Even though the drummer plays the entire kit as a particular instrument, the miking of personel drums and cymbals can make for a very complicated mix scenario. The hypothesize I reference country and rock music specifically has to do with the fact that in these genres the sounds of the personel drums and cymbals are not only singled out by personel microphones placed on each of them but also their sounds are exaggerated to create an even more dramatic effect.
Consider, for example, the tom fills in Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight." By contrast, jazz drums are often treated as a more cohesive, unified sound and it's not unusual to use a straightforward pair of overhead mics to capture the sound of the entire jazz drum kit.
Percussion Drum Heads
In this article, I'm going to go drum by drum providing Eq and compression settings that will, hopefully, provide you with a jumping off point to getting great drum sounds in your mix. Because of its all-in-one mixing board channel approach, I'll be using Metric Halo's Channel Strip plug-in with its Eq, compression and noise-gate to by comparison my comments about various Eq and compression settings.
Kick Drum
As the heartbeat of the contemporary drum kit, the kick drum sound we've grown accustomed to hearing is both boomy and round on the lowest and has a nice, animated click in the high mid range. It's the balancing act in the middle of Eq and compression that gives the kick drum its ability to stand out in a mix. Beginning with Eq, the best way to accentuate the lows and highs is to remove some low-mids. I'm a big believer in cutting as opposed to boosting Eq to perform a desired effect. As a result, I tend to pull somewhere in the middle of 2 to 4db at in the middle of 350hz-450hz. Then, after removing some of this low-mid mud from the sound, I can enhance the clicking sound of the beater hitting the head of the kick drum by boosting nearby 2db in the 2k-3k range. I'm providing approximate dB and frequency range settings because depending on the kick drum, mic placement and, of policy the drummer, all of these settings will vary. Use these general ranges as a jumping off point and then trust your ears.
As far as compression settings go, the trick is to preserve the transient charge of the kick drum with a fast but not too fast charge time (9ms in this instance) and then a quick publish (11ms) so the compressor is ready to write back to the next kick drum hit. The ratio I use is a relatively mild 2.5:1 and I adjust the threshold until I hear the kick sound I'm searching for. Finally, in order to give the kick drum sound some divorce from the rest of the kit, I use a noise gate and adjust the threshold to allow the kick sound to come through while essentially muting the majority of the other drum/cymbal sounds. Also, while setting the charge to the Channel Strip's fastest "auto" setting, I allow for a long (400ms) release.
Sub Kick
This particular miking trick is one that can be used to bring great low-end proximity to the kick drum. By way of explanation, a short stand retention essentially the woofer of a speaker is placed in front of the kick drum and picks up predominantly the low frequencies. When blended with the kick drum mic, the sub-kick generates great power in the lowest part of the frequency.
In order to accentuate the most leading elements of the sub kick's sound, I tend to use a low pass filter coming to my Eq that removes all frequencies above 500hz and drops off even more dramatically below 100hz. This is to make sure that only the necessary parts of the sub kick's sound come through. The sub kick should be felt more than it is heard. In terms of compression, a ratio of practically 5:1, a relatively slow charge (120ms) and medium fast publish (57ms) allow the sub kick's tone to stay gift and full underneath the sound of the kick drum's quarterly miked sound. Then, I'll use a noise gate with a fast charge (20ms) and slower publish (200ms) to keep out any other kit sounds that might otherwise bleed into the sub kick sound.
Snare
Along with the kick drum, the snare drum is necessary for driving a rhythm track. Poor Eq and compression techniques can leave it sounding thin, dull and commonly uninspired. In order to accentuate the best parts of the snare sound with Eq, I'll boost the low end of the snare by 2-3dB at nearby 80hz, cut 2-3dB in the middle of 350-450hz and then boost again, if necessary, for more high-end brightness, by 1-2dB at 5k. These three Eq points are a great place to start to sculpt an animated snare sound.
Compression on a snare is a real balancing act where too much will take away the vigor of the performance and too diminutive will make it practically impossible to find an proper level for the snare in the mix. I use a ratio of 2.5:1 with a very quick charge (2ms) and publish (11ms). If you're looking that you're losing the snap of the snare, slow your compressor's charge a diminutive but remember that slowing the charge too much will take the compressor too long to grab onto the sound and will leave the snare much less manageable in the mix.
