Best way to use VI Drums eg SSD4, Superior Drummer

[Raoul23]

I started off years ago using Superior Drummer recording midi then I would route the drums to seperate tracks record it then eq, comp etc to my taste. Im now using Steven Slate Drums 4 because I just love the drum sounds I'm just courious how everyone is doing this.

I started thinking about changing my work because I've encounted a pain in the butt when it comes to mixing

With my previouse method record each drum to its own track then edit, sometimes I've found a drum didn't sound right, Hi-Hat is too high in the overheads which would then result in going back into SSD4 messing sound to get it right then rerecording the problem track again.

But I've come to the conclusion I might just route all the seperate drums to their own Aux's instead of audio tracks so the audio comes from SSD4 through the Aux's and I can edit, eq comp from there. (hope I'm making sense) This way I could hear the changes as I do them in SSD4 without committing it to a track. I'm thinking this would speed up my work flow

I'm wondering how everybody else is using these VI all suggestion would be much appreciated

[nst7]

This is fine as long as your computer can handle it. One of the main reasons for printing to audio is to take the load off. The other main reason would be for archiving purposes (in case you don't have that program anymore, years from now).

[Raoul23]

Originally Posted by nst7

This is fine as long as your computer can handle it. One of the main reasons for printing to audio is to take the load off. The other main reason would be for archiving purposes (in case you don't have that program anymore, years from now).

Archiving!!! Never thought of that problem later down the line. That's one to think about

[albee1952]

With SD2, I often felt that there was always too much snare in the overheads. My solution was, after printing audio tracks for all drums(and overheads), I would go back to the kit, change the snare selection to NONE and record the overhead track again(this time with no snare bleed at all). Having total control can make a big difference come mixdown. You may be thinking how unnatural that is, and you would be right. BUT, would all of us engineers opt for total isolation if you actually could do it with a live kit?

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by albee1952

With SD2, I often felt that there was always too much snare in the overheads. My solution was, after printing audio tracks for all drums(and overheads), I would go back to the kit, change the snare selection to NONE and record the overhead track again(this time with no snare bleed at all). Having total control can make a big difference come mixdown. You may be thinking how unnatural that is, and you would be right. BUT, would all of us engineers opt for total isolation if you actually could do it with a live kit?

quincy jones was known to have each kit piece played and recorded separately.

[Stig Eliassen]

I do most of the drum mix inside SD 2 nowadays. I like the included plugins. I usually split out the snare to a separate aux in PT so I can send it to a reverb, but not much else. Printing VI's for archiving/remixing purposes is a big advantage.

[Raoul23]

Originally Posted by guitardom

quincy jones was known to have each kit piece played and recorded separately.

And that dude is the man!!!!!!!

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by albee1952

You may be thinking how unnatural that is, and you would be right. BUT, would all of us engineers opt for total isolation if you actually could do it with a live kit?

Boy, I don't know Albee. I can see your point...on the other hand, that isn't how we hear drums. Not sure if total isolation, even if possible, would sound as good as we get now! Just my $0.02.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by DonaldM

Boy, I don't know Albee. I can see your point...on the other hand, that isn't how we hear drums. Not sure if total isolation, even if possible, would sound as good as we get now! Just my $0.02.

Let your ears decide If it sounds good, it IS good. Remember, in the end, it still is heard as a mix thru 2 speakers. Its kind of like the person that spends an hour on a solo'd bass drum, tweaking the heck out of it, only to change it when its in the mix. At the end of the day, nobody knows how we arrive at the final mix, only if it sounds good or not. Then there are those bands that recorded drums with no toms, and overdubbed them after. It may not be "natural", but do you care? Besides, the drummer is the only one that actually hears the kit correctly.................or is it the audience?

Between your 2 cents and my 2 cents.....hey, we got 4 cents...woohoo!

[Rail Jon Rogut]

Originally Posted by albee1952

With SD2, I often felt that there was always too much snare in the overheads. My solution was, after printing audio tracks for all drums(and overheads), I would go back to the kit, change the snare selection to NONE and record the overhead track again(this time with no snare bleed at all). Having total control can make a big difference come mixdown. You may be thinking how unnatural that is, and you would be right. BUT, would all of us engineers opt for total isolation if you actually could do it with a live kit?

It's simple to just reduce the snare in the OH's in SD2 or BFD2... both VI's have bleed trims. In SD2 click on the OH channel bleed button and just lower the Snare feed.

Rail