Mixing Drums in Pro Tools

Now comes the final step - making sure the whole mix is balanced.

Since we've already covered panning, your drums should be panned in the stereo field where you want them. If, upon listening to them together, they sound unbalanced (which makes for a "lumpy" sounding recording), make some panning adjustments. Always trust your ears before trusting the meters and faders!

Using the faders, adjust the overall levels. Generally, I leave the kick near the middle (0db), and then adjust everything else around it. I bring the snare down a little bit, and then the toms down from that (since, generally, when a tom is being hit, it's got a lot of velocity). The high-hat and overheads are generally lower, but depending on the velocity being hit on the hat, I move it up or down. I also move the overheads down so that I'm not getting a whole lot of "noise" other than the actual cymbal hits.

One note on isolation: if you'll notice on these tracks, the band was tracking in the same room as the drummer, which is a popular way to do things when budget is an issue. That's something you'll need to deal with if recording in this manner; for rock bands, such as this, it's not an issue, as everything blends in just fine. But be mindful if you're recording a quieter, acoustic band -- you'll need to make sure you're isolating better.

So let's take a listen. Here's what my final mix sounds like (in mp3 format). How does yours sound?

Again, trust your ears... they're your best tool, despite all the fancy plug-ins and mixing software we have today!

With what you've learned here, you're now able to mix drums successfully in Pro Tools!