Adjust the threshold settings until things sound right to your ear. This basically allows you to resolve how much broad compression you'll be applying. Don't overdo it or the drum will lose its vigor but don't go too lightly or the snare won't stand up in the mix. Gating the snare is a trial and error process as well. Depending on whether the snare coming in the song is aggressive or soft will have a lot to do with your threshold settings. Like on the kick drum, I use the very fast "auto" charge and a slower publish on the gate in an effort to keep out the ambient sounds of the cymbals, toms and kick.
Hi-Hat
While obviously a cymbal, the hi-hat is often used more as a rhythmic element than a tone color like some of the other cymbals in a drum kit. Manufacture sure it has its own sonic space and speaks clearly without being too loud and distracting is what Eq and compression are about in this instance. For Eq, I'll again use a shelving coming at nearby 200hz that will effectively clear out low-end information that is non-essential to the hi-hat sound. If I'm curious in bringing in a bit more high-end shimmer and sizzle, I'll boost in the middle of 1-3dB in the middle of 6k and 8k again using my ears to tell me what's working. In general, I tend to stay away from compression on the hi-hat as it tends to find is own dynamic range without too much additional help.
Low (Floor) Tom
A well-mixed set of toms can make all the dissimilarity in the middle of drum fills that are animated and those that go by without catching the listener's ear. Beginning with the low tom, I tend to look for the places in the frequency range that bring out both the boom and the snap (similar to the way I coming the kick). In order to accentuate the low ability of this drum, I've found that a dramatic cut (12dB) at nearby 500hz allows the drum to speak clearly. Also, to add the high-end snap, a semi-aggressive boost of in the middle of 4-6dB at nearby 3k will do the trick. Compression also adds a lot to this equation. A ratio of nearby 4.5:1, a slower charge of 120ms and medium slow publish of nearby 90ms will help the sound remain full and resonant. For the threshold, I plainly adjust until the tom rings properly. Gating is another major factor for toms as the large diaphragm mics placed on these drums tend to pick up a lot of the extraneous sounds from the rest of the kit.
I set the gate with the quickest "auto" charge and a slow 400ms publish and then adjust the threshold until I'm hearing only the low tom come through when it's hit. For the "tweak heads" among us there's a slightly more spoton and labor-intensive way to do this. By going into the actual sound files in your Daw and deleting all but the tom hits themselves, you can create a perfectly gated tom track.
High (Rack) Tom
Like the low tom, the high tom has it's own frequencies that should be cut/accentuated to bring out the sweetest parts of the sound. For Eq, I'll do another big cut of nearby 10dB at 600hz and I'll make a similarly big boost of nearby 7dB at practically 2k. For compression, I use a slightly more aggressive 6:1 ratio slower charge (100ms) and a quick publish (25ms). As with the low tom, I'll gate the high tom using the identical gate charge (fastest "auto") and publish (400ms). The key to the threshold is to adjust it until only the high tom punches through retention the channel essentially muted for the rest of the time. A final note on the toms, as all tom sizes, tunings and even drummers are different, you'll need to play with these settings until you find the sweet spots.
Overheads / Room Mics
Given that we've made a real effort to isolate and enhance each of the personel drums in the kit, overhead mics serve the dual purpose of capturing the cymbals and integrating the blended sound of the kit back into the sound of the drums. I pay attention to three definite Eq points in order to give the overhead mics a clean, balanced tone. First I'll use a high pass filter (shelving Eq) at the very low frequency of 40hz to clean up any unnecessary sub-sonic rumbling. Then I'll pull nearby 5dB at in the middle of 100 and 200hz to forestall any low-mid buildup. Finally, if necessary, I'll enhance the broad brightness of the cymbals/kit with a small 1-2dB boost at nearby 5k. For compression, I'll set the ratio at about 3:1, the charge at nearby 110ms and the publish at a slightly quicker 70ms. The threshold should be adjusted to make sure that the overhead/room sound blends with the broad kit mix. Finally, adjust the volume of the overhead mics in the mix until you pick up just sufficient of the room to put some air and depth back into the kit.
Limiting the Sub Mix
A final trick to add punch to the broad drum kit is to send all of the personel tracks to a stereo sub mix and place a limiter like the Waves L1 on that stereo auxiliary track. By adjusting the threshold until the attenuation is in the middle of 5-7dB, you'll find that the kit has a certainly satisfying broad punch and presence.
Conclusion
While I've been painfully definite about Eq, compression and gate settings, it's leading to remember that every mix situation is different. Use all of these settings as a jumping off point and then use your ears to tweak the sounds until you're happy. Good luck!
Eq and Compression Techniques For Drums in Mixing