Are toms recorded 1 track to 1 piece, or all toms on 1 track?

[rockguitarist1255]

Okay so i am going to record the midi from addictive drums onto audio tracks to edit. This is my first time doing it. My question is, are drum pieces like toms, and overhead cymbals, recorded onto 1 track for each piece, like each tom having its own track, or do you record all toms to one track, and put all cymbals to one track rather each cymbal having its own track for editing? And when i do this, would i want to record each the drums to a stereo or mono track, and do i want to use the mono plug ins or the mono/stereo plugins, if i record in mono? Im just worried if i use a mono/stereo plug in on a mono tom track that it will cause the panning to go full stereo and to lose its integrity of panning.

[Nightworker]

depends on preference, some people like to have the rack toms on one and the floor tom by it self. Personally I record 1 for 1.

[rockguitarist1255]

Originally Posted by Nightworker

depends on preference, some people like to have the rack toms on one and the floor tom by it self. Personally I record 1 for 1.

Thats what i was thinking. I will record each drum piece to its own track. Would you suggest that i record these to mono. or stereo tracks? I just watched a video on editing drums in pro tools, and the guy had all the pieces in mono. If thats the case, do i use the stricly mono plug ins, or is it okay to use the mono/stereo plug ins, cuz some of my plug ins only work on mono in mono/stereo mode, but i dont want to screw up the panning on say a tom if its 90 percent right, but then i add a stereo plug in, i dont want it to the left at all then.

[Nightworker]

Originally Posted by rockguitarist1255

Thats what i was thinking. I will record each drum piece to its own track. Would you suggest that i record these to mono. or stereo tracks? I just watched a video on editing drums in pro tools, and the guy had all the pieces in mono. If thats the case, do i use the stricly mono plug ins, or is it okay to use the mono/stereo plug ins, cuz some of my plug ins only work on mono in mono/stereo mode, but i dont want to screw up the panning on say a tom if its 90 percent right, but then i add a stereo plug in, i dont want it to the left at all then.

A mono source to a mono track. A stereo track on one tom would be a waste of resources.

[rockguitarist1255]

Originally Posted by Nightworker

A mono source to a mono track. A stereo track on one tom would be a waste of resources.

Okay i just did the kick with Addictive drums to a mono track like you said. Just one more question if you dont mind. When i have Addictive Drums on one instrument track in stereo, it barely hits yellow, as i asked in my previous post. However, when i single the bass drum in Addictive Drums, and then record it to a mono track, the mono track now hits yellow and almost clips. Im confused because the bass drum, and Addictive Drums as a whole doesnt clip when i keep it on its own instrument track, and dont record anything to audio. Would you recommend to turn down the bass in Addictive Drums itself, before i record it to audio so it doesnt hit yellow as much, or should i just leave the volume as it is, but turn down the volume for the mono audio track which has the bass drum on it?

[nst7]

Here is my suggestions.

You will want to send kick, snare, hi hat, and each tom to their own mono tracks.

Then send the stereo overhead tracks to a stereo track, and the stereo room mics to a stereo track.

Adjust the output levels for each track in Addictive drums, using it's faders, until you get a good signal for each protools track, where it's not clipping.


Listen carefully to the overhead track to hear where the toms are panned in the sound field. Then pan the individual tom tracks to the same spot, in each case. This will help your imaging and keep things realistic.

The individual snare track should generally work fine in the center, even if in the overheads it's not exact. Same thing with the hi hat, although you have more leeway if you want to pan it off center, aligned more with where you hear it in the overheads.

Don't worry so much about sending the individual cymbals to their own tracks. Try to get your main cymbal sounds from the overheads. This is more typically how real drum sets are miked professionally. It's rare to mic each cymbal individually, but this software gives you the option just in case.

You can also mess with the controls in Addictive drums for each drum that allow you to send more or less of each drum to the overheads or rooms. You may find this handy for the kick drum, to have less of it going to the room, especially.


As for effects, anything like reverb, you're better off using an aux send from your tracks to an aux track that has a stereo reverb on it. This will be an efficient way to do it.

As for things like eq and compression, you will probably want to do that individually on each track, whether mono or stereo.

[Cloud_9]

Originally Posted by nst7

Here is my suggestions.

You will want to send kick, snare, hi hat, and each tom to their own mono tracks.

Then send the stereo overhead tracks to a stereo track, and the stereo room mics to a stereo track.

Adjust the output levels for each track in Addictive drums, using it's faders, until you get a good signal for each protools track, where it's not clipping.


Listen carefully to the overhead track to hear where the toms are panned in the sound field. Then pan the individual tom tracks to the same spot, in each case. This will help your imaging and keep things realistic.

The individual snare track should generally work fine in the center, even if in the overheads it's not exact. Same thing with the hi hat, although you have more leeway if you want to pan it off center, aligned more with where you hear it in the overheads.

Don't worry so much about sending the individual cymbals to their own tracks. Try to get your main cymbal sounds from the overheads. This is more typically how real drum sets are miked professionally. It's rare to mic each cymbal individually, but this software gives you the option just in case.

You can also mess with the controls in Addictive drums for each drum that allow you to send more or less of each drum to the overheads or rooms. You may find this handy for the kick drum, to have less of it going to the room, especially.


As for effects, anything like reverb, you're better off using an aux send from your tracks to an aux track that has a stereo reverb on it. This will be an efficient way to do it.

As for things like eq and compression, you will probably want to do that individually on each track, whether mono or stereo.

I agree 100% with the above post, this is how I work my programmed drums with battery, strike, and Kontakt. All cymbals to stereo track, room mics to stereo track, each component to individual mono track.

This method is what most represents an authemtic drum recording.

If you are working with drum samples that do not have OH or room mics, you can use an auxiliary to add a drum room reverb, eq to to your liking, and these could be your "room mics". Whether you bounce that to audio or not depends on how committed you are to the drum programming itself.

Good Luck.

[Nightworker]

What NTS& said is pretty spot on. Personally I also do send each of my cymbals on their on tracks, just to do a bit more eqing if needed. The overheads is really just as a support for stereo imaging and thickening than anything. In my case at least, and that's purely personal preference.

One thing for the Overheads. Is that you can send them to mono tracks, but then create a stereo aux track and send the two mono tracks to it pan hard left and hard right. Example is that you have Buss 5-6 for the input of the stereo aux. Send the hard left to buss 5, and the hard right to buss 6. This way you will be able to use the Aux track to control the volume, eq and effect of the OV head just like if you had created a stereo track in the first place, but without the hassle of the patching for the 2 mono mics to stereo input, even more so if your board/controller can't do it.

[rockguitarist1255]

Thanks for all your advice guys, i really appreciate it and now its going to make my tracks a lot less complicated to make :)