Mixing Drums with UAD Spark Plug-ins

Drums can be problematic to make sound good, especially when you're dealing with tracks that weren't recorded in a world-class room with world-class hardware. In this mixing video course, studio expert Eli Krantzberg shows you how to achieve great results with the UAD's native Spark plug-ins. You'll learn how to process each part of the kit with EQ, compression, tape simulation, etc., as well as check for phase issues, add effects, and much more. You also get the raw drum tracks so you can follow along and mix them in your DAW. These videos are for those familiar with basic mixing strategies.

Videos

• Setup (03:34) - Learn about the drums and mics used in this drum recording and get a before and after preview of the track that will be built up throughout this series.

• Drum Track (04:50) - Listen to the different sections of the drum track completely unprocessed, learn how to check the phase of the various kit piece mics, and see how to manually align the room mic track.

• Processing the Overheads (07:12) - Follow along as Oxide Tape, Neve EQ, and Fairchild compression are set up on a bus processing both overhead channels.

• Overheads: Mono Parallel Processing (06:42) - A parallel mono overhead bus is set up and blended in with a choice of either API 2500 bus compression or 1176 AE compression and some broad, Hitsville EQ-based tone shaping.

• Kick Drum (04:40) - Oxide Tape, LA 2A Grey, and Pultec EQP-1A plug-ins are put to work enhancing the kick drum sound to blend with the overheads.

• Snare Track (03:28) - Hear how a different EQ is used before and after compression to enhance and refine the snare drum tone.

• Rack Tom (02:16) - The venerable Pultec EQP 1-A is put to work shaping the tone of the small tom to add weight and attack when blended in with the rest of the drum tracks.

• Hi Hat Mic (02:46) - Some extreme API Vision Channel Strip filtering and EQ are put to work to add articulation to the hi end of the hi hat when blended with rest of the tracks.

• Mono Room Mic (03:55) - The mono room mic track is set up with some API Bus compression as well as drive, EQ, and light opto leveling from the Century Tube Channel Strip.

• Drum Reverb (03:30) - A very short setting form Pure Plate is set up as a quick and simple way to get the drums situated in a nice-sounding space via sends form the stereo overhead bus, snare, and small tom tracks.

• Drum Bus Processing (03:59) - A separate parallel drum bus is set up with LA 2A compression to thicken up the overall drum blend. Some parallel Fairchild compression and final EQ tweaks are also added to the main drum bus for a final stage of tonal shaping.

• Mix Tweaks & Final Playthrough (08:55) - A little bit of volume automation and minor tweaks are put in place before a final play though of the full arrangement.