How to EQ drums on the drum bus
To EQ drums, fix each drum on its own track first, then make small moves on the drum bus. Cut about 2 dB of box between 300 and 600 Hz, add 1 dB of attack between 2 and 5 kHz, and a 1 to 2 dB shelf above 8 kHz if the cymbals sound dull.
Drum kits have 5 bands worth knowing, from kick thump (50 to 80 Hz) to air (8 to 14 kHz).
The starting point on this page makes 1 cut, 3 boosts and uses 0 filters. The other 1 band stay flat until you hear a problem there.
Work through the bands in order from the bottom. Cuts come first because they clear space; boosts come last and stay small.
The 5 drums bands
| Band | Range | When it's wrong | The move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kick thump | 50 to 80 Hz | The kit has no weight | Boost the kick, not the whole bus |
| Snare body | 150 to 250 Hz | The snare sounds thin | Boost on the snare track |
| Box | 300 to 600 Hz | The kit sounds boxy or cardboard | Cut of 2 dB on the bus |
| Attack | 2 to 5 kHz | Hits are soft and lost | Boost of 1 dB on the bus |
| Air | 8 to 14 kHz | Cymbals sound dull | High shelf of 1 to 2 dB |
The moves, in order
Kick thump, 50 to 80 Hz
The kit has no weight. It lives between 50 and 80 Hz. Boost the kick, not the whole bus. The starting point is a 1 dB boost at 60 Hz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Snare body, 150 to 250 Hz
The snare sounds thin. It lives between 150 and 250 Hz. Boost on the snare track. This band stays flat in the starting point; touch it only when you can hear the problem in a drum kit.
Box, 300 to 600 Hz
The kit sounds boxy or cardboard. It lives between 300 and 600 Hz. Cut of 2 dB on the bus. The starting point is a 2 dB cut at 400 Hz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Attack, 2 to 5 kHz
Hits are soft and lost. It lives between 2 and 5 kHz. Boost of 1 dB on the bus. The starting point is a 1 dB boost at 4 kHz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Air, 8 to 14 kHz
Cymbals sound dull. It lives between 8 and 14 kHz. High shelf of 1 to 2 dB. The starting point is a 1.5 dB boost at 10 kHz with a Q of 0.7, wide enough to sound natural.
The settings in Live 12
Channel EQLite, Intro
- Highpass On
- Off
- Low Gain
- 1.0 dB
- Mid Freq
- 400 Hz
- Mid Gain
- -2.0 dB
- High Gain
- 1.5 dB
Keep the high pass off on the drum bus or the kick loses its weight. The mid band takes out the box and the high shelf lifts the cymbals.
EQ EightStandard, Suite
- 1 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 1 Frequency A
- 60.0 Hz
- 1 Gain A
- 1.0 dB
- 1 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 2 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 2 Frequency A
- 400 Hz
- 2 Gain A
- -2.0 dB
- 2 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 3 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 3 Frequency A
- 4.00 kHz
- 3 Gain A
- 1.0 dB
- 3 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 4 Filter Type A
- High Shelf
- 4 Frequency A
- 10.0 kHz
- 4 Gain A
- 1.5 dB
Every move here is 2 dB or less. If the bus needs more than that, go back to the single drum that causes it.
In short: 1 dB boost at 60 Hz, 2 dB cut at 400 Hz, 1 dB boost at 4 kHz and 1.5 dB boost at 10 kHz. Then listen in the full mix, not in solo, and undo anything you can't hear.
Fix the drums first, then the bus
A drum bus is the group track where the kick, snare, toms, hats, cymbals and room mics come together. In Live, select the drum tracks and press Ctrl+G (Cmd+G on a Mac) to put them in a group, and the group track becomes your bus.
Every move on the bus changes every drum at once. That is why the order matters. Fix each drum on its own track first, so the kick has its thump and click, the snare has its body and crack, and the toms don't ring. Our kick drum and snare guides walk through those moves. Only when each drum sounds right in the mix should you reach for EQ on the bus.
