Yesterday I gave you some crucial tips on nailing
your kick drum sound with EQ.
Today we'll continue and talk about the snare drum and how you can use EQ to get the exact sound you want.
Snare Drum EQ
General guidelines for drums apply to any drum. For instance, if a drum is too thick, you can
fix it by cutting out some of the low-mids around 150 - 250 Hz. If it's too boxy you need to tame the area around 300 - 600 Hz.
However, here are some of the frequencies I tend to come back to time and time again.
Please note that the exact numbers vary from mix to mix. These frequencies are good starting points but you will have to
sweep around those frequencies to find the exact one that does the trick for you.
150 Hz - If your snare sounds too thin and needs some extra weight, adding some 150 Hz can easily thicken things up.
500 Hz - For more body to your snare, the fundamental frequencies around 500 Hz gives the snare
a rounder sound.
3 kHz - Add clarity and punch by boosting this area in the upper mids. Sometimes you don't want so much of this frequency range especially if the rattle from the under-snares are making the sound too "hissy."
10+ kHz - You don't notice a big difference when you start
adding air to the snare, but it does lift the snare sound up a bit. A boost in the highs is similar to how a low boost in a bass instrument is felt rather than heard.
Snare drums can give you annoying ringing overtones that you need to deal with. The best is to use a separate EQ to cut the ringing sound out.
Use a narrow Q, boost all
the way up and sweep the boost across the frequency spectrum until the ringing sound pops out at you.
When you find it, simply reverse your boost to get rid of the ring. Rinse and repeat.
I actually have a quick video on how to do this from my Drum Mix Toolkit training. Watch the video below, and if you're looking to improve your
drum mixes, I've added all the techniques I know in one easy package at www.DrumMixToolkit.com. Check it out if you want to take your drum mixes to the next level.
