Drum Loops: What Software Brings Them to Life? – Page 2 – Effects Forum

I’d use :
– a noise gate first. Not to cut anything, only to reduce the lower volumes. You’ll get insane contrast and so more power instantly.
– a speaker simulator to create living resonances. If phase issues appear, simply run it 100% through a very very short reverb added in parallel mode. You’ll get the sound but not the problems.
– compress your drum loop as much as possible, until the sound seems ultimately powerful to you, then dry/wet it until you like it. Start from dry and slowly add wet.
– if needed, a transient modifier can add life instantly.
– think of reverb. But not as huge spaces. Use very small reverbs. As long as you obtain something better when you dry/wet it, you’re good to go. Try presets or make your own if you know what you want. If you want this snare to sound deeper, then program your own reverb by making it 100% wet and simply adjust everything until you only hear a deeper snare. It’s quite easy by selecting the sidechain frequencies : cut anything excepted the main snare frequencies. Then back to dry/wet when done, simply control how much deeper your snare will be. Repeat for anything, may it be a hat, a tamb or a kick. By staying subtile, you can make your drumloop come to life very easily this way.

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