I'll be the jerk. The problem is how you mix and what you mix on, not the samples. Taylor and Elisha are right - remove EQ and dynamics. But if the kick still doesn't cut through, your mix is messed up. Make room for the kick in the low end and the midrange.

gnangle wrote:define "satisfying low end or highs" and maybe we can zero in more on exactly what youre after? can you play us a sample? ive used BFD with no weird issues for quite a while and dont struggle with any of these issues. im curious to hear what youre hearing.Exactly.Could you Google Drive/Sendspace one of these rough mixes that you see an issue with?An example of how you have been addressing it?

Thanks for all the suggestions.I didn't know EZ Drummer had some EA recorded drum samples - will check it out (although I don't have EZ drummer). And yes, the BFD pack is more than 10 years old!As for the mix..... yes I've tried everything from no FX to full blown smashed to bits (and the tracking notes indicate some light compression going to tape on OH and kick). But whatever I do (dry or nuked) there just is no satisfying low end or highs .... just vast amounts of VERY FATIGUING lo mid - mids (200 - 2K). If I scoop it all out there still is no sense of lows/ highs, but just a kind of clattery harsh mess, and if I leave it in there is no room sonically for the guitars and bass to sit.Like I said, I can get other drum libraries to sit in the mix no problem with bags of low end thump/ chest and nice juicy highs.... but I kind of wanted to use the Deluxe pack because the actual kits are great and the articulations are very responsive to midi (great dynamics).Ho hum.... I feel I may be flogging a dead horse here.... especially if nobody else owns this actual pack and can comment on it directly. Sometimes I wish sample libraries had never been invented - more trouble than they are worth LOL

I've never tried mixing anything from those samples, but I've heard other people do it and it sounded pretty good. When I'm mixing a piece of music I typically have a rough mix balance in my recent memory because most mixing is done at the conclusion of a session where we've been listening to some kind of rough balance from the start, so finalizing it into a finished mix isn't a start-from-scratch process.Once in a while I have to gin up a mix from scratch on something recorded a while ago in a different session, and I generally start by building the rhythm section, starting with the drums, bass and other rhythm instruments being added one at a time. If you have a finished mix and try to plop into it a pre-recorded drum kit (or a kit made of samples) I'd be surprised if the balance of everything else was necessarily suitable. I'd be inclined to break everything down and start from the drums as is my normal practice.As other people have mentioned, I don't do a lot of EQ or other processing to the recorded sounds, except to solve specific problems. I don't remember the recording session for those samples in detail, but I recall everything sounding pretty normal to me, meaning I'd still be disinclined to start using EQ and other processing until problems presented themselves, and then I'd be judicious about it.Good luck.

I've never tried mixing anything from those samples, but I've heard other people do it and it sounded pretty good. When I'm mixing a piece of music I typically have a rough mix balance in my recent memory because most mixing is done at the conclusion of a session where we've been listening to some kind of rough balance from the start, so finalizing it into a finished mix isn't a start-from-scratch process.Once in a while I have to gin up a mix from scratch on something recorded a while ago in a different session, and I generally start by building the rhythm section, starting with the drums, bass and other rhythm instruments being added one at a time. If you have a finished mix and try to plop into it a pre-recorded drum kit (or a kit made of samples) I'd be surprised if the balance of everything else was necessarily suitable. I'd be inclined to break everything down and start from the drums as is my normal practice.As other people have mentioned, I don't do a lot of EQ or other processing to the recorded sounds, except to solve specific problems. I don't remember the recording session for those samples in detail, but I recall everything sounding pretty normal to me, meaning I'd still be disinclined to start using EQ and other processing until problems presented themselves, and then I'd be judicious about it.Good luck.

elisha wiesner wrote:Out of curiosity, have you tried mixing them without any eq, dynamics or effects?This.Don't want to speak for the guy, but boss man will rarely process drum sounds, and when he does, he is light with his touch. The faders and the drummer and the drums are how you get the sound.So I'd suggest removing all your EQ and compression, and try to get close with just the balance.The roominess builds up from the combination of overheads, front of kit, and room mics. It's not all the room mics. Those images also seem to compliment each other- dark overheads and a bright front of kit mic, bright room mics. So if you remove one or have it too low, your mix will feel off.Kentucky is dark and the lower mids are prevalent.The tape itself may do a little, but not much. If you listen to a band in "input" on the Studer, it still sounds like Steve.

Not just limited to EA recorded stuff, but roomy, dynamic drums are definitely a tug of war to mix. Opening up the rooms/OH/kit mics certainly makes more sense of the drums (like what bassdriver was saying), but can wipe out other mix elements. Stripping it down to spot mics will certainly free up some mix room, but if mixed especially with a bunch of close mic'd/DI' instrument sounds I can picture how it might seem clattery or weird.So yeah, kind of a combo of what others have said: if you're making a Big Drum Record, start with those and build (and compromise/sacrifice elements of) the rest of the mix to suit that. If it's a dense guitar layer record or whatever, you might need to find tighter, controlled drum sounds. There are a lot of great sounding albums of that nature that probably have stale isolated drum sounds, but that's what is required for some things.

there you go, some examples of BFD Deluxe drums and EZ Alternative 2 for comparison. stereo file directly out of the plugins. no fx, no tweaks.https://soundcloud.com/bass\_driver/tracks

One hard fast fix is to solo each spot mic, locate the fundamental, and steeply high pass right below it. That eliminates a lot of garbage while not effectively EQing any drum tones.High pass the overheads and rooms, too. Gentle slope, just use your ears and go as low with the cutoff as you can get away with.

Except the kick of course.