What up Adrián. Samples bro. Slide them in under the drums you have issues with because you will get better and quicker results than with just EQ. I think your low end is a little overwhelming here and swallows the mix a little. Guitars could do with some more volume to bring up the energy of the chorus. 👍

Hey man, nice mix. I do think that your snares need a bit of work. It sounds pretty "tinny" and garage sounding, like there is nothing under 500 hz. On the other hand, you have a full sounding kick drum with plenty of attack and low end, so the energy seems a bit lopsided. I also think the kick can be blended in a bit with the bass as well. It kinda feels like you have a sidechain going on, and every time the kick hits, its kinda "jumping out" of the mix.

Hey Adrian, good stuff trying to mix in a genre you aren't comfortable with! I'm really shit with Pop/EDM, I really think it depends on what you listen to and what you naturally gravitate towards. So yeah, I'll try to help you out with the snare.

Samples can work, but I think it's better to learn how to EQ these things properly and not rely on help. First you have to cut some of the problem areas out of there. Usually filter up to around 100 (use your ears always of course) and back off once it starts to sound thin, you don't want to lose the body. Next, there is usually a boxiness in the snare sound, that's usually in the 250-400 area (again, use your ears, it's not set in stone). Take a bit away from wherever the boxy tone is and you should notice the snare already sounds a bit punchier. Then start using additive EQ. Try to give it a boost around 150-200ish, the fundamental frequency of a snare is usually in that area and that's where the body comes from. You can get attack in the 1-2k range and a bit of snap/clarity in the 4k range. If the snare already sounds like it has a lot of attack, maybe just boost in the clarity area. If it is missing attack, don't focus on 4k and see what you can draw out in the attack range instead. For the bottom snare mic (which is usually there but I can't remember if this track had one but I'll assume so), you can filter off a bit more at the bottom. On the bottom of the snare drum are the, well, snares, so that's where that sizzly sound comes from. So you don't necessarily need body from this drum and can focus on boosting more high end to get that snare sound out of it. Still cut out the boxiness wherever that is. You want the bottom snare's presense so boosting or shelving up high is usually a solid choice, you can start around 4-5k if you wish or if you want a bit of attack, start shelving up down lower. Then compress it fairly hard and blend it in underneath your top snare mic, as you don't want the bottom mic to be louder than the top mic.

Finally, if you still aren't happy with the snare sound (most of us aren't), you can duplicate the snare (one mic or both) and then run a parallel distortion chain. Go nuts here, EQ/Compress the hell out of it, hit it heavy with distortion. Decide if you want the snare to sound heavier or if you want more snap out of it, because if you want heavier it's a good idea to do these crazy boosts in the attack range but if you want that snap/sizzle, try the higher frequencies. Now, blend these tracks in underneath with the natural snares and you'll have something sounding a lot more aggressive/edgy sounding.

Anyway, apologies for the novel, but as a drummer I naturally will never miss the opportunity to ramble on about snare sounds :p Hope this helps out! BTW I liked the mix and think you did a good job in a genre you aren't familiar with. Never hurts to broaden your horizons and put on a spotify playlist of these genres and listen to some tracks to become more familiar with them!

Thanks @Caleb Wong and @Brandon Towles for your feedback :)) really will take it into account

@Ben Sinclair Wow! What a nice snare lesson. Will definitely take all into account next time im working on a real snare. (Im really used to mixing sampled snares haha) but one should always know how to solve every problem. Thank you! :D

@Ben Sinclair This is one of the best snare masterclasses I have read... :)

Hey Adrián,

Nice work man. I (as a drummer aswell) agree with Ben ;) on that snare. It needs a lot of love.

What strikes me concerning your drum sound is that the kit doesn't seem to be in 1 physical place. The kick drum seems right in front of me while the snare is way back in a hall somewhere. The overheads seem to be nearer to the snare than the bassdrum but the whole thing makes me confused.

I always try to really picture the band in front of me while mixing (or listening for that matter !).

@Hans Mulders Thanks Hans. I definitely have to do some work to improve on acoustic drums :)