Why Your Drum Sound Is What Matters Most

Here’s a potentially hard pill to swallow: your drum sound determines how good the rest of your tracks will sound. Said another way, your tracks/mix will sound only as good as your drums do. This is bad news if you are getting crappy drum sounds or using cheesy loops. But on the flip side this is fantastic news because when you get drums right, it can immediately up the level of all your other tracks.

Via Hans_Martin Flickr

The Drums Are A Clue

When you listen to any of your favorite records of your favorite artists, you can tell a lot about the quality of their recordings by listening to the drums. If the drums sound big and punchy, the rest of the track takes on that sense of power and pro quality. You can tell that the song was likely tracked in a professional studio with a great live room.

If, however, you listen to an artist whose drums sound muffled and small, the rest of the mix comes down to that level. You instantly know that this band likely recorded in a small room, maybe a home studio, and didn’t have money or expertise to capture a crisp, punchy kit. The drums become a clue as to how the rest of the song was recorded.
 

Quality Matters, Not Style

What I’m not suggesting is that the style of drums is what’s relevant. Whether you’re using an actual drum kit, electronic loops or beats, or simply percussion, what matters is the quality of those sounds. If you can get great quality drum sounds, then you give off the impression of professionalism which legitimizes your entire song.

This can instantly take average sounding guitars or piano and cast them in a whole different light. I think of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” off their killer Nevermind album. The song is great. Great melody and hook. Phenomenal drum sound. But if you listen to the guitars, they really kind sound lame. They sound thin with too much chorus effect. But no one is thinking that when they hear it. They’re thinking it sounds like a million bucks! Good drums. That’s why.

Drums Deserve More Attention

Because of this natural effect, you really should give your drum sound (in both recording and mixing) proportionately more attention than almost anything. Even vocals. When I’m tracking a drum kit, I’ll take hours and hours to get it right. Testing overhead mic placements and tweaking until it all sounds right. Trying different angles with the close mics is key also. Usually in a session the drummer (and the whole band) is getting anxious about how much time I’m taking, so I have to explain that it’s worth it.

In reality, the rest of the band takes way less time to track so it all evens out. But you have to devote the time needed. If that’s picking out loops or building your own beats, take your time. Get the best sounds you can. When mixing, make sure you bring out the attack, resonance, clarity, and punch from your drums and percussion. If you don’t, all your great mixing on guitars, bass, keys, and vocals will be for nothing.

Remember, the rest of your tracks will only rise to the level of your drum tracks. That concept should propel you to give the drums the time they deserve so your tracks can sound as good as they deserve to sound!