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How To Mix Music (Part 4): Mixing

Drums & Mixing Bass
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ow To Mix Music is our essential guide to becoming a music

H mixing professional. With this series I help explain and teach

music mixing to you musicians, producers, and aspiring
mixing engineers. I share our years of experience and insight on mixing and
mastering. Covering the necessary preparations, tools, underlying physics
and insider tips and tricks to achieve the perfect mix and master.

The first episode (/essential-guide-becoming-music-mixing-

mastering-professional-fundamentals/) covers setting yourself up to
become a great engineer. We discussed monitoring, DAWs and plugins,
 composition, and stem preparing.

The second episode (/essential-guide-becoming-music-mixing-

professional-part-2-signal-flow-plugins/) covers organizing your
mixer, setting up your signal flow, and understanding the essential plugins
(EQ, compressor, reverb, and delay).

The third episode (/how-to-mix-music-mixing-guide-part-3/) covers

how to improve your stereo image and make your mix sound wider. Also, we
covered how to use the essential plugins to mix kicks and snares, the
backbone of a song.


 In this part I reveal our best techniques to mixing drums and mixing bass. I
 explain step by step how we place these different elements in the mixing

space, go over our compressor settings, and give equalising tips to achieve a


clean and crisp mix.

If you are looking for quick fixes for your mixing problems in regard to
drums and bass, feel free to grab my personal drums and bass cheat sheet. It
outlines easy solutions to the 11 most common issues:

Mixing Drums & Mixing Bass

Mixing Claps
Placement: Claps are often added as either a replacement of snares, an
addition to snares, or as miscellaneous effects.

With this in mind, and the fact that claps most often dont have low
frequencies, you can place claps at different locations in the mixing space.
You have the opportunity to be creative here.

EQ (cut): The base frequencies of claps are often somewhere in between

 350Hz and 500Hz. Add a HPF to cut away all unnecessary frequencies right
before that base frequency.

Claps often need their high frequencies to cut through the mix. Therefore, we
apply a LPF at around 15kHz to 20kHz to specify its frequency range.







(https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
Mixing-Claps-EQ-Cut.png)

Compression: With claps, same as with kicks, snares and other drums, we
set the attack time of the compressor to occur right after the attack time of
the clap to enhance the punch of the sound. This is often somewhere between
6 and 20 milliseconds.

The release time can be short, somewhere between 20 and 100 milliseconds
often sounds great.

We compress claps often by 2dB to 6dB, with a ratio around 4:1.




 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
 Mixing-Claps-Compression.png)

 EQ (boost): We rarely boost frequencies of claps. If we do, it is most often to
increase the higher frequencies a tiny bit to enhance its brightness.
 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
Mixing-Claps-EQ-Boost.png)

Reverb: Depending on what sound you are going for, claps often sound
great with either drum reverb or the reverb of the overall space.

Mixing Toms
Placement: Even though toms have low frequencies, if equalized properly,
they can sound very interesting on the sides of the mixing space. By doing
this properly, you also create more space for the kick and the bass in the

center of the mixing space.

 EQ (cut): It is very important to cut away the low frequency rumble of toms.
 By doing this, you vastly improve your mix by making it less muddy.


The base frequencies of toms are often somewhere around 100Hz and
200Hz. You want to set a HPF right before these frequencies.

The highest frequencies of toms often differ, this could be between 500Hz
and 15kHz, set a LPF according to the sound you want to achieve.

CHEATSHEET: QUICKLY IMPROVE YO UR BASS AND DRUMS.






 Compression: Same as with the other drums, we set the attack of the

compressor right after the attack of the tom. This is often somewhere
between 10 milliseconds and 25 milliseconds.

The release time of the compressor on a tom can be experimented with as the
tails of toms often differ. Though, make sure that the compressor is back to
0dB before the next tom occurs.

We compress toms most often by 2dB to 6dB with a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1.



 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
 Mixing-Toms-Compression.png)


EQ (boost): To make toms sound rounder and give them more body, try
boosting their ringtones with a notch filter. Read how to do this effectively in
the previous episode (/how-to-mix-music-mixing-guide-part-3/).




 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-

Mixing-Toms-EQ-Boost.png)


Reverb: Toms often sound great without any reverb. Though, if they are rich
in mid-high frequencies, they might also sound great with a little drum
reverb.

