FXpansion BFD Premium Acoustic Drum Module Mixing with BFD - Manual (Page 29)

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Mixing with BFD www.fxpansion.com
6:3. Recreating retro sounds
To get older drum sounds from the 50’s and 60’s, experiment with strange panning -
perhaps keep the drums predominantly in one channel, although it can still be useful not
to pan the kick in order to keep a strong centre image.
It can also be useful to roll off some high-end to simulate an ‘old-school’ sound, as well as
employing techniques like gating (or BFD’s built-in damping).
Older recordings also tend to use less mics, so try and use less of the available mic
channels.
6:4. Resampling and re-sequencing
BFD is perfect for making your own breakbeats! You can think about it as a sound-
source for making your own personalised breaks by creating good-sounding drum mixes
and mixing down some patterns to stereo bounces. You can then re-process the clips
and use beat-slicing techniques on them before putting them into a sampler plugin and
sequencing the slices. This is great for hip-hop and drum & bass music, and BFD’s
versatility means you can tailor the sound, pattern, groove and tempo exactly to your
needs.
6:5. Distortion and re-amping
Some distortion or overdrive on an aux send, mixed back in with the dry drum mix, can
add dirt, grit and colour to the drums while not killing the definition and quality of the
sound and transients. It’s good to keep some subtlety by mixing the distortion back in at
low levels, and heavily EQ-ing these signals so as not to end up with a messy mix. This
method can be used with all manner of processors - try and be original and think outside
the box.
Speaking of which, try re-amping the drums! Send the snare channel out via an aux send
to a mic’d up guitar/bass amp or small PA speaker, and bring it back into the mix. You
could even try some headphones, hi-fi speakers or, if you’re lucky enough to have access
to one, even a Leslie rotating speaker for some psychedelic swirling drums.
You can even create your own real analog reverbs by doing this in the garage or whatever
other space you can possibly take your rig!
Using such techniques can add an organic vibe to the drums.