Does the Mixing of Drums in Most Records Bother Anybody Else?

tresenddrums

Junior Member
Does it bother anybody else when records are mixed so that you hear the drums as if you are standing in front of the drum kit and not behind the drum kit?!

In most rock records I've heard the drums are mixed so that the hi-hats are panned to the right, the ride is panned to the left, the toms panned accordingly - visualized as if you were watching a drummer play in front of you.

Has anybody else noticed this? Does anybody know of any records mixed from the drummer's point of view?
 
Does it bother anybody else when records are mixed so that you hear the drums as if you are standing in front of the drum kit and not behind the drum kit?!

In most rock records I've heard the drums are mixed so that the hi-hats are panned to the right, the ride is panned to the left, the toms panned accordingly - visualized as if you were watching a drummer play in front of you.

Has anybody else noticed this? Does anybody know of any records mixed from the drummer's point of view?

Most of the Dream Theater stuff is mixed from the Drummer's side. As is Mike's work with Neil Morse.

In Genesis, Phil is a lefty.... so it kinda seems like it's mixed from the drummer's side.

There are more non-drummers as listeners than drummers. They mix for these folks, darnitall.

:)


-Ken
 
It doesn't bother me all that much. I'm left-handed so recordings sound correctly to me anyway, except for Phil Collins ;)

I usually take my favorite recordings and make them mono.....the Blue Note way ;)
 
I agree. Since most listeners aren't drummers and won't notice it, why not mix from the drummer's seat? If only us drummers will notice it ... but probably many non-drummers would notice, so it almost makes sense to give it to us from an audience perspective. Almost.
 
It never bothered me before but thanks to you it will from now on!!! Thanks :)
 
It all comes down to the final stages of mixing, up until then, everything is usually on it's separate channel. Either way is good for me because it's usually up to the producer of the project where things will be heard. The only problems I have in this regard is tracking in the studio and hearing in my phones a mirror image. I'm a right handed drummer playing the hats and hearing them in my right ear. I just usually ask for a mono feed, no biggie.

Dennis
 
I record & engineer as well as play drums. I like to mix drums from the drummer's perspective, but I don't like widely panned toms (sounds cheesey). The perspective is more furnished by 2 stereo mic pairs of close and far room mics. Sometimes I don't close mic toms - I prefer the drums to sound more like one instrument.

What annoys me more than perspective is having the kick and snare way louder than the rest of the kit, as if they are in another space - not cohesive, and not pleasing. I like drums to sound real and don't use sample replacement (drumagog) or snap-to-the-grid in ProTools. I Do like to play to/with a click track and go easy on the compression & limiting.

Probably more info than you needed, but thanks for indulging me :) Also, if someone tells you you should have mixed your drums audience perspective, tell them that you did & the drummer is left-handed.
 
Drums are mixed that way for a reason - it's audience perspective. I play drums for an audience if I'm recording or on a stage. If I want personal gratification then that occurs in the practice room.
 
Drums are mixed that way for a reason - it's audience perspective. I play drums for an audience if I'm recording or on a stage. If I want personal gratification then that occurs in the practice room.
+1

I thought of how to mix drums on my own stuff and yes, the audience perspective is what I've arrived at, makes perfect sense to me. As if the band was standing and playing in front of me.
 
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I engineer as well and I very much prefer mixing from the audience perspective.

Only the drummer really hears drums from the drummers perspective.
I also dislike hard panning of toms- although the overheads can be fairly wide.

it is all about balance- if it is a 3 piece rock band and there aren't loads of guitar overdubs then a wider kit can help fill things out.
 
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