Reverb tends to create a washy sound and mess up the top end that is why I prefer a delay effect instead. Paralell comping to get it more through in the mix. Not to say it SHOULD be like that, but just to check. What do you guys do for mixing hi-hats in terms of panning, stereo spread, reverb, eq? Electronic Music Instruments and Electronic Music Production, add slight reverb (just softens the sound too much, I'm probably doing it wrong), add a short delay - sounds better but doesn't snap as much as I'd like, simply turning up the volume / eq - sounds too harsh. I notice that a lot of people without too much experience mix their hihats too loud. When you buy products through links across our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. add some maracas or sizzle noise on some of the hihat hits. A couple hat tricks I like that seem to make them better: Thanks a lot for the tips, some good pointers for me to try in the weekend, will keep you updated with my progress! As a result of this emphasis on the lower spectrum, they overcompensate the top end by cranking up the hi hats. last one: take the same hat twice, panning and delaying it as in the first example, but slightly detune one of them untill you can clearly hear both and the spread is what you're looking for. To make the hats sound crisp and cohesive, we send them to a dedicated group channel. Check on monitors and headphones and it will give you good reference, Electronic Music Instruments and Electronic Music Production. The hardest part is eq and volume. Alot of hats sound way better with some distortion and an eq dip in the 6-10k range. Maybe some sidechain to the kick for effect. Maybe it has to do with their listening levels. The thing is when your song gets mastered the high frequencies will get pumped up quite a bit bringing along with them all the high frequency information (i.e. the hi hats and cymbals). My two cents: take a recording of real drums and see if you can replicate the balance of the elements with one of your beats. When you buy products through links across our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Different styles call for different feels and hats is one of the things that really makes tracks feel and move differently. There are multiple processing plugins used to achieve a final sound. Didn't have much time to play as the sun was out - very rare here in Amsterdam. I find my hats come out better when there is something else along with them, like a ride cymbal or maracas/shakers but kept in the background so the hat is heard but has some mystery to their sound. Try adding stereo delay/ reverb, then boosting nice frequencies with an eq into a tape plugin, so you get more high end presence, but the tape plugin stops it from being harsh, and gives a compression-like effect. Hey there! Not as a general rule, just as a starting point. You can also try using a ping pong delay, gate the reverb that you're adding(side chaining the gate to the kick or even to the hihat itself, it creates a nice effect.). Just a friendly reminder that political discussion, (including "offhand" and 'sideways' commenting) is. Hey there! Looking forward to experiment with the other techniques mentioned! Use pan and delay effects if you want. If your hi hats have been mixed too high, when your song is mastered they’re going to shrill and your … Of course, since they are present in so many genres of music, mixing hi-hats can have many approaches. I am looking for the hihat around 3:25, as well as the one that starts at 48:40 (slightly shorter). I don't know how versed you are in mixing things but the first mixing advice I give says lowcut on everything and highcut on some things. I played around a bit and got some much better results with some overdrive in the Rytm (more than I would normally use), sidechained compression, light*reverb and a gate. If you mix in the box try a locut at 30Hz for the kick and other low instruments.