10 Simple Steps to Mix Drums Like a Pro

When I record drums for clients, I almost always send them the raw WAV files straight from Pro Tools. My goal is to capture the best possible sound at the source, but let's be real—mixing and processing are inevitable.

Here's the thing: mixing is a personal art form. The style of music, the instruments, the vibe—it all shapes how you approach a mix. Since drums are usually recorded first, I find it makes more sense to mix them within the context of the full song rather than starting with a heavily processed drum mix. But hey, no rules here—just what works for me.

I get tons of questions from clients about mixing drums, so I've put together the 10 steps I follow every single time I sit down to mix a kit. My philosophy is simple:

Get rid of what's not necessary and keep what is.

Let's dive in.

1. Create a Drums Sub Mix

First things first: create a sub mix and label it "Drums." Route every drum track to that bus. You can add analog plug-ins or other processors to it later. This keeps everything organized and clean from the start—trust me, you'll want it eventually, so just set it up now.

2. Adjust Levels

Listen to the entire kit as you make decisions. Seriously. Huge mistakes happen when levels aren't dialed in properly. I start with everything at zero dB and adjust from there, aiming for a nicely blended, natural-sounding kit. Don't touch any plug-ins yet—get a well-balanced kit first, or you'll create more problems down the line. Can't hear things clearly? Crank those monitors up!

3. Panning

Once your levels are set, choose your panning perspective. I prefer the drummer's perspective (hi-hat on the left, ride on the right). Keep your kick and snare in the center, and pan everything else to taste—either hard panned or somewhere in between. Panning creates instant depth and can be the secret ingredient to an interesting drum mix.

4. Gating

Mic bleed happens when recording acoustic drums. Don't fear it. But you do want to clean things up, and that's where gating comes in. I always gate the toms first, then the kick, and sometimes the snare. Loop a section with a big tom fill and dial in your gate while listening. You want a nice, open tom sound with natural sustain—don't choke it off too quickly or it'll sound robotic.

5. Reverb

I route all my drum tracks through a reverb bus. Too much reverb sounds weird, but the right amount adds beautiful depth and fullness. Pro tip: route mono tracks (kick, snare, toms) to a mono reverb and stereo tracks (overheads, room mics) to a stereo reverb. Experiment until it starts sounding unnatural, then back it off.

6. Compress Individual Tracks

I like to compress before EQ'ing, but there's no rule here—it's just my workflow. That said, don't compress everything just because you can. Over-compression kills the nuances, ghost notes, and overall character of a drummer's performance. I add a touch of compression to the overheads and sometimes the snare. The room mics? I squash those pretty hard. That's it.

7. Parallel Compression

This old-school trick still works wonders in the digital world. Route a track to an aux bus, creating two versions of the same thing—one natural, one compressed. I use parallel compression on the drum sub mix and blend the two to taste. Magic.

8. High Pass Filter

This might be the most important EQ decision you'll make. I use a high pass filter on every single track except the kick drum and sometimes the floor tom. Often, that's all you need. If you need to go further, always cut before you boost.

9. Check Phasing

I usually check phase toward the end, though depending on your mic setup, you might need to address it earlier. I use a trim plug-in (or a phase invert on your EQ works too). Solo a few tracks—say, overheads and snare—and flip the phase button on and off. If it thins out and loses bottom end when switched on, there's your answer. Just go with whatever sounds better.

10. Bounce and Listen Tomorrow

Seriously, do this. After running through steps 1-9, bounce your mix to an MP3 or WAV file. Your ears are fatigued by now anyway. Listen tomorrow in your car, on different speakers, or through headphones. Take notes. You'll hear things you missed.

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