How do I get Drum Kits to Go from this to THIS?

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deeplink
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06 May 2021

I hope the imagery will do far more for my question that the attempt to do literal explanation.

But in case the picture doesnt help...
My "issue" that I'm having is that even using Kong Kits, Umpf Club Kits or Umpf Retro Kits - the drums sounds all feel and sound like they were thrown together.

Individually the sound great, and each have a similar character. But together, it just doesn't sound what I'm used to hearing in most electronic music.

The sound of the drum loops just end being being... loose? gimmicky? uncontrolled? like a really bad beatboxer.

Any common / or special ways to treat the above, without mentioning bus compression?

Thank you, and I hope you like my picture.
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stillifegaijin
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06 May 2021

Why don't you want to talk about bus compression?

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deeplink
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06 May 2021

stillifegaijin wrote:
06 May 2021
Why don't you want to talk about bus compression?
I've tried putting a bus compressor after the Kong or Umpf - and it's no quite doing the job.

Only when I really squeeze the sound with the compressor does an aspect of what I am trying to achieve occur, but obviously I lose so much more in the process..
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dan_g
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06 May 2021

it took me years to get a feel for drum samples that fit well together. thats a real craft/art to master when producing electronic music. keep in mind that this all very strongly depends on the type of music you wanna create.

when we don't talk about bus compression there are far more concepts to try than compression. try bussing you different elements before the main drum bus.
  • you could try to find drums with nearly the same tuning, that will make them sound more "together", but thats just optional and not necessary when it sounds right to your ears.
  • create a buss for your snares and then add an EQ and some light saturation or some reverb as a send FX.
  • light Saturation on hihats is also very nice and can help to "glue" them together.
  • the same reverb send fx can also work wonders for your whole kit. try to see it as a real drumkit. when you add some room to the whole drums it can make a huge difference. this doesn't need to be very pronounced, just a slight bit helps alot sometimes.
  • adding a transient shaper to the whole kit can also work wonders. a slight bit attack and a bit shorter decay can sound very punchy
  • also check if you have to much going on in the same frequecies with the samples. for example make room for the snare in the frequencies of your kickdrum so it does not clash too much.
just a few little ideas that maybe can help you

Daniel
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Loque
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06 May 2021

^^^This
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challism
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06 May 2021

I would echo the comments above and put emphasis on the reverb suggestions, in particular. Don't drown your signal in reverb, but adding a little of the same reverb across the entire drum kit will help pull it together; makes it sound like it's sharing the same space, at the very least.

* Also that master bus compressor in the SSL does wonders to glue the channels together... forget I mentioned this ;)
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