Making Steven Slate CLA Drums Punch in a Metal Mix

We’ve all been there. You load up a session with the Steven Slate Drums Chris Lord-Alge expansion, and right out of the box, it sounds massive. The kicks are punchy, the snares crack, and the toms are explosive. It’s that polished, radio-ready sound we’ve heard on countless records. But then you start programming a blast beat, and suddenly… it sounds fake. Plastic. Like a drum machine from the ‘90s.

So what gives? Are these iconic samples just not cut out for modern, aggressive metal? Absolutely not.

The problem isn’t the samples—it’s how they’re being used. The difference between drums that sound like a shitty robot and drums that feel like a real player is all in the programming and processing. These samples are tools, and like any tool in your DAW, it’s up to you to make them sound awesome.

Let’s break down how to take the incredible raw sounds of the SSD CLA library and make them work in a heavy, nuanced metal mix.

What Are Steven Slate Drums Chris Lord-Alge Drums?

First, a quick overview. This expansion pack for Steven Slate Drums is a collaboration with legendary mixing engineer Chris Lord-Alge. If you've listened to rock or metal in the last 30 years, you've heard his work (Green Day, Slipknot, Rob Zombie). CLA is known for a very specific sound: aggressive, punchy, compressed, and EQ'd to cut through a dense mix perfectly.

These samples aren't raw, unprocessed drum hits. They are captured and processed by CLA himself, using his insane collection of outboard gear at Mix LA—think Neve and SSL consoles, vintage compressors like the Urei 1176, and a whole lot of magic. This means the samples come pre-baked with that signature CLA character, making them a powerful shortcut to a professional drum sound.

But that "mix-ready" quality is a double-edged sword. It can sound too perfect, which is where a lot of producers go wrong.

Why Your Programmed Drums Sound Like a Machine Gun

The number one complaint about modern metal drums is that they sound programmed and lifeless. This usually happens for two main reasons: flat velocities and hard quantization.

The "Too Perfect" Trap: Velocity and Quantization

Real drummers are beautifully imperfect. Even the best drummers on the planet—guys like Gene Hoglan or Mario Duplantier—will never hit a drum at the exact same velocity, in the exact same spot, at the exact same time, twice in a row. It’s these tiny, human variations that our brains find interesting.

When you program drums by just clicking in notes on the piano roll, they often default to the maximum velocity (127) and are snapped perfectly to the grid. The result?

• Static Velocity: Every snare hit in a blast beat sounds identical. Your brain quickly tunes this out, and the part loses all its power and groove. It’s like scratching an itch—it feels good at first, but your brain ignores the sensation after a few seconds of repetition.
• 100% Quantization: Every hit is mathematically perfect. There’s no push or pull, no "feel." It’s robotic and sterile, stripping the performance of its human element.

These two factors combined are what create that dreaded “machine gun” effect, especially on fast parts like blast beats.

Techniques for Humanizing Your CLA Drum Tracks

Okay, so we know the problem. How do we fix it? The key is to re-introduce that human imperfection intelligently.

Mastering Velocity for Dynamic Impact

Velocity is your single most important tool. In a multi-sampled library like SSD, velocity doesn't just control volume; it often triggers entirely different samples recorded at different intensities. A hit at velocity 80 isn't just a quieter version of a hit at 127—it's a fundamentally different performance.

Here’s a practical approach:

• Map Out Your Song's Intensity: A verse ghost note shouldn't have the same velocity as a snare hit in a massive breakdown. Program your main backbeats (on 2 and 4, for example) strong, maybe in the 115-125 range. For faster fills or blast beats, pull the velocity back.
• Humanize Blast Beats: Drummers physically cannot hit as hard during a 220bpm blast beat as they can on a slow, pounding groove. To make blasts sound real, lower the velocities significantly—maybe into the 90-110 range. Then, add subtle variations. Make every other hit 3-5 ticks lower in velocity. It’s a tiny change, but it makes a world of difference.
• Use Velocity for Accents: If there’s a specific kick or snare that needs to pop, give it a slightly higher velocity. This helps create a groove and makes the drum part feel like it’s interacting with the riffs.

