Jens Bogren’s Amon Amarth Snare Blending: Mics, Samples & Shaping

Getting a snare drum to absolutely dominate a dense metal mix is an art form. It needs to crack through walls of guitars, sit perfectly with thunderous kicks, and deliver undeniable impact. When it comes to modern metal, few producers have a snare sound as consistently powerful and recognizable as Jens Bogren. In a recent session working on an Amon Amarth track, Jens shared his detailed approach to blending multiple snare sources into one monstrous tone. We got a peek into his workflow, which combines familiar sample layering with some unique organic drum manipulation.

If you’re looking to elevate your metal drum mixes, particularly for that signature Amon Amarth punch, let’s break down Jens Bogren’s snare blending techniques. You can see him apply these methods and much more in the full Amon Amarth Nail The Mix session.

Laying the Groundwork: The Organic Snare Mics

Before even thinking about samples, Jens focuses on getting the most out of the recorded snare drum. This starts with the fundamental top and bottom microphones.

Top and Bottom Mic Alchemy: Phase is Paramount

Jens emphasizes the critical importance of phase coherence between the top and bottom snare mics. He notes that while he assumes phase was checked during recording (since he recorded it himself), the time relationship can often be improved.
A common trick he employs is to check for the typical 10-15 sample delay on the bottom mic. He’ll often slide the bottom mic track back slightly in his DAW to tighten up the phase relationship, listening carefully for the point where the two signals combine for the fullest sound.

The level of the bottom mic is a decision Jens makes as he starts layering in samples. His general rule? The more samples he uses, the more bottom mic he tends to blend in. Why? The bottom mic, with its snare wire buzz, injects a crucial element of “real randomness” into the high frequencies, helping the samples feel more integrated and less static. For some playing styles, especially those with lots of ghost notes, a healthy dose of bottom mic is almost a necessity to make the snare sound natural and articulate. However, he personally prefers a sound not overly dependent on the bottom mic if the material allows.

Augmenting with Samples: Strategic Reinforcement

While a well-recorded organic snare is the goal, samples are often essential for achieving that larger-than-life metal sound. Jens has a pragmatic approach to when and how he introduces them.

When to Bring in the Big Guns (Samples)

For this particular Amon Amarth track, Jens felt the need to bring in samples relatively early in the mixing process. If the raw performance and sound were closer to his ideal, he might have pushed further into the mix before sample augmentation. However, in this case, samples provided necessary support and helped define the sonic direction for other elements.

Before fully committing to samples, he’ll often bring in the overheads and guitars slightly to hear the snare in context.

Jens’s Go-To Sample Arsenal and Workflow

Jens has amassed a significant collection of drum samples over the years, many of which are now part of his own meticulously organized drum sample pack – a resource he actively uses himself.

The Tool of Choice: Trigger 2
While his assistant sometimes uses Kontakt-based instruments, Jens personally prefers Slate Digital Trigger 2 for all his sample triggering needs. His typical workflow involves setting up a selection of potential samples and then auditioning them to see what combination works best, ultimately aiming to narrow them down to a select few.

Key Sample Types:
He doesn’t want to end up with an overwhelming number of samples, but often finds a few key types are necessary:

• One for attack
• Another for depth
• Some purely for ambience

A frequently used favorite is a Ddrum microphone sample he refers to as “Spike.” This sample is renowned for adding a distinct, aggressive attack and bite. Often, if the original snare is well-recorded, a bit of this “Spike” sample combined with a good ambience sample can be sufficient.

Ambience in Samples: To Bake or Not to Bake?
Jens generally prefers his more prominent samples to have some built-in ambience or overhead sound. This helps them blend more naturally with the rest of the live drum kit, avoiding the “here’s the sample, here’s the kit” separation. However, having dry and wet (ambience) signals separated also offers flexibility. He often creates his preferred blend and then prints these combined samples down to new audio tracks. His assistant even prepares stereo sample files with pre-mixed room ambience tailored to Jens’s taste.

