# Using Waves' Kramer Master Tape to help Superior Drummer sit in the mix



## philoking (Jul 10, 2012)

I have been blown away with the Waves' Kramer Master Tape's ability to make Superior Drummer sound more natural and make a mix breathe a bit more naturally.

Last night I grabbed the Feared Rejects stems and drum MIDI and make some samples and a video showing how much of a difference it can make. If you've been considering this plugin or a similar plugin I highly recommend it. I've also posted the presets I used in the video to download on my blog. Enjoy!

Use Waves Kramer Master Tape to make your mixes sound professional | Project K2R4


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## octatonic (Jul 10, 2012)

I've been using Kramer Tape for a while now.
It is great on live drums too- and really cool to strap across the master bus.


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## revclay (Jul 15, 2012)

That plug-in sounds really cool on drums. I've found that it can also sound cool on rhythm guitars. It adds a degree of warmth and helps the guitars bite a little bit more without sounding harsh. Thanks for sharing.


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## theoctopus (Jul 15, 2012)

Tried this the other day. It does do a good job of helping super drummer sit better in the mix. Thanks for the tip!


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## GTailly (Aug 10, 2012)

Never heard of this before now.
I really like it! I might need to try this later on. 
Thank you for sharing.


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## Bigfan (Aug 10, 2012)

theoctopus said:


> It does do a good job of helping *super drummer* sit better in the mix.


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Aug 10, 2012)

Nice presentation PhiloKing. 

Here's a  and some other ideas to expand the discussion beyond tape emulators. Many developers offer a wide range of vintage tape emulations, often at premium prices.

Just adding a process to the master drum buss is only one small part of the overall processing and treatment of a great drum sound. Here are some other topics to consider.

*Alternative tape simulation*
If your interested in analogue tape simulation why not try Ferric TDS (The winner of the KVR Developer Challenge 2009) from Variety of Sound?

Ferric TDS - Donationware - Free Download @ Variety of Sound
Downloads

*Methods of arranging Drum channels across the mixing desk*
The traditional approach to drums is to send each section of the kit to a separate buss group, feeding a master drum buss then out to the stereo buss. Each buss offers an opportunity for processing and treatment. 
A consideration is the latency of each process on the busses, so using the same effects chain on each buss (whether in use or set flat) maintains the time integrity of the whole ensemble kit.
This method allows for separate treatment of the kick, snare, toms and cymbals for gating/sidechain input trigger, transient designers, EQ, (parallel) compression, limiting and any digital reverb, if there is not enough from the room (  ).

*Reverb automation*
Automating the level of the room channel, increasing the amount of reverb during slow passages and decreasing for faster passages, is a favourable way of avoiding artificial reverbs, reducing latency, system overhead and most importantly, the time integrity of your drum performance.

A popular vocal effect is to use multiple delay and reverb sources throughout a track. This technique could also be applied creatively to the drums, where space and time (tempo) permits.

*Drum master buss automation*
Often programmed drums lack the dynamics of a real drummers performance, even if care is taken during MIDI programming to preserve these aspects of a drummer's art.
Applying automation to the kick,snare and cymbal channels, groups or busses can add greater depth to the electronic performance.

*Other uses for rhythmic sources*
Side chain input triggering for compression on other instruments from a drum source can preserve the integrity of the kick by reducing the clutter from other instruments during the kick's impacts. Noise gates can also be triggered this way.
You can use this to re-sync other instruments into time with the drums, create pseudo arpeggiator or synth gate effects using a noise gate and the hi hats as the source and many other creative techniques. Or simply trigger compression on the bass and/or the guitars with the kick drum as the source.
You may have to research your DAW and your plugins manuals to learn how sidechains are implemented on your system.

*Compression*
Stillwell audio's Major Tom compressor offers sidechain input trigger, as do many other free sidechain compressors available online for download.

Stillwell Audio - It's About The Sound

Endorphin compressor - Donationware
http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=3

The present trend is for emulation of analogue compressors, such as SSL, Neve, Pultec, Empirical Labs or Manley (to name a few) for those mixing with plug ins. Here is a website which attempts to maintain a list of vintage emulation software, which includes many free to try or donationware plug ins.

http://www.audio-hardware-emus.com/

*Audio replacement and reinforcement*
Sampler drum reinforcement is a great way to include drum samples from outside the range provided with your drum sampler. This could include re imagining your acoustic drum performance with electronic drum sounds or simply adding additional snare or kick reinforcement with a favourite sample, or one from a real kit which you have recorded.

Blending multiple layers of samples can achieve a larger than life sound, although subtle blending can yield the most natural results.

Shortcircuit - Sampler
vemberaudio.se - shortcircuit

*Subwoofers*
Mixing heavy drums without speakers capable of low bass reproduction is an uphill struggle. Yet an important consideration is how these sounds will appear on inadequate listening enviroments, such as in-ear headphones or laptops, as the majority of music is sampled before purchase this way.

Listening with a subwoofer and checking the mix on a more limited set of speakers is the only way to ensure mix translation across all playback devices.

Ensuring that the kick has some overtones in the low mids and an attack in the higher frequencies is one method for successful mix translation, for those that can't enjoy the full onslaught of metal drumming on a decent system.


*Finally...*
There's been a lot of discussion of drum recording techniques over the last few weeks. Nice video PhiloKing, I'm sure a lot of people will benefit from rethinking their drum treatments. Hopefully some links and free stuff will get some more looks. 

I've been working on drum mixes for an album recently, recreating real performances virtually for quality control, and to be honest I don't want to hear anymore drums for quite some time!


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