Strategic Quantizing: Tight but Not Robotic

Nobody wants sloppy drums, but locking everything 100% to the grid is a surefire way to kill the vibe. A great trick used by top metal mixers is to quantize with a 'strength' setting.

Instead of snapping notes 100% to the grid, try setting your quantize strength to around 90%. This will pull the hits closer to the grid, tightening up the performance significantly, but it will leave a little bit of the original human timing intact. It’s the perfect middle ground between sloppy and robotic.

After you quantize, listen closely. You might still hear a flam or a slightly late cymbal hit. Go in and nudge those individual notes by hand. This level of detail is what separates a good drum track from a great one.

Reinforcing Real Drums (The Pro Move)

Here’s where samples truly shine in a modern metal production. Let's say you have a great-sounding live drum recording, but during the blast beats, the snare gets a little weak and buried (a common issue since drummers play lighter on fast parts).

If you just turn up the snare mic, you’ll also turn up a tidal wave of cymbal bleed, making your mix sound harsh and washy.

The solution? Use a single CLA snare sample to reinforce those hits. Layer it underneath the real snare, timing it perfectly with the original performance. This gives you the consistency and punch of the sample without adding any extra cymbal bleed. You get the best of both worlds: the body and realism of the live drum, plus the attack and power of the CLA sample.

Beyond the Sampler: Integrating CLA Drums Into Your Mix

Once your programming is feeling human and dynamic, it’s time to make the kit sit in the mix. Since the CLA samples are already heavily processed, you often need less work than you would with raw samples.

Bus Processing and Parallel Compression

Even with great samples, processing the drum kit as a whole can help it feel more cohesive. Route all your individual drum tracks (kick, snare, toms, cymbals) to a "Drum Bus." On this bus, you can add some subtle saturation or glue compression.

For extra punch, try setting up a parallel compression bus. Send your main drum bus to an auxiliary track, slam it with an aggressive compressor (like a Distressor emulation or an 1176 "all buttons in" style) to bring out the room sound and sustain, and then blend that crushed signal back in underneath your main drum bus. This is a classic trick for adding size and energy without killing your transients. For more on this, dive into these metal compression secrets.

EQing for a Modern Metal Sound

The CLA samples are designed to cut, but you’ll still need to do some EQ work to make them fit your song. This is often more about carving space than drastically changing the tone.

• Make Room for Guitars: You may need to notch out some low-mids from the cymbals and snare to prevent them from clashing with chunky rhythm guitars.
• Carve Space for Bass: Make sure your kick drum and bass guitar are occupying slightly different low-end frequencies. A common starting point is boosting the kick around 60-80Hz for weight and the bass around 100-200Hz for body.

Learning how to apply surgical EQ is a game-changer. Check out this guide on EQing modern metal guitars to see how these concepts apply across the mix.

Bringing It All Together (And Going Deeper)

Using the Steven Slate Drums Chris Lord-Alge expansion effectively is about embracing its strengths while adding the human element back in.

• Focus on Velocity: It’s the key to dynamics and realism.
• Quantize Intelligently: Use 85-95% strength to keep the feel.
• Blend with Live Drums: Use samples to reinforce, not just replace.
• Process for Cohesion: Use bus processing and parallel compression to glue it all together.

These techniques will get you 90% of the way there. But what about that last 10%?

Imagine watching pros like Chris Lord-Alge, Will Putney, or Jens Bogren apply these exact techniques—and hundreds more—on real songs from bands like Gojira, Every Time I Die, and Arch Enemy. That’s what Nail The Mix is all about. You get the original multi-tracks and watch the producer who mixed the record rebuild it from scratch, explaining every single decision.

If you’re ready to see how the best in the business build world-class metal mixes, check out our full catalog of Nail The Mix sessions.