How do you lay out the drums?

[Aasmund1986]

Do you make a ReDrum for each drum sample and link it up to the mixer, or do you just use, DrRex, Kong or the new Rytmik drum machine?

[selig]

Do you make a ReDrum for each drum sample and link it up to the mixer, or do you just use, DrRex, Kong or the new Rytmik drum machine?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
All of the above, sometimes in the same song. With Kong or Redrum (or NNXT) I don't always split each channel out - it depends on the samples and the song. If it sounds great as is, I treat the drum mix output the same as I would a sub-mix of the drums.

I really don't have one way of working in Reason. Sometimes I start with a REX loop (sometimes playing the loop, other times with a Player controlling it) and never find I need anything more. Other times I'll add a ReDrum or Kong with samples specifically chosen to fill the gaps of the drum loop (sonically speaking).

[guitfnky]

personally, I almost never break out drums into different tracks, because it inevitably leads to spending way too much time nitpicking about each individual sound, instead of focusing on the music. I'm all about top-down mixing, especially when it comes to the drums. if it ain't broke, don't overcomplicate it.

[diminished]

personally, I almost never break out drums into different tracks, because it inevitably leads to spending way too much time nitpicking about each individual sound, instead of focusing on the music. I'm all about top-down mixing, especially when it comes to the drums. if it ain't broke, don't overcomplicate it.

For me it makes even less sense since the arrival of all-in-one tools like Virtual Drummer and RDK. I appreciate the new lazy workflow very very much and I don't mind the loss in flexibility at all.
If I want it, I can still have it. All good. Sometimes it's smart to have the kick and the snare go out individually just to be safe later on and switch reverbs etc, but in my case that's necessary only about 15% of the time. Shrug.

... and then I listen to selig's mixes and second guess my whole approach

[rgdaniel]

Truth...

personally, I almost never break out drums into different tracks, because it inevitably leads to spending way too much time nitpicking about each individual sound, instead of focusing on the music. I'm all about top-down mixing, especially when it comes to the drums. if it ain't broke, don't overcomplicate it.

[Zac]

These days I always separate out the kick as i usually want to compress/transient shape/saturate/specific reverb it but also because I like to have it as a side chain source (not everything is 4 to the floor )

The rest depends. Usually the main snare/clap is separated too but there's often another that might be in a combined output or top loop.

I always have all the drums bussed at least once so i can have an overall filter or dynamics or fx.

[PhillipOrdonez]

I always separate each drum element to is own mix channel.

[WarStar]

I use multiple Kong's for kicks, toms and snares.. sometimes I'll have more than one kick in one Kong but usually one Kong for a kick, one Kong for snare and so on. Like others have mentioned I don't mess around with the breakouts much. It's easier for my workflow with multiple Kong's. I do have a Drum Starter, scratch track, with Kick, snare, hats, and claps in one Kong just to get rough drum ideas down. After I'm happy with the pattern I then copy MIDI for separate drum parts and plug them into seperate Kong's as mentioned.

[aeox]

I always separate each drum element to is own mix channel.

[kuhliloach]

My latest way of doing things is dragging a specific sample directly onto the sequencer into its own track and creating the part in the main sequencer view. Each sample has its own track, so my workflow starts with no Reason devices, just the mix channels. I love Kong and ReDrum for real-time stuff, but as the sequencer has been improving its been fun to try a new method.

[reddust]

I actually use BFD3 which has intern separate channels for each drum piece and I still separate them myself on the sequencer because sometimes I want to apply external effects to single drum kit pieces

[way2cool]

in all my song I use loops drum beat besides now that I figure out how to make my reason work now I try redrum and then prefer in using kong instead, I try so far to make all the drum same kong but is not right for me the mixing so now I like to put all the drum pieces in separate kongs and it seem so much more realistic to mix best way,, and now each sound more clearly also and each one on those drum having his own eq and devices also I like it as best then with loops and one kong only

[dan_g]

for me its also every Redrum Slot on a Seperate Channel (add more Redrums when i need more slots). Then Busses for Kicks, Snares and Other Instrument Groups when im layering them, so i can Compress and Eq the Busses again before i send all in a "ALL DRUMs" Buss that i can Process, Clip, Eq further or make parallel channels etc. This is my workflow for my heavy electronic music productions where i need thick and punch drums.