Advanced Organic Snare Shaping: The “Ring” and “Smack” Technique

Here’s where Jens employs a particularly cool technique to sculpt the organic snare further, though he mentioned it might be less crucial for this specific Amon Amarth snare which lacked significant natural ring. This method involves duplicating the original snare track to create two specialized versions: “Ring” and “Smack.”

Duplicating the Snare: Isolating Sonic Elements

Jens duplicates the primary snare track twice. These duplicates are then processed, often with their own unique EQ curves, to serve distinct purposes:

• Ring Track: Focused on the sustain and tonal decay of the snare.
• Smack Track (or Attack Track): Focused on the initial transient and impact.

Crafting the “Ring” Track for Sustain

The goal for the “Ring” track is to isolate and enhance the snare’s natural sustain and overtones, while minimizing the initial hit.

• Tool: The industry-standard SPL Transient Designer (plugin or hardware) is his go-to here. He dials it to reduce attack and increase sustain.
• Purpose: This brings out the body and tonal character of the snare. It can also reveal issues like how Moon Gel might be muting desirable overtones, forcing a less natural, “strangled” sound. Careful attention is paid to managing bleed, ensuring it doesn’t become overpowering. Gates are generally avoided here as they can sound unnatural.

Dialing in the “Smack” Track for Punch

For the “Smack” track, the objective is the opposite: to accentuate the crack and stick attack of the snare, adding something the original mic might be lacking.

• Tools: Instead of the SPL Transient Designer, Jens prefers the Softube Transient Shaper or the Sonnox Oxford Transient Modulator (TransMod) for enhancing attack.
• Sonnox TransMod Power: He notes the TransMod is incredibly versatile, sometimes using it on the entire drum bus or even the master bus during mastering to revive a snare in the full mix.
  • Crossover Function: The TransMod offers a powerful crossover feature, allowing you to process frequency bands independently (e.g., boost low-sustain, high-punch). However, Jens cautions that when blending this with the original snare or the “Ring” track, the crossover can introduce phase issues. For this direct parallel processing, he opts for wideband mode.
• Shaping: On the “Smack” track, he’s looking for a fast, almost clipped crack, ensuring the punch is immediate and doesn’t introduce unwanted ring (since that’s covered by the “Ring” track).

By having the “Ring” and “Smack” elements on separate faders, Jens gains precise control over the snare’s envelope and character throughout the mixing process. As other instruments are added and the mix evolves, he can easily adjust the balance of these components to ensure the snare always cuts through appropriately. While transient shapers are excellent for envelope control, understanding broader drum dynamics is also key. For more on dynamic control, including compression, explore our guide to Metal Compression Secrets.

The Final Blend: Creating a Cohesive Monster Snare

Jens Bogren’s approach to the Amon Amarth snare is a multi-layered strategy:

1. Solid organic mic signals (top and bottom), meticulously phase-aligned.
2. Carefully selected drum samples via Trigger 2, chosen for attack (“Spike”), depth, and ambience.
3. The innovative “Ring” and “Smack” tracks, sculpted with transient designers from the original snare.

The ultimate goal is to blend these elements into a single, cohesive snare sound that is powerful, natural-sounding (despite the sample reinforcement), and perfectly serves the brutal intensity of an Amon Amarth track.

See Jens Bogren Mix Amon Amarth From Scratch

These techniques provide a fantastic window into how a world-class producer like Jens Bogren constructs a killer metal snare tone. From foundational mic techniques to advanced sample layering and transient shaping, there are plenty of actionable insights you can apply to your own productions.

But imagine seeing Jens dial all this in, in real-time, explaining every decision as he builds the entire Amon Amarth mix from the raw multitracks. That’s exactly what you get with Nail The Mix. Every month, NTM provides you with the actual multitracks from huge metal songs and lets you watch the original producers mix them from scratch. You’ll see precisely how they craft these tones, solve mix problems, and bring a track to life.

To dive deeper into Jens Bogren’s full mixing workflow for this Amon Amarth track (and also see him tackle a Septicflesh song) check out the exclusive session on Nail The Mix. Plus, if you’re looking to go beyond presets and truly understand modern metal mixing, grab our free comprehensive guide here.