Essential Guide to Mixing Drums with Modern Punch & 80s Flavor

Apr 14, 2025 | 8,442 Views

Looking to get that explosive retro pop drum sound heard in some of today’s biggest records?

In this tutorial, producer and mix engineer Guy Britton shows you how to blend live multitrack drums with samples to create that punchy, modern 80’s inspired tone like the drum mixes you hear in tracks by Chappell Roan and other chart-toppers.

Using Waves plugins, Guy also walks you through how he goes about using EQ, compression, reverb, saturation and parallel effects to build a massive feeling drum sound.

Watch how plugins like the SSL E-Channel, BB Tubes, CLA-3A, and Abbey Road Plates work together to turn raw recordings into drums that hit with real attitude.

Video Chapters:

  • 0:00 – Intro & session overview
  • 1:30 – Kick & snare mic processing
  • 3:00 – Sub kick & low-end enhancement
  • 4:45 – Overheads EQ & compression
  • 5:55 – Room mic processing & reverb
  • 7:00 – Drum bus saturation & compression
  • 8:30 – Adding samples
  • 9:30 – Creating gated reverb
  • 10:45 – Final mix Before/After comparison

Check out Waves Creative Access Ultimate to get instant access to the plugins featured in this video along with every plugin Waves has to offer.

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