Timmy-
Sorry, didn't mean to skip over your question. Bear in mind that I type this with several grains of humbleness. I'm still learning and changing my methods even after doing this for several years. I also keep in mind that there are probably some folks that think my drum sound sucks! So with that preface, here's basically what I do:
Get everything as close to perfect with plugs (eq and compression) I try not to overdo the compression too much with plugs otherwise my outboard doesn't have as much to work with. One can acomplish the same type of things in the box with multing, but one great advantage of multing with outboard is that you don't have to deal with the phasing and aligning problems when done with software and the latency that goes with it. None of that with the outboard stuff.
I then play with the balances of the smashed and unsmashed feeds until things are popping the way I want. Sometimes it takes more of the smashed and less of the unsmashed. Or maybe it sounds pretty good, but maybe the compressed track is too sharp (or dull) and the compressor needs to be tweeked. Maybe the toms really sound fine without the mult or just a hint of it. It all depends on how they're tracked and how you want them to sound in the mix. All of this adjusting goes for any and all of the drums. I'll listen to the mix as a whole with the mults going, and if something is sticking out, or not sticking out enough, I'll make the adjustment. Keep in mind that if I solo a lot of this stuff, it can sound pretty rediculous. For example, a snare can sound godly in the mix, but if I solo a mult of it, it sounds nothing like a snare drum, and more like sharp snap with a short burst of white noise. Pretty ugly by itself, but mixed in with the other sound it really cuts through. It might pop really well, but have say, a distracting high end fitz going on. I have three choices. Cut that frequency a bit at the plug in, which would change the sound of it and any mult coming off it. Or I can cut it with the outboard which will still change the sound of all multed sounds, but because it's outboard it just seems to work in a more musical way. Or, I can go to the individual channel on the board and just bring down the high on the compressed track. I really just listen to the sound in the mix, and ask myself if I like it or not. If not, why? Sounds to thick in the mids, not enough fat on the bottom, too boomy, doesn't speak well in the mix... whatever, then I make adjustments. I tend to get pretty radical with settings, at least sometimes. It's really a neverending process if you let it be, you know? I think if I was given a year to mix a song, Id probably use it! There's always something that could be a little better, this song is no exception.
I'd rather be over critical with myself when it comes to music, because that's what makes me a better musician. Ever notice that the people that claim to be god's gift to music are the ones that usually suck? It's the dude in the corner talking about cookies (and not about himself) that will smoke everyone everytime.
Not sure where I was going with that, but I guess my point is if there's something that bothers you in the mix, if you experiment enough you can usually find out what it is, then you can fix it.
OK, so I've now talked about me way too much. Side note on my Soundtracs Solo Midi: its a 32 channel inline that I like alright. The cool part is that I bought it off e-bay for $1100. Used to sit in Tony Visconti's home studio (so the ad said. it was being sold by a music store in NY). It didn't come with the manual, so for the helluvit I emailed Tony and asked him some questions about it. He responded pronto, very nice guy, and told me he might have left the manual at his ex-wifes place, and he'd try to get it for me. Sure enough, a couple days later it came in the mail. I thought that was way cool. He said he liked the board and did a lot of work with it (no big names tied to this particular console). So I figured if it's good enough for him, it should work fine for me.
Jon
