I gave an Audio Issues Insider some quick feedback over the weekend that made his mix a lot better.

One of the main tips I gave him for adding more punch to his drums was to add some simple parallel compression to the drum bus.

Here's what he had to say after he tested it out on his mix:

"OMG, THE PARALLEL COMPRESSION!!!  IT TOTALLY CHANGED THE DRUMS INTO A FIERCE ANIMAL!!!  With the onslaught of information I've assimilated since beginning my learning in February 2019, I completely overlooked parallel compression.  So I went back to the Drum Mix Toolkit and reviewed.  Thought I had drums nailed...bahahahaha that'll show me for getting cocky... :D"

I gave him some additional tips on cleaning up the low-mids in addition to some tips on bringing the bass guitar out in the mix without cluttering up the low-end and here's what he did:

"Boosted the 11k a bit more, and cut the 512hz on my master bus.  I think I cleaned up the low end...I went back and smacked the bass around until it had more definition and wasn't annoying.  Definitely better.  Separating the kick from the bass was hard for me as the bass mirrors the kick pattern during the verses.  But with your help, I was able to pull them apart and give them their own space.

SORRY FOR YELLING AND BEING SO EMPHATIC...THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF FEEDBACK I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR...EFFECTIVE, HELPFUL, ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK!!!

Thanks again, Bjorgvin, for creating this community and offering the feedback you do."

It's comments like the one above from JJ that really makes me feel like I'm making a difference in people's music, and for that I am forever grateful.

Now, Audio Issues Insiders is currently closed to new members, but you can learn a lot of those tips without getting direct feedback from me by reading either the Drum Mix Toolkit for drum mixing tips, getting EQ Strategies for your ultimate guide on EQ, or learn my step by step mixing system inside Mixing With 5 Plug-ins.

P.S.

Yesterday I inaccurately referred to the FTC when I was talking about the FCC, censorship, podcasts and pirate radio. My apologies to everyone who was negatively affected by this one-character inaccuracy ;P