EQing and Comp Outside of SD2

[Brian Brimmer]

Hi…not a total newbie, but not a power user yet. I like to use real audio tracks for my sessions in Pro Tools so I map the mixer channels from SD to tracks in my session and record the audio from the SD. I don’t use any of the effects in SD as I like to use Pro Tools for that. My question is for the most part SD/Toontrack Samples are pretty solid is it necessary to apply EQ and Compression to the individual tracks in PT? Or would I simply be over doing it? I’m curious to hear if others do use Channel Strips or other plugins on their drum tracks coming out of SD.

Thanks
Brian

Mac Mini 2.5 I5 8gb of Ram
Pro Tools 10
003 Rack

Topic

[Scott]

For the most part, the sounds in S2 need to be ‘mixed’. They aren’t designed to be used ‘as is’ and require some mixing.

You should be able to route the mixer outputs from the S2 mixer into the ProTools mixer for processing there.

See this video for how:

http://www.toontrack.com/helpdesk/issue_view_portal.asp?ID=808

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Nathan]

Whether and what FX you need is very dependent on the musical and production style you are trying to achieve, it’s a very “open-ended” question. You EQ and compress to optimise how the drums sit in the mix of your music, if that requires no processing or lots of processing it is alway “right” if it sounds “right”.

As Scott said, Superior samples are generally less processed than EZD or other drum ROMplers; the ethos being they are for the more knowledgeable and skilled “engineer” types to do as they see fit, and it’s better to apply your own processing to unprocessed sounds rather than to something someone has already shaped in a particular direction.

I used to ignore the Superior mixer and effects, and process and mix entirely within my DAW. After some time spent exploring the plugin to some depth, I’ve found myself still mixing outside of SD2, but I may use some of the Sonalksis FX within the SD2 mixer before the channels are sent out to the DAW tracks. I find the internal compressor and transient shaper are well optimised for drum sounds.

Everyone’s style is different, and everyone will give you different tips on what and how much to use, but if you look through the combined presets, or buy some of the add-on “Producer Preset” packs, you can audition what other people do, and when you find something that you like the sound of, you can look in the mixer for the routing, the processing, the tuning, the dampening, etc to see how it was achieved.

I like the producer presets, they’re a pre-processed sound that you can cheerfully unravel, un-pick and undo. They are also a good reference to see quite what some producers and engineers will do to get the sound they want.

Hope this was sort of what you needed to hear. Happy to chew the cud on specifics if you have more questions…

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SD2.3, NYII, C&V, MC, MF, ED, Latin Perc, Twisted, Pop, N1H, Electronic, Classic, Funkmasters, Rock Solid, Blues, Indie-Folk.

[Author]

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