Using a Drum Set EQ Cheat Sheet

What is a drum EQ cheat sheet? Well, it’s a way for one to play along with drum music without having to pay the full price for the drum set. For example, let’s say you are listening to a hip hop or rock song and all of a sudden something happens to the beat. Suddenly, it’s distorted or it doesn’t sound like the original source. If you are just listening, you might not know that there is something wrong with the beat. But if you listen to the whole song, you will notice that the beat is different.

This is what we are trying to do. We want to capture the beat so that when we are playing it through our drums, we can match it up with the other instruments that we are playing. What does this mean? Well, when you have two microphones, each microphone is picking up a slightly different frequency. That’s why we have two channels on our drum set.

Now, what is the best way to match these frequencies together? We need an electronic equalizer or an electronic drum set or what we call a kick tune effect unit. It is this Equalizer that will match the frequencies and prevent them from being too far apart. It is also what will allow us to “fill in” parts of the drum beat. Now, that is the essence of a good drum set – matching the parts and sounds so that we can play the entire song right.

This is why we use an electronic equalizer on the drum set. When we start playing a song, we start from the center and slowly work our way out. When we are playing a song that has a lot of bass notes, the kick drum should be playing at a lower volume. On the other hand, if the song has a lot of treble notes, the hi-hat should be very high pitched. This is when an electronic drum set unit is needed most.

Now, it is time to put this all together. If we take a lower volume setting, then we are keeping the bass level down, but we are not cutting the treble enough. Therefore, we are creating space between the drums and creating a more open beat. Now, if we take a slightly higher volume setting, we are increasing the treble but not lowering the bass. Therefore, we are creating a closed beat.

All of this information should make it very easy for you to make sense of this drum set a cheat sheet. You can use this in conjunction with other systems and find what works best for you. In fact, I would recommend using several systems. Using one will give you the “fat-n-fruity” sound of percussion and will create a nice contrast with the main rhythm. But, combining it with a system that uses “treble bleed” and “swing” for the percussion will create a very striking and dynamic sound effect.