Mixing Percussions
Placement: The placement of percussions can be experimented with. If they
are a vital part of the core beat, they might sound best in the center of the
mixing space. However, placement of miscellaneous percussions on the
sides, can create an interesting stereo image.

EQ (cut): The base frequencies of percussion are often somewhere between

300Hz and 500Hz. Add a HPF right before these frequencies.

On percussions we apply LPFs often around 15kHz, this way they still keep
some high frequencies, but leave enough space for hi hats and crashes to
 come through in the mix.






(https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
Mixing-Percussion-EQ-Cut.png)

Compression: Same as with the other drums, we set the attack time of the
compressor right after the attack time of the percussion. This is often
somewhere between 8 milliseconds and 20 milliseconds.

The release time of the compressor on percussions can be short. It often

sounds great to set this somewhere between 25 milliseconds and 90
milliseconds.

We most often compress percussions by 2dB to 6dB with a ratio around 4:1.



 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
 Mixing-Percussion-Compression.png)


EQ (boost): With certain percussion sounds you could enhance the
ringtones with notch filters, which might give more body and sometimes
more definition.




 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-

Mixing-Percussion-EQ-Boost.png)


CHEATSHEET: QUICKLY IMPROVE YO UR BASS AND DRUMS.

Reverb: Percussions often sound great with drum reverb, and in some
occasions with an emptier or more minimalistic mix, with reverb of the
overall space.

Mixing Hi-hats
Placement: Hi-hats sound great in the center as well as on the sides of the
mixing space. If you have multiple hi-hats in a song, it can widen your mix by
placing them differently on the sides.

EQ (cut): The base frequencies of hi-hats are often somewhere in between

500Hz and 2kHz. Apply a HPF right before these frequencies to keep a clean
 mix.

Hi-hats are important in defining the high frequencies of a song. Therefore,

we add a LPF at the peak of their frequency range at around 20kHz.







(https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
Mixing-Hi-Hats-EQ-Cut.png)

Compression: The attack time of hi-hats is often somewhere in between 5

milliseconds and 15 milliseconds. For a defined sound, set the attack time of
the compressor right after that moment.

The length of the sound of a hi-hat is short, so can be the release time of the
compressor. For a right sound, you can set this often somewhere between 20
milliseconds and 60 milliseconds.

We compress hi-hats often by 2dB to 6dB, with a ratio between 3:1 to 6:1.



 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
 Mixing-Hi-Hats-Compression.png)


EQ (boost): We rarely boost the frequencies of hi-hats as this often results
in a messy sound. If necessary, you can boost the high-end of hi-hats slightly
around 10kHz to increase its definition.




 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-

Mixing-Hi-Hats-EQ-Boost.png)


Reverb: The reverb of hi-hats depends completely on the style of the song.
For a clean and tight sound, do not apply any reverb on the hi-hats. For a
more natural sound, add a little drum reverb on the hi-hats. For a spacious
sound, add reverb of the overall space.

Mixing Crashes
Placement: Crashes often consists of solely high frequencies and therefore
sound great at the sides of the mix.

EQ (cut): Crashes often do not need any frequencies below 500Hz or 1kHz.
Apply a HPF in this area and find the sweet spot.

Crashes, same as hi-hats, are important in defining the high frequencies of a

mix. Crashes need to be able to utilize their highest frequencies to have
impact on climaxing moments in a song. Therefore, we apply a LPF at around
 20kHz, the peak of its frequency range.






(https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
Mixing-Crashes-EQ-Cut.png)

Compression: You can set the attack time of the compressor on crashes
depending on what kind of sound you want. If you want the attack of the
crash to come through, you should set the attack of the compressor right
after (often around 5 milliseconds to 20 milliseconds).

If you do not want to give an extra accentuation to the attack of the crash, you
can set the attack time of the compressor before the attack of the crash.

As crashes often have a long tail, it often sounds great to set a long release
time for the compressor (around 100 to 300 milliseconds).

We compress crashes often by 2dB to 4dB with a ratio between 3:1 till 5:1.



 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
 Mixing-Crashes-Compression.png)

 EQ (boost): We rarely boost frequencies of crashes. Though, if necessary,
you can slightly boost frequencies above 10kHz to enhance the brightness of a
crash.




 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-

Mixing-Crashes-EQ-Boost.png)


Reverb: Depending on the sound you are going for, crashes often sound
good with and without reverb.

For a clinical sound, do not use reverb. For a spacious sound, you can use the
reverb of the overall space.

