Cool & Dre style drums

[Hi-Lo]

Got a question for the forum...

One of the things I've been trying to figure out is how producers like Cool & Dre get their drums sounding the way they do. I know your first reaction is 'they've been doing it for 10 years, it would take just as long to learn how'. I'm interested in something more specific than just an overall explanation of how they do them.

Cool & Dre, like a lot of the top producers, have a way of making their kicks hit hard, but without much of an identifiable kick sound in the mix (see the track they did on Tha Carter II, Get Over, for an example). I don't know if they do it by muting the high end of their drums, or by layering the sample over the pattern of their kicks, but however they do it it sounds great. I'm wondering if any of you guys know techniques to get a similar sound, because there's times when I'm making a beat where i want the sample or melody to dominate the mix but still have that thump to my kicks and drums. Any advice would be real appreciated..

 

[eXampuL_oNe]

Well, Cool and Dre as well as other producers (including myself) layer the drums with other drums to get an overall better sounding kick, Snare, Hi-Hat. And also, proper mixing (which takes a while to learn and perfect) has a large effect on how your drums will sound. I just made a beat today where I used about 4 snares to get the sound I was looking for. Also, Doubling, tripling your kicks will give them more punch or depth depending on the drum you are layering.

 

[Big Tone]

shit i once used about 6 kicks to and messed with most of them get the sound i want.

 

[wrightboy]

yup...i'm known for layering snares with claps.

 

[maddogg]

another thing when sampling drums you run your turntable through the mixer and eq the drums as there coming in cut the highs boost the lows and over all volume....basically if its hard when you sample it its gonna hit hard in a beat...

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

yup...i'm known for layering snares with claps.

doesnt everybody do that?

 

[Big Tone]

doesnt everybody do that?

i even layerd claps with hats

 

[Sanova]

doesnt everybody do that?

Thats what i was thinking.

On my newest beat I layered some Kick drums together.

Layering and mixing is the way to go no doubt

 

[Elementree]

pillow stuffed kicks rule

 

[Rhythmikal]

layering kicks is nice but u gotta be careful there is no distortion.

 

[Anubis-Ra]

I guess a low-pass filter to take out the harmonics of the kick, along with some compression.