Audified

94
| AUGUST 2018 WWW.MUSICRADAR.COM/RHYTHM
GEAR REVIEW
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D
r um kits are one of the hardest
instruments to record – even after
you shape your environment, place
your microphones and hit the red
button, theres still the matter of mixing the
individual tracks to sound like one cohesive kit.
And the more microphones you use, the more
the task at hand multiplies. This can range from
(and also beyond) using a gate to isolate signals
on a particular track, compression to add punch
and make the dynamic range less erratic, EQ to
carve out or boost frequencies, or the addition
of soft, valve-style clipping to emulate the
‘warmthof analogue gear.
For its latest product, Czech audio plugin
developer, Audifi ed has teamed up with DW
Drums to produce the DW Drum Enhancer, a
collection of common audio processing tools
designed especially for processing acoustic
drum sounds.
Build
Audifi ed supplies the plugin in all common
formats used by DAW software (VST, AU, AAX)
and it’s an all-in-one multi-effect design,
complete with gate, compressor, EQ section
and saturation module. The idea being that you
can place an instance of the plugin on every
recorded drum track, or your busses to deliver
the same processing to multiple kit parts at
once. It is neatly laid out in a virtual rack,
owing left to right in line with the way the
signal ows through the plugin. There is a
‘Drum type’ selector, allowing you to choose
the part of your kit youre processing, simple
controls and clear metering for input,
saturation level, output, and the gain reduction
applied from the compressor.
Hands On
We started this review by loading up a Logic
project containing some drum tracks
recorded far from perfectly in a modest, yet
commercial recording studio 10 years ago.
The tracks suffered from a lot of spill, lacked
punch and were recorded at a less-than-ideal
signal level (low), so it’s fair to say they were
in need of some enhancement. The effect is
applied as an ‘insert’ on your track and
€199 From gating to saturation, here’s a simple
way to process your drum recordings
AUDIFIED DW
DRUM ENHANCER
WORDS: STUART WILLIAMS
“YOU CAN DIAL IN A BALANCE TO
MAINTAIN THE ORIGINAL ‘SHAPE
OF YOUR SIGNAL WITHOUT
SQUASHING IT TO DEATH”
MODULES
The DW Drum Enhancer
contains a gate, compressor,
EQ and saturation effects
starting with a bass drum that contained
more hi-hat than the top shelf of a trilby shop,
we got to work trying to let the plugin do its
thing. First up you choose the type of sound
you’re applying the effects to this switches
the plugins settings that you dont have
editing-access to: compressor ratios and
attack times, EQ frequency ranges etc. There
are Kick, Snare, Toms, each containing
Modern, Heavy and Vintage options, as well
as an Other category leaving options for
overheads, room, and a drum bus. The name
of the game here is simplicity - Audifi ed have
given you the ability to tweak parameters that
they feel you might need to, but not the ones
that make processing more dif cult. Gating
drums can be tricky to get right, as there is a
ne line between chopping out bleed and
cutting off the tail of notes you want to keep.
This is defi nitely more effective than using
other stock plugins. We were quickly able to
remove the bulk of our hi-hat bleed without
destroying the fundamental bass drum sound,
meaning that we make additional processing
further down the line only apply to the bass
drum, rather than unwanted noise. Next up is
1
TOONTRACK EZ
MIX 2
We say: While EZ Mix
has a heavy leaning to
guitar processing, there
is certainly plenty for
drums too. As with
EZDrummer, additional
mix packs from
big-name producers are
also available as
add-ons.
saturation level, output, and the gain reduction
youre applying the effects to this switches
the plugins settings that you dont have
editing-access to: compressor ratios and
attack times, EQ frequency ranges etc. There
are Kick, Snare, Toms, each containing
Modern, Heavy and Vintage options, as well
as an Other category leaving options for
overheads, room, and a drum bus. The name
of the game here is simplicity - Audifi ed have
2
WAVES CLA
DRUMS
We say: This
‘keep-it-simple’ solution
from Waves allows for
similarly preset
processing, designed
in collaboration
with golden-eared
mix engineer,
Chris Lord Alge
RHY283.gear_dw.indd 94 15/06/2018 17:18

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