My Drum Editing Workflow: From Raw Takes to Mix-Ready
- drumaudioediting
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
So far in my journey as an editor, I've edited hundreds of tracks of drums across a wide range of genres. I've made many mistakes and I've learnt from them, which over time has helped me to streamline and fine-tune my drum editing workflow. Fast forward to today, I'm not only a very competent at what I do, but I'm also quick - all thanks to the well-curated processes I have in place. Based on my experience, here are my top 3 tips to maximise your drum editing workflow.
Need a shortcut to tighter, cleaner drum edits? Grab the PDF we have built from editing 300+ songs.
Drum Editing Workflow Tip 1: Organising Your Tracks for Efficiency and Clarity
A streamlined drum editing workflow starts long before you begin making cuts or tightening grooves — it begins with a well-organised session. Properly setting up and ordering your tracks is one of the simplest, yet most powerful, ways to reduce editing fatigue and speed up your entire process.
Start by arranging your drum tracks in a consistent order every time: Kick (in or out), Snare (top and bottom), Toms (high to low), Hi-Hat, Overheads, then Room mics or any additional channels (like spot mics or cymbal mics). This predictable layout lets your eyes instinctively recognise where everything is without having to constantly double-check track names — a small change that makes a big difference, especially across long or multiple sessions.
Increase the track height for your main shell elements (kick, snare, and toms) to keep your visual focus on the core performance. Overheads and rooms can often distract from detailed phase or transient work, so keep them minimised unless needed for reference.
Colour code your tracks consistently — for example, red for kicks, yellow for snares, blue for toms. This not only speeds up visual navigation but also reduces cognitive load during intense editing tasks.
Finally, before diving in, ensure all your drum takes are fully comped, consolidated, and grouped correctly. This foundational preparation avoids headaches down the line, especially when applying batch edits or quantising tools.
Drum Editing Workflow Tip 2: Prepping Your Session Layout for Speed and Precision
Once your drum tracks are cleanly organised, it’s time to fine-tune the session layout itself. A professional drum editing workflow requires your DAW environment to support — not slow down — your decisions.
First, mark any tempo or time signature changes throughout the track. Editing tools like Beat Detective, Flex Time, or Elastic Audio rely on accurate tempo mapping, and may produce errors if this is overlooked.
Next, label your song structure clearly — Intro, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, etc. When it comes to copying or pasting edit settings, aligning fills, or referencing similar sections, these markers make it far easier to stay organised and efficient. It also helps communicate the structure to collaborators or mixers later in the process.
A solid session setup might not seem glamorous, but it’s the invisible framework behind a fast, precise and professional drum editing workflow.
As a short side-tangent, if you're also looking to improve your workflow on the drum recording side of things, you may find this article helpful. Here are 5 drum recording hacks to save time in the studio.
Drum Editing Workflow Tip 3: Phase Checking and Alignment Before You Edit
No matter how tight your edits are, your mix will always fall flat if your drums are out of phase. A refined drum editing workflow always includes phase correction as a crucial early step.
Before you start any serious editing or time correction, check the phase relationships between all multi-mic’d elements — especially the snare top/bottom, kick in/out, and overheads versus close mics. Use polarity flip tools, phase alignment plugins, or simply your ears to ensure your drums sound full, punchy, and cohesive.
When your waveforms are visually aligned and the transient energy feels solid across the stereo image, you’ll not only get a better mix later — you’ll also make more accurate editing decisions. Edits made on poorly phased tracks can actually highlight issues further, forcing you to go back and fix things twice.
Aligning overheads to close mics can also improve groove perception. While you don’t want everything mechanically locked, nudging overheads slightly to align with snare transients (for example) can give the drums extra clarity and presence — without losing natural feel.
In short, building phase checking into your drum editing workflow ensures your edits sound as good as they look — and that you’re working with the most accurate version of the performance possible.
Still struggling with your drum editing workflow? Our full PDF guide walks you through the exact methods we have used to fix drums, fast. Get it here.
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