2. The kit and the base sound
Choosing a kit and preset for rock/metal without losing three hours: what defines the character, what's worth changing now and what gets decided in the mix.
Choosing the kit is the most fun part and the one that steals the most time. SD3 has hundreds of possible combinations and it’s very easy to spend a whole afternoon trying snares without having programmed a single bar. This section exists to avoid exactly that.
What defines the character (in order of importance)
1. The snare
It’s the piece that most defines the genre. A deep, dry snare sounds like modern rock; a higher one with rim sounds like punk; a very compressed, short one, like metal. If you’re only going to pay attention to one piece, make it this one.
2. The kick
It defines whether the song hits or booms. For rock/metal you want a kick with an audible click (the attack of the drumhead, in the 2–5 kHz zone) as well as body: that click is what cuts through the guitars and what you hear on small speakers.
3. The cymbals and the room
Cymbals change the genre less and the density more: large, bright cymbals fill a lot and compete with the guitars. The room (the room channels) defines the size. Both get dosed in the mix, so don’t decide them precisely now.
For the guide song: a concrete starting point
It gives you a complete kit, already balanced between pieces. Starting from a genre preset saves all the work of building the kit piece by piece, and SD3's internal balance is usually a reasonable starting point.
More click = more definition and more audibility on small speakers. Body only = a boom that blends with the bass and blurs it. If the preset has a very 'fat' kick with no attack, try another one before fighting it with EQ later.
Try it with the guitar riff playing, not on its own. A snare that sounds beautiful and thick alone can disappear under the guitars; one that sounds a bit bright or 'cheap' alone is often the one that cuts best in the mix.
Tuning and internal adjustments: just enough
SD3 lets you adjust the tuning, damping and level of each piece. It’s worth using to fix something that bothers you, not to sculpt:
- If a tom sounds out of tune with the song, adjust its tuning.
- If a piece rings too much, a touch of damping.
- If the hi-hat is too loud relative to the snare, lower it a bit.
Everything in SD3 is non-destructive and can be changed whenever you want: the MIDI isn't touched. It's worth giving it 15 minutes now and coming back with the mix context in place, where you'll make better decisions in less time.
Two things worth checking now
Bleed (between microphones)
SD3’s libraries include the natural bleed between microphones: when the snare is played, some snare gets into the overheads and the room. That’s good: it’s what makes the kit sound like a real drum kit played in a room and not loose pieces stuck together. SD3 lets you control how much bleed there is; unless you have a specific problem, leave it as it comes.
The output level
Check that SD3 isn’t coming out right against the ceiling. Drum hits are the loudest transients in the whole song: if they come out too hot, every plugin you add afterward will sound more aggressive and you’ll lose headroom before you start. Aim for channel peaks around −10 to −6 dBFS.
Common mistakes
What NOT to chase yet
Quick path: kit in 15 minutes
Quick path
- Load a rock or modern metal preset from the base library.
- Get the verse guitar riff playing.
- Listen to whether the snare cuts over the guitars. If not, try two or three more snares and pick one.
- Check that the kick has a click, not just body.
- Adjust what bothers you (a tom's tuning, the hi-hat level) and nothing else.
- Check that channel peaks sit at −10 to −6 dBFS.
- Move on to programming the groove.
Expected result
Expected result
A loaded kit that fits the genre and that you can hear clearly over the guitars, with the output level in order and just enough internal adjustments. It may sound dry and small, and that’s how it should be at this stage. With the base sound sorted, here comes the part that really decides whether the drums work: programming the groove.