drum tracks

[ggmmss]

i hired a professional drummer to do drum tracks for my songs over the internet. anyway you have 3 option 1.dry stereo mix 2. 9 dry individual tracks or 3. 9 processed tracks. anyway it is almost double the cost for the processed tracks. is there a reference guide, book forum etc... where you can learn tips or tricks for processing drum tracks. i am a hobbyist and i know this is a major step in recording , i will probably have it professionaly mastered when im done with the demo, which should include processing the drums but ive never actually talked to a mastering house what would you guys recommend doing? thanks.

[albee1952]

Mastering will not address the drum tracks. Mastering is applied to the final mixdown. I would opt for the 9 tracks of unprocessed drums. You can then process as your songs call for using plugins that you likely have already. You will likely use an EQ plugin on some or all of the tracks(depending on how they were recorded). You might also add compressor plugins on some(or all) the tracks. You may also want to use aux sends to aux tracks where you will add reverb plugins. This will be a great learning experience for you and, assuming the tracks come to you as WAV files on a CD-R, you can mess with them all you want and always be able to go back to the original sounds if you aren't happy. Get your head into learning mode and start having fun.

[markblasco]

How much is this project worth to you? If you want something that you can use to learn to mix with, get the unprocessed drums. If this is a project that has any commercial value, either get the processed drums (This is not what I would suggest, but is an option), or get the unprocessed drums and than hire someone to mix the project for you.

From your post it sounds like you do not have a lot of experience mixing, and getting drums to sound professional is not an easy thing to do, so if you plan to use this to try to get a record deal or for some other professional purpose, bring in a professional to help. If this is not an option, than get the drummer to send you the processed files. The only problem with this is that you don't have any control over the sound, and if it doesn't match up with what you want, there is nothing you can do about it.

Do NOT just get the stereo mix of the drums, as you will not be able to make any changes to the files that are sent to you.

You would be MUCH better off hiring someone to mix the project and then not having it mastered than mixing it yourself and paying someone to master it.

Now, after saying all that, I think that if you have the desire to learn to mix music, you certainly should work towards that. I just don't think that this project is the one that you want to learn on if it may make a financial difference to you in the future.

Good luck with whatever you do!

[Ross H]

I do this all the time...I would get the individual files AND the stereo mix, processed. This way, you can lay down all of the other tracks to the stereo mix (considering your experience or respectfully, lack thereof) This will make it easier for you or other musicians doing tracking. Once you are done tracking everything, you can mute the stereo mix and bring up the individual tracks for final mix by yourself or by others. Some of my tunes evolve and I take them all the way through mix and master...some I never do more than a rough mix and the stereo drum file is great for a rough referance.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the approximate charge between all of the options? Curious to compare...

Ross