Mixing The Contortionist Drums: Jamie King’s Mix Prep EQ System

Let’s be honest. You open up a new session, import the raw tracks, and stare at the kick, snare, and toms. Getting that initial drum sound right can feel like a black art. You can spend hours tweaking EQs, only to find you’ve completely lost perspective. If you’ve ever felt that pain, you’re not alone.

We got to watch producer/mixer Jamie King (The Contortionist, Between the Buried and Me) break down his process, and he dropped a killer philosophy: mix prep is half the battle. He’s developed a lightning-fast system for getting his drums in the ballpark, and it’s a total game-changer for avoiding guesswork. Let’s dive into how he preps drums for a massive band like The Contortionist.

The Problem: Starting from Zero and Wasting Hours

We’ve all been there. You start EQing a kick drum, but your ears are already fatigued from a previous project or just listening to music all day. As Jamie points out, if you’ve been hearing a really thin, high-endy indie kick drum, your brain might be more accepting of too much top end in your metal kick. You can waste so much time chasing your tail, making tiny adjustments that don’t fix the core problem.

Many producers, especially those starting out, believe you just need to buy the gear and you’re good to go. But as Jamie explains, it can take years to truly tune your ears. His mix prep system is designed to shortcut that learning curve and get you to a professional starting point, fast.

The Solution: A Frequency Analyzer and Your Own EQ “Cheat Sheet”

This is where Jamie’s method gets super practical. Instead of guessing, he uses a visual aid—a frequency analyzer—to compare his working track to a proven EQ curve. It’s not about mixing with your eyes; it’s about using a tool to quickly get you into the right sonic territory so you can trust your ears for the final, detailed moves.

Building Your Reference EQ Curves

Here’s the core idea: Over the years, Jamie has identified EQ shapes that consistently work for him.

1. Find What Works: He analyzed EQ curves from his own successful mixes, pre-processed drum samples that sound incredible, and isolated hits from professionally mixed records.
2. Compile an Average: From this research, he created an “average” or ideal EQ curve for different instruments—a kick that punches, a snare that cracks, etc.
3. Save It as a Preset: He saved these ideal curves as presets in his EQ plugin, which became his personal EQ cheat sheet.

This saved curve acts as a point of reference. It’s his personal blueprint for what a great kick or snare drum should generally look like, frequency-wise.

How to Use It in Practice

In the session, Jamie pulls up a frequency analyzer. You can use a dedicated plugin or the one built into many modern EQs like the FabFilter Pro-Q. He puts one instance on his working track and another on a track with his saved “reference” EQ curve.

By looking at the two curves overlaid, he can immediately see where his track deviates from the proven ideal. This takes the guesswork out of the initial EQ stage and directs his attention straight to the problem frequencies, which he can then surgically address with a parametric equalizer.

Applying the System to The Contortionist’s Drums

Seeing it in action is what really makes this click. Jamie uses his reference curves to quickly spot issues and dial in the punch and clarity needed for a dense progressive metal mix.

Dialing in the Kick Drum

For the kick, he loads up his reference curve and instantly sees a discrepancy. His current kick has a bit more high-end “click” than his proven curve, and there’s a buildup in the mids. The analyzer points him directly to a frequency range around 700-740 Hz. Without wasting a second, he drops a narrow cut in that area, and boom—the kick immediately sounds closer to his target. It’s a quick, surgical move that would have taken much longer to find just by sweeping and guessing. This is one of the most fundamental strategies for mixing drums in modern metal.

Fixing a Problem Snare in Seconds

This method is even more powerful for fixing problematic source tones. Jamie gives an example of receiving a snare track that’s been poorly EQ’d by the band, sounding like a cardboard box with a crazy mid-range boost.

Instead of racking your brain wondering “what is wrong with this sound?”, you can use the reference curve. One look at the analyzer would show a massive hump in the mids. You could then slap on an EQ, pull that area down, and instantly have a more usable, natural-sounding snare with its transients intact. It neutralizes bad recording decisions in minutes, not hours.

From Technique to Intuition

Jamie makes a fantastic point: this system isn’t a crutch you rely on forever. He compares it to learning to type. At first, you have to look at the keyboard for every single letter, and it’s painfully slow. But after enough practice, you’re on autopilot, typing without thinking.

This kick drum EQ method works the same way. Initially, you rely on the visual guide to train your ears. But over time, you internalize it. You start to instinctively know what a 700 Hz buildup sounds like or what a lack of 12k feels like. You build an intuitive understanding of frequencies, which is the true mark of a professional mixer. Once your EQ is solid, you can more effectively apply other tools like an audio compressor to shape the dynamics.

Mixing, at its core, is about organization—putting things where they’re supposed to be in the frequency spectrum. This system is like having a map that shows you exactly where everything should go.

Start Building Your Own System Today

You can apply this right now. Start analyzing the sounds you love, save those EQ curves, and use them as a guide. Getting your mix prep down to a science is what separates the pros from the amateurs. It’s an approach that builds both speed and confidence.

These kinds of foundational workflows are exactly what you learn on Nail The Mix. Imagine seeing exactly how pros like Jamie King build an entire mix from scratch, not just the prep. When you join, you get the actual multi-tracks and get to watch Jamie mix the entire song, explaining every single plugin, setting, and decision. If you want a more structured path to leveling up, check out our full range of production courses and start turning raw tracks into professional-sounding mixes.