Mixing full drum loops
What is the best way to mix a full stereo drum loop from Loopcloud? Struggling to get width at the high end without bringing the kick into that space too? I was wondering about duplicating the track then removing the kick completely from one track and processing that then doing the opposite for the higher frequency instruments? Surely there is an easier way.
So this is a single drum loop out of Loopcloud, which is a full drum loop containing multiple drums, e.g. kick, snare, hat etc.? And you're asking how to go about mixing it?
If so, this is the biggest issue with using a single drum loop in a track and the reason why, for the most part, people create drums using individual samples on different tracks, so you have full control over the mix. That said, if it's simply a case of adding more width at the top end, you can do that with effects that only work on the upper frequencies. What effects are you using to add width? There are multi-band stereo imagers that can add width (normally through a delay) to separate bands, so just work on the highs. This will affect the highs in the kicks though, so the kick transients, but this is often desirable anyway.
Another way is to use a separate effect to remove the low frequencies from the stereo signal after applying width, in order to take the kick out of the wide space you've moved it into. In other words, if you're using a delay or other widener on the whole drums signal say, you can then use something like a mid/side EQ to remove all of the low frequencies from the side (stereo) signal, which will get rid of any width that had been added to the kick.
Let me know if you have any more questions.... I can try to cover this in my next livestream potentially...
updated by @robjones: 02/01/22 11:55:57AM
If so, this is the biggest issue with using a single drum loop in a track and the reason why, for the most part, people create drums using individual samples on different tracks, so you have full control over the mix. That said, if it's simply a case of adding more width at the top end, you can do that with effects that only work on the upper frequencies. What effects are you using to add width? There are multi-band stereo imagers that can add width (normally through a delay) to separate bands, so just work on the highs. This will affect the highs in the kicks though, so the kick transients, but this is often desirable anyway.
Another way is to use a separate effect to remove the low frequencies from the stereo signal after applying width, in order to take the kick out of the wide space you've moved it into. In other words, if you're using a delay or other widener on the whole drums signal say, you can then use something like a mid/side EQ to remove all of the low frequencies from the side (stereo) signal, which will get rid of any width that had been added to the kick.
Let me know if you have any more questions.... I can try to cover this in my next livestream potentially...
updated by @robjones: 02/01/22 11:55:57AM
Thanks Rob, makes sense. Yes it was a full loop including kick, snare, hats etc. I was using Ozone Imager but had also tried adding stock echo and delay effects from Ableton. Covering in a livestream would be great. Or perhaps once I’ve worked through the courses I’ll find it! 🤣
New tutorial on this now in the Bonus Tutorials section 
