How to add natural room depth to live drums with a parallel room send

My secret pick when it comes to giving live drums an authentic room feel with natural depth and realism: the UAD Sound City Studios plug-in.

This plugin basically lets you drop your drums (or any other instrument) into the legendary Studio A room at Sound City Studios, the same place where Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica and countless classic records were made. It’s not just a reverb, it’s a full room simulator with a ton of customization.

My approach: never on an insert

I don’t use this plugin as an insert. Ever.

Putting a reverb straight on the drums can DROWN them super fast. You know the feeling.

So instead, I always run Sound City on a parallel send. My dry drums stay punchy and clear, and all the room and depth live on their own channel.

I bring the return up slowly until I feel the space. This parallel approach keeps everything natural, organic and realistic. You get the Sound City vibe without washing out your groove.

Pick the mic placement by intention

This plugin is great because it has three different mic placements, so it really sounds like a real room. Sometimes I’ll use Close Room and Room 1. Other times I’ll just go for Room 2.

It completely depends on the intention and the effect I want in the track.

The key: EQ what you send into it

The most important thing is to EQ the signal you’re sending into it. This is what makes the biggest difference.

• If your track is getting too boomy, remove the lows.
• If you hear metallic reverberation tones in the high frequencies, cut the highs.
• If you’re missing a bit of presence, boost the 2K area.

So add an EQ right before the plugin on your send or parallel channel, and shape the signal that goes into it.

And if you don’t have this plugin, just use a regular room reverb and get experimental. You don’t need to buy every plugin people recommend out there.