Mixing Bass
Placement: A bass is rich in low frequencies and it is therefore important to
place it in the center of the mixing space.

EQ (cut): To get a defined sound for a bass, and get rid of the mud, it works
great to set a HPF right before the base tone. This is often somewhere
between 20Hz and 80Hz.

Some basses contain only low frequencies, others are also rich in mid-range
 frequencies. If the bass has only low frequencies, set a LPF right after the
highest tone.

If the bass has also mid and/or mid-high frequencies, you want to define its
highest frequencies according to other synths or instruments that might need
those mid or mid/high frequencies to come through in the mix, or vice versa.

We often find that it sounds best to set a LPF on a bass with mid and
mid/high frequencies somewhere around 500Hz to 1kHz. However, this
depends solely on the bass and the song.







(https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
Mixing-Bass-EQ-Cut.png)

Compression: As basses are rich in low frequencies, we often compress

basses more than other elements to increase the possibilities on a louder
master. We do this with a compression of 2dB to 8dB with a ratio around 3:1
to 6:1.
 CHEATSHEET: QUICKLY IMPROVE YO UR BASS AND DRUMS.

To maintain the impact of the bass we set the attack of the compressor often
around 30 milliseconds.

The tails of basses often differ, therefore you have to play around with the
release time of the compressor and listen what sounds best.







(https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-
Mixing-Bass-Compression1.png)

EQ (boost): We rarely boost frequencies of basses, as that often gives a

muddy result. Sometimes however, if the mix allows, we boost frequencies
between 200Hz and 500Hz to improve the sound of the bass on laptop
speakers.




 (https://heroic.academy/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mixing-Drums-

Mixing-Bass-EQ-Boost.png)


Reverb: We do not use reverb on basses to create a sense of space, as a

reverb with low frequencies sounds muddy. Only in some occasions you
might want to use reverb on a bass as a creative effect.

Pro Tip: In the low frequencies of a mix there is almost always a battle
between the kick and the bass. To keep the mix clean it can help to determine
that only one of the two elements is allowed to have frequencies below 60Hz.
It depends on your judgement of the song which element that is.

Also you can figure out on which frequencies the key tone of each element is,
and cut a little away from those frequencies of the other element.

That concludes this episode of Our Essential Guide To Becoming A

Music Mixing Professional series. You can comment and ask any
questions below.
 Did you grab my free cheat sheet how to fix the 11 most common mixing
issues for drums and bass? If you havent yet, grab it at the bottom of

Next episode (/how-to-mix-music-part-5-mixing-instruments-synths/) we

continue with how to mix: synths, instruments, vocals, sound effects, reverbs,
and delays.

Thanks again for reading the articles and sharing the message.

I am Tim van Doorne, its an honour to serve you. Stay motivated to

improve your sound, every single day!








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 25 Comments Heroic Academy
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nick 6 months ago

My only problem is that i didnt see anything on kicks in this section, i always have problems
getting a punchy kick that doesnt have too much low end, or high end, i usually mess it up
either way :((
Reply Share

Tim van Doorne > nick 6 months ago

Hey Nick, in this article I go over some solid techniques for mixing your kicks:
http://heroic-audio.com/how-to...

Hope this helps.

 Reply Share


Alpha Being a year ago
 you guys should seriously compile all the parts into one Ebook, so we can come back and
 read it when ever it is needed.
thank you

Reply Share

Alpha Being > Alpha Being a year ago

as in an ebook for free download
Reply Share

Tim van Doorne > Alpha Being a year ago

Great idea! Will definitely do that once we've completed this series.
Reply Share

T.W.I.S.B.A.D. Records a year ago

Hey Tim or anyone may know. I am using the reason 5.0 with the Studio One 2 Pro. There
are no solid tutorials on Utube when it comes to Rewire. How can I rewire this? My Rewire
light on Reason is not activating somehow. Nor is the Rewire icon showing in the files
column on Studio One. What must I to get this working. This is delaying my record and
vocal project Someone please, please, please help!!!!!!
Reply Share

Tim van Doorne > T.W.I.S.B.A.D. Records a year ago

Hey TWISBAD. I wish I were able to help you, but unfortunately I'm not very familiar
with the Studio One 2 Pro. In my experience though, the program manual should
cover how to set up external programs. Hope this helps
Reply Share

T.W.I.S.B.A.D. Records > Tim van Doorne a year ago

Thanks Tim.. Still attempting. Be well. Also thanks for sharing the info on
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