways.

Guy like Dre is rooted deep in the analog years. So even if he uses protools now, like DJ Premier, they know the sounds of the 6-figure consoles and outboard gear. Dre's a disco/pop-rock guy like I was saying. He's focused on making basslines thick, not on taking you back with vinyl cracks like a Madlib/Dilla, who obviously the mp3 bit-crusher types are trying to sound like, but failing to get the warmth, because they aren't rooted in analog gear.

"I said, well daddy don't you know that things go in cycles."

 

[DJ Mart-Kos]

yep 100% agree

 

[Ghpstface]

Queen or MJ, those recordings are from the 70s-80s. So they're analog. So that's where the warmth comes from automatically because there was no other way to record. But they were mainstream acts, so they wanted the songs to be as clear and bright as possible so the commercial audiences would buy more. A muddy and distorted record won't sell.

What I'm saying is that those disco/pop-rock cats, were not focused on the warmth, in fact that was almost their enemy. On Thriller for example, they wanted to "revolutionize the sonic landscape" basically make everything before it sound like shyt. Meanwhile a guy like Madlib wants it sound dirty and raw as possible.

I'm saying you're asking a tricky question. You want it to sound like audio engineers in the 70s who were focused on making it sound as clean/futuristic as possible. You want it to sound like the 70s idea of what the future is, you see what I'm saying. You want to go back in time, and then look ahead. That's like too specific to tell you how to get that sound.


School of hard knocks breh

Yep I see more trial&error in my future

 

[GPBear]

Yep I see more trial&error in my future

that's all life is, breh ask Hercules

 

[Be@t Bangerz Fan]

Well Im pretty sure Bruce Swedien mixed that MJ record, so that helps lol.

Choosing the right sounds, right EQ and compressions come first.

This can add a nice amount of warmth too

http://www.softube.com/index.php?id=satknob

With hip hop you gotta make sure you get sounds that cut through the mix. The drums sorta sit on top in rap.

With EQs use the sweeping technique to find sweet spots. And cut don't boost when you can.

Choosing the right sounds is the most important step imo.

Layer sounds if needed, but don't get overzealous cause you can smush the sound this way too.

This is all that needs to be said.

 

[KushSkywalker]

Waves CLA-76 is a great compressor on my kick drums also.

I also put the SSL channel strip on almost every track to help with gain staging.