Hey Derek,
I posted a thread asking for help to tune my drums to sound metal, i was told to come here and ask you.
Ps, i love your drumming!
thanks
lewis
Hey there....well that's a loaded question! Haha.
What I've done to my drum sound personally...is get away from sounding "metal". haha.
There are a lot of variables with this topic but, the reason modern day metal drums sound the way they do isn't because of the drumtuning or EQ....it's because of sound replacing!
(You'll have to do some research about this on your own....way to much info to type here.)
That said...there are a few things that can get you close with a natural kit.
Back in the "old days"....we used a variety of things to get that bright, punchy sound....that lead to all the modern drum samples used.
First...kick drum.
To get that tight, bright sound...you just need to EQ the crap out of it.
Add top end in the 6 - 8K range...this gives you the snap.
Cut some mids...you'll have to play with this to see where the drum will sound best to you. Mids....give you your "tone" and "type" of sound. That's a personal preference issue.
Last low end....and contrary to popular belief.....you filter anything below 100-80 Hz.
This will clean up the muddiness that low end give.... when a lot of notes are being played.
The actual amount of notes....is what creates that "rumble" we associate with metal music...not low end.
Snare...nothing special really. Just compress the snot out of it and, have a nice drum.
Toms....same as kicks.
Over heads....I like to filter all low end....up to about 400Hz for metal stuff. This removes most Tom and kick bleed...giving you a cleaner overhead sound.
Of course all of this depends on the type of sound you're going for but...for metal...as a general rule....this works.
Now, head choices....don't think that matters as much but, most metal players use 2 ply heads (I do not..I like the tone of singles).
Emp and pinstripes really do the trick but, remember.....drums just sound like drums.
All of this processed stuff you hear in these drum sounds on record ....usually aren't the actual drums being used. or they are eq'd very heavily......in other words...there is no way to get a metal drum sound...unless you record your drums.
Drums are drums and the principle of all drums are the same...from a audible point of view.
Hope that helps...
cheers,
D.