Drums samples from great records to compare the sound?

[Marcello]

Hi there,

I have recorded my drums track with a midi plugin.

I'm not a drummer and I'm missing a reference track so that I can compare my drums sound with drums samples from some great records.

Do you know where I can find only drums tracks from some artist's/ band's record? To compare the sound and make the EQ similar to those?

Is it possible to find something like that online? I cannot really compare it all together with bass, guitars and voice.

Thanks

[reginaldStjohn]

This is a loaded question.  There are some places where you might find some isolated drum tracks. This is useful for learning purposes to train your ear to hear what you need to in the mix.  The danger is that you don't mix things in isolation and then expect them to sound good together. I think it is ok to listen to some tracks in isolation to get a feel for what a recorded or mixed track might sound like but then try to really understand how that affects the mix and other instruments. Also, be aware that isolated tracks might or might not include final reverb, eq, compression etc. 

With that being said I have at times used the Guitar Hero multi-tracks from the following to get an idea of what an isolated, mixed track might sound like.  The downside is that they are not super high quality and you have to use a program like Audacity to open them up.

http://multitrackdownloads.blogspot.com/2012/03/guitar-hero-multitracks.html

Also, a google search of Isolated Tracks or Multi-tracks would probably give you some resources.

Edited February 27, 2021 by reginaldStjohn

[lapasoa]

Hey Marcello,

it's muche better if you realize your drum tracks the way you like, learning by yourself what kind of sound you prefer for your kick or your snare or your toms.

Of course it's a really good thing to listen to other artists and their music, but the target is always to create your own music  and make your personal sound.

Edited February 28, 2021 by lapasoa

[Kurre]

Zplane have a plugin named deCoda.

You can use that together with a song you like.

deCoda isolates the part of the song you like. Pick a drum part to listen and compare.

[John Vere]

Actually I had a few records back in the early 60's that were put out that were isolated parts of hit songs from the Ventures they also made these for each part of the band too. Not exactly the drum sound I'd be looking for but you might find that other bands did the same. 

 

[twelvetone]

You will be aware of the problem where bass and kick overlap and you need to decide which takes low and which high (or which ducks which).

This goes for all instruments. You need to listen to everything in context else you get mud. 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by twelvetone

[Marcello]

Ok thanks for the precious advice everyone! I agree you should listen the overall intruments together but I suppose before that I should also listen to the single drum track to hear the kind of sound, the reverb amount etc, then after listen everything together.

I honestly don't know how to cut frequencies in specific areas, I did a low pass and high pass filter on the other instruments, but I didn't really cut the frequencies in the middle, the ones you have to find the spots where there are disturbing frequencies, it's a bit tricky.

In any case I think it should be fine, if I can here the kick enough I shouldn't cut the bass low frequencies or vice versa, Actually if I cannot hear the drum kick I just tend to raise its volume. Also I have heard from some professional recording engineer that if the kick overlap the bass or similar stuff it's not always bad, sometimes it can make it sound more glued together, as far as it sounds good overall. I'm always afraid if I cut the bass low frequencies it could be too much, not sure how much I should cut, so better not to risk I like having big bass.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Marcello