April 23, 2023
In the past few years, the K-pop culture has experienced a number of suicides, which has devastated the Korean entertainment industry. Sulli from f(x), Jonghyun from SHINee, Goo Hara from KARA, and
Read moreApril 20, 2023
Since SZA has released her latest album ‘SOS’, it has made a lot of buzz in the music industry. The album has received positive reviews for its combination of R&B, pop, and hip-hop and featured.....
Read moreApril 20, 2023
With K-pop bands like BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and SEVENTEEN, Korean music has been on the rise over the past ten years. But Korea’s music culture doesn’t stop there....
Read moreApril 8, 2023
In October 2019, member of the K-pop group Monsta X, WONHO, faced allegations of drug usage, resulting in his departure from the group. Fans were disheartened by the news of him leaving and wondered..
Read moreApril 1, 2023
Songwriters, composers, and publishers have long been underpaid when it comes to the live concert industry. However, a successful court case may be the first step to changing that.....
Read moreMarch 28, 2023
Society has always placed a high value on music. As technology starts to become more part of our lives, social media and music platforms have become more and more prominent in the music business....
Read moreMarch 28, 2023
The Latin GRAMMY Awards are changing it up this year for songwriters! On March 21, 2023, The Latin Recording Academy released a press release announcing various additions and changes to the awards...
Read moreMarch 22, 2023
Even if you haven't heard of NewJeans yet, there's a good chance you'll soon be humming along to their infectious tunes. The Korean pop group is quickly gaining international attention and breaking..
Read moreMarch 31, 2023
Even if you don’t know who Max Martin is, you’ve definitely heard his songs. Hit-pop songs are kind of his thing after all. Martin first stepped into the music world in 1985 as a frontman for....
Read moreMarch 18, 2023
The Filipino-Canadian duo from Vancouver has been releasing new tracks left and right, and they are known for their most streamed songs on Spotify, “Timezones,” and “Silver Skies.” Previously .......
Read moreMarch 17, 2023
The singer, songwriter, and actress Miley Cyrus has recently released a record-breaking song called “Flowers” in January 2023. This song recites her 10-year long relationship with her ex-husband....
Read moreProblem:
Crash cymbals often get buried in the mix, especially when using complex miking techniques like Glyn Johns, which balances close mics with overheads. While re-recording with higher cymbals may be a solution for future projects, the challenge arises when dealing with existing recordings. With healthy compression on the drums and otherwise great sound, the crash cymbals can still sound borderline non-existent. So, what can you do from a mixing perspective?
Crash cymbals occupy higher frequency ranges (usually 2kHz to 10kHz), and depending on how much other high-frequency content is present (like vocals, guitars, or snare), they can easily get masked. In multi-mic setups like Glyn Johns, the overheads typically capture the cymbals, but improper EQ, excessive compression, or phase issues between the mics can bury the crashes.
During the recording of Nirvana’s Nevermind, Dave Grohl's powerful drumming was critical to the album’s aggressive energy. But in the mix, there were early issues with cymbals getting lost in the dense arrangements. The solution? Producer Butch Vig played around with compression and EQ while also ensuring the drum overheads were processed to bring out the cymbals without overpowering the rest of the kit. A similar approach can work in your case.
Your current compression might be taming the cymbals unintentionally. By using a multiband compressor, you can focus compression on the low-mids (where the kick and snare dominate) while leaving the high frequencies more open. This can give the crashes room to breathe without affecting the overall drum sound.
The cymbals are primarily captured in your overheads, so start by boosting frequencies between 3kHz and 7kHz to make the crashes more prominent. Be careful not to overdo it, as you don’t want the crashes to dominate or cause harshness.
Another technique Butch Vig famously used on Nevermind was parallel compression. Send your drum bus (or just your overheads) to an aux track, heavily compress the signal, and blend it back with the uncompressed drums. This allows the crashes to become more present without sacrificing the overall dynamic range.
A transient shaper can help emphasize the attack of the crash cymbals without needing to raise their volume. This can give them more punch, helping them cut through the mix better, especially during busy sections of the song.
If your mics are out of phase, it could be canceling out certain frequencies, making the cymbals quieter. Check the phase relationship between your overheads, snare, and other drum mics, and flip the phase on any mics that seem to be causing issues. Glyn Johns relies heavily on proper phase alignment, so even a minor adjustment can bring your crashes back to life.
If the crash cymbals are only getting lost in certain sections, you can automate the volume of the overheads to bring the cymbals up just in those moments. This method gives you control over the dynamic presence of the cymbals without affecting the rest of the mix.
There are plenty of ways to solve buried crash cymbals in the mix, whether through EQ, compression adjustments, or phase correction. Dave Grohl’s sessions for Nevermind prove that even powerful drumming can suffer from this issue, but with the right techniques, you can make those cymbals shine.