If you skip this step, the bus ends up doing jobs it can't do well. A boost for a weak kick also lifts the low end of every tom and room mic. A cut for a ringing snare also takes body from the toms. You end up chasing one drum while the others get worse.
Set rough levels before any EQ, too. A kit where the hats are too loud will seem to need a top cut on the bus, when the real fix is the hat fader.
What bus EQ can and can't do
Bus EQ is good at shaping the kit as one sound. A small cut in the box between 300 and 600 Hz clears the cardboard tone that builds up when many drums and room mics add together. A small lift for attack between 2 and 5 kHz helps the hits come through on small speakers. A gentle high shelf above 8 kHz brings up the cymbals and the air around the kit. A 1 dB lift around 60 Hz for a little more weight is fine, because a move that small adds body to the kit without clouding it. Moves of 1 to 2 dB are usually enough, because the bus is already a blend of good sounds.
Bus EQ can't fix one drum without changing the rest. It can't make a soft kick hit hard, take the ring out of one tom, or tame one harsh cymbal. If you find yourself making a big or narrow move on the bus, stop and look for the single track that causes it.
The order of EQ and compression on the bus matters as well. Put the cuts before the compressor, so it doesn't react to the boxy energy you are about to remove. Put the small boosts after it, so each boost stays exactly as you set it. In Live you can use two EQ devices on the group track, one before the compressor and one after it.
Drums in electronic tracks and live kits
An electronic kit made from samples is often clean already. Each sample was shaped by someone before you got it, and there are no room mics or spill to clear. A bus like that may need almost no EQ. Try the air shelf if the hats sound dull, or a small box cut if two samples pile up in the low mids, and leave the rest flat. Many electronic kits sound better with the bus EQ off.
A recorded live kit is a different case. Each mic picks up every drum, so the box range builds up fast, and the room mics add more low mids again. Here the box cut on the bus does real work. The cymbals also spill into every mic, so an air shelf on the bus lifts them everywhere at once, which can be more natural than boosting the overheads alone.
Programmed kits played through a drum rack sit in between. Sounds from different sample packs often don't match in tone, so a light bus EQ can help them sound like one kit.
Mistakes on the drum bus
A big low boost on the bus to make the kick bigger is the most common one. It also lifts the toms, the room and every bit of low spill, and the whole kit gets muddy. Give the kick its weight on the kick track.
Cutting the high end to tame harsh cymbals takes the attack off the snare and the click off the kick too. Find the harsh cymbal or hat and treat that track instead.
Stacking an air shelf on the bus with a saturator, bright samples and a bright reverb can pile up the top end until the kit is tiring. Switch each device off in turn and check what it adds.
Judging the bus in solo is another trap. Drums that sound full alone often crowd the bass in the song. Make every bus move with the bass and the rest of the mix playing.
Last, a bus EQ that is never switched off can drift. Bypass it now and then at the same level. If you can't hear it helping, take it out.
Questions people ask
Should I EQ each drum or the drum bus?
Both, in that order. Fix each drum on its own track first, because a boxy snare or a weak kick needs a move that only that drum should get. Then use the drum bus for small moves on the whole kit, such as a 2 dB cut in the box between 300 and 600 Hz and a 1 to 2 dB shelf for the cymbals.
Does drum bus EQ go before or after compression?
Put the cuts before the compressor and the small boosts after it. Cutting the box between 300 and 600 Hz first stops the compressor reacting to energy you don't want. A 1 dB attack lift or an air shelf placed after the compressor stays exactly as you set it, instead of being pushed around by the gain changes.
How much should you boost on a drum bus?
Not much. In our drum bus settings no move is bigger than 2 dB. There is a 1 dB lift around 60 Hz, a 1 dB lift around 4 kHz for attack, and a 1.5 dB high shelf at 10 kHz. If the bus seems to need more than that, the problem is usually one drum, so go back and fix that track.