How do you pan your toms?

[4piecekit]

Hey,

I'm interested in how others pan the toms of a drum kit when mixing... I've done it so many ways and just can't seem to be able to lock in a way that always sounds nicely spread, even and authentic. Usually working with 3 toms.

Thanks for any input!!!

[mementus]

When the song has good amount of toms fills I usually go: high-Tom L55 - Mid-Tom R55 - Low-Tom R85.
If the song contains only a few Toms hits (i.e. 4 hits in 3 mins) I don't care and leave everything in the middle, C.

[4piecekit]

Cool, I'll try something like that. I've been trying slightly off center for the mid tom, but it always seems to take up too much room.

Thanks!

[jamcat]

"How do you pan your toms?" is a much more complex question than it appears.
It's jumping to the end, when you need to be starting at the beginning.
Because when mixing drums, everything needs to be working together organically as a unit. So you need to start with the foundation: the overheads.

Different mic configurations have differing key characteristics: stereo imaging/width; center channel/phase/mono compatibility; mix level.

There are plenty of good articles that explain the various techniques, and even better YouTube videos that demonstrate them with A/B/C/D comparisons.

Typically people end up going for either an ORTF or a spaced pair.
You want to choose a pattern that provides distinct stereo placement, and either of those fit the bill.

You should start by mixing just the overheads with mic placement until you have a good balance to the kit, natural stereo image, and minimal phase issues. Once you have that, you have your foundation and blueprint for the whole kit. Start bringing in close mics, starting with the kick right down the center. Bring it up until it starts peaking out, and then pull it back a touch.

The point of close mics is to provide some definition and clarity to your kit. They play a supporting role. The overheads are the star of the show.

Now move on to the snare, and do the same. Bring it up slowly until it starts to peak out. Your snare may be a little off center in the overheads, and that’s OK. If you’re doing rock, snare really doesn’t need to be dead center. Pan the snare close mic until it aligns with the snare in your overheads.

If you have a separate hi-hat mic, do the same.

Now you get to your toms. You guessed it, do the same again. Where your toms sit in the overhead stereo image is where you should pan your toms' close mics.

This is perhaps a long explanation for how to pan toms, but it is necessary to get the foundation right, because the overhead image literally determines the answer to your question. Your drum sound is 90% overheads.

Also, I personally like a generous amount of room mic in the mix. It gives the drums a raw, exiting, live energy.

All of these techniques can be applied to a good multi-track drum library. Obviously, the overheads placement is already done for you, but the rest is exactly the same.

If you are using drum samples, make sure it includes an overheads channel. If you’re just using one-shot ROMpler style drums, it’s going to sound fake. When it comes to drums, overheads are everything.

[kingozrecords]

wider with mid and thinner with side. maybe use the klevgrand dc1a3 to make them sound smoother, you could use reverse one of the drums to make it sound different.

[madsm]

I pan them like they would be placed if I was the drummer.

[Tonio_]

I try to match the overheads

[vurt]

jones to the left, oconnor to the right.

[DMG68]

Hanks to the left, Cruise to the right, I say

[vurt]

you're clearly more modern than me.