Lot's of text incoming.
I did some more looking around in the frequency analyzer to see if I was missing anything, and it turns out I was; there was a very small presence in the 60 - 140Hz range in the snare sample. But it was so tiny that it wasn't showing up on the frequency analyzer in Logic's EQ until I turned the volume way up to check. So I did a 48dB/oct high pass at 150Hz to the snare, and the giant volume spike was reduced by about 3.5dB, which isn't perfect, but still a HUGE improvement :'D
I also rolled off everything below 30Hz in the kick drum, because that's just unnecessary bass that can't even be played on most commercial subwoofers (right?).
the4thImpulse wrote:I think its worth asking, if it sounds good to you why exactly is it a problem you must fix?
Well, by that I meant that I liked the kicks to be played with the snares. I should clarify that what doesn't sound good to me is that huge volume increase with snares + kicks, not to mention the fact that it would be a pain to master.
the4thImpulse wrote:I would rather reduce that 200 Hz range from the snare... I would let the kick punch through in the 200 Hz. You could also try multiband compression and compress those specific frequencies...
Yeah, I think the snare can afford to lose some 200Hz, as Lavender and GumsofGabby also said. And I tried multiband compression like you said and wow, I really should have thought of using one before. It helps a lot in this situation!
Omegastick wrote:Personally I'd just throw a limiter on there, but that's just me.
Nah, omitting all that gain would sound really terrible in this case.
GumsOfGabby wrote:Try lowering the clashing area on both your kick and snare to free up room, maybe even take out the lower end of the snare with a high pass curve. You could try to ever-so-slightly sidechain the kick to the snare, so when the kick hits, the snare slightly ducks to free up headroom (works better for claps). You could find better fitting samples that don't clash as much. You could also try (on top of everything else) bussing your drums together and limiting the buss to the volume of the loudest instrument (usually the kick) with no attack and a short release. This will stop any left over transients from getting through and the short release time will avoid creating a pumping effect. If all fails, don't play them simultaneously.
Also very useful info. Sidechaining was something I didn't even think of in this situation!
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Seven, Lavender, and Nine Volt each suggested the idea of having a second kick drum without that 200Hz presence to be played with snares. I might do this in the future.