FXpansion BFD Premium Acoustic Drum Module Mixing with BFD - Manual (Page 26)

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Mixing with BFD www.fxpansion.com
Cutting the low mids at around 50-400 Hz will ‘open up’ the sound of the drum, while
removing some mids at 700 Hz will reduce the ‘bark’ of the snare.
The crack and attack of the snare is usually to be found between to 7 kHz. If it’s any
lower than kHz it will tend to ‘honk’. Boosting some very high frequencies at around 1-
15 kHz really accentuates the ultra-high-end ‘sizzle’.
If the snare is sounding too aggressive in the mid range, cutting at 1- kHz by 1 or dB
will smooth it out whilst still retaining the bite and weight.
For classic pop snare sounds, use more top mic channel than bottom. For a crunchier
sound use more bottom snare, which lets through more of the actual snare wire, resulting
in more top end ‘crack’ and sizzle.
A lot of the apparent top-end crack of a snare also comes through the overheads as well
as the bottom snare channel.
5:3. Hihats
Rolling off the low-end on the hihats is very useful. It removes a slightly ‘gongy’ element to
some hats which can often be undesirable (thinner hats tend to have more low-end - the
same applies to cymbals). Cutting the low-end in this way also helps the hats to sit better
in the mix.
Accentuating the frequencies around 1-3 kHz will tend to make the ‘stick’ aspect of the
sound more pronounced, while boosting above this range, especially at 5-10 kHz, you will
get more of the classic hihat ‘sizzle’.
Keep in mind that open hat positions have a lot more energy than closed hats and may
start to sound too loud after adding lots of EQ. You should adjust trim levels for non-
closed hits in the BFD Hit Options panel, or explore compression options. Remember that
it’s always nice to leave some dynamics to the hats, as this can contribute a lot to the feel
of a groove.
5:4. Toms
For want of a more polite word, the ‘balls’ of the toms lie in the 50-10 Hz range.
Obviously, larger toms have much more bass energy than smaller ones.
The main body of the toms, in the 10-500 Hz range, can be very troublesome - there is a
danger of the toms sounding too thick and heavy. Some good use of a narrow-bandwidth
EQ cut (tuned to taste) will help the toms to sit in the mix better without overpowering
everything else.
The attack of the toms lies in the 1-7 kHz range - this contains ‘the bite’ of the tom. If you
remove a lot of mid-range, then you’ll be left with this frequency range, and the toms will
have very little apperent sustain.