Two Ways To Get More Punch Out Of Your Drums

If you ever mix any sort of alternative or rock music, you probably want to have punchy sounding drums. Drums can add so much energy to a mix and really carry along the other instruments, especially when done correctly. But with the increase of using samples drums and using a home studio to record, how do you get really good, punchy sounding drums that just cut through your mix? Today I'm going to share with you two ways you can do this simply by using mixing techniques.

1. Parallel Compression

Parallel compression works absolute wonders on drums. It's probably one of the best tools when trying to get more energy and punch out of your drums. If you don't know what parallel compression is, I'll explain. Parallel compression is basically creating a duplicate drum buss with a very high amount of compression on it. You then use the fader to dial in that compression with the regular drum buss. The result is a very unique and energetic sound added to your drums as you push the fader up. 

Here's a video I did detailing this process that might help you - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA-QaPddUrQ

In short, parallel compression is awesome, and you'll probably want to start using it if you haven't been already. It also works great on tracks other than drums so don't be afraid to slap on some vocals and see what happens. 

2. Let the Kick and Snare Shine

When talking about "punch" in drums, what we are really talking about is the kick and the snare. The kick drum and the snare drum are the parts of the kit that you really want to punch through. You want the listener to really feel this hit them in the chest and just cut through the mix. So how do you get the kick and snare to cut through other than just boosting the volume? This where EQ comes in handy. 

For the kick drum, try boosting around 60hz by 3 to 6db. This will give the kick drum that "umph" feeling in your chest. Also, you may want to try cutting out some of the boxiness in the kick drum by using some subtractive EQ around 300 to 400hz. 

Now, for the snare, this will depend on the type of sound you are going for. I personally like a thick and warm snare that has some bass to it. I always find it funny when I hear this huge rock track but the snare sounds so puny and all you can hear is some high end. So here's what I recommend. For a good snare sound, use a wide Q from about 100 to 600 hz at about a 3 to 6db boost. Then do a more narrow Q from around 3khz to 5khz to get the high end pop. The pop sound will help to cut through but the low end will help to have the "umph" sound at the same time. 

Using these tips will help you get more energy and punch out of your drums when mixing. These same tips apply to sampled drums so don't be afraid to try them on those as well. Hope that helps! 

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