Vildjharta’s Drum Impact: Buster Odeholm’s Saturn Saturation Technique

Alright, let’s talk about those monstrous, earth-shattering drum sounds you hear from bands like Vildjharta. They’re not just loud; they’re articulate, explosive, and sit perfectly in a dense, modern metal mix. Ever wondered how engineers like Buster Odeholm (who mixes Vildjharta and Humanity’s Last Breath) achieve that level of power and clarity? It’s not just about hitting record; it’s about smart, creative processing.

We got a peek into Buster’s drum mixing workflow, and one technique that stands out is his use of multi-band saturation, particularly with FabFilter Saturn 2, to make drum rooms absolutely colossal. This isn’t about slapping on some generic distortion; it’s a surgical approach to enhance and shape the raw energy of the drums. If you’re looking to get your drums to hit harder and cut through, this is a technique you’ll want to explore. Check out the full session here.

The Core Idea: Making Drums “Explode” with Multi-Band Saturation

When you think “distortion” on drums, you might imagine a fuzzy, indistinct mess. But Buster’s approach is far more nuanced. He uses Saturn 2 like a dynamic EQ, but with the added flavour of harmonic distortion tailored to specific frequency bands. The goal? To make the drum elements, especially in the room mics, “bloom” and “explode” before they even hit a compressor. This helps bring out the detail and power, especially in softer hits, without making them sound overtly distorted or weird.

He often leans on Saturn’s “Warm Tape” setting, which offers a more mellow and musical type of saturation, perfect for this application. It’s about enhancing, not obliterating.

Dialing in the Kick Drum Room for Maximum Weight

For the kick drum room, Buster takes a detailed approach, splitting the signal into five distinct frequency bands using Saturn 2. This allows him to precisely control how each part of the kick’s spectrum reacts to the saturation.

Splitting the Spectrum: Buster’s 5-Band Kick Room Setup

Here’s how he typically carves up the kick room signal:

• Highs (4000 Hz and up): This band adds that nice-sounding high-end sheen and air.
• Attack (1200 Hz to 4000 Hz): Focuses on the beater click and the initial transient.
• Mids (300 Hz to 1200 Hz): The body and substance of the kick.
• Low Mids (100 Hz to 300 Hz): This is often where “boxy” or muddy frequencies live, but with careful saturation, it can add power.
• Low End (Below 100 Hz): The foundational thump and sub frequencies.

By isolating these bands, he can drive each one differently. He’ll solo a band, crank the drive to hear the effect clearly, then dial it back until it’s enhancing the sound without destroying it. He’s listening for that point where the frequencies bloom and feel more alive.

Phase Coherency: The Unsung Hero

A crucial detail often overlooked is phase relationship, especially between close mics and room mics. Buster points out that since he uses a high-pass filter on his close kick mics (for example, a Pro-Q filter set to 35 Hz with a 24 dB/octave slope), he applies the exact same filter settings to the kick drum room track. This simple step is vital for preventing phase cancellation that can suck the life and low-end punch out of your kick drum.

Once the Saturn processing is dialed in, he blends this saturated room sound back with the original kick tracks, resulting in a kick that’s both powerful and defined.

Giving the Snare Room an Explosive Character

The same multi-band saturation philosophy applies to the snare room, though with a slightly different band configuration to suit the snare’s frequency profile.

Four Bands for Snare Impact

For the snare room, Buster often uses a four-band setup in Saturn 2:

• Low End (300 Hz and down): Captures the body and thump of the snare in the room.
• Mids: The core tone and crack.
• Attack: The snap and transient information.
• High End: Air and sizzle from the snares and cymbals.

Again, the process involves soloing each band, pushing the saturation, and then backing it off to find that sweet spot where the snare feels like an “explosion” without audible, undesirable distortion artifacts. He might also adjust the crossover points between these bands to fine-tune the effect.

Refining with EQ and Compression

While Saturn does a lot of the heavy lifting for shaping the room’s character, it’s often just the starting point. Buster will then EQ the room tracks further, typically with all the other instruments playing. This helps him identify and carve out any problematic resonant frequencies (he mentions finding and cutting some in the mids on the snare room) or boost areas that need to cut through the mix.

For adding more body to the close-mic’d snare itself, he might use a separate EQ to boost around 100 Hz.

Finally, compression comes into play on the snare room to control dynamics and further enhance the sustain and size. The multi-band saturation done beforehand makes the compressor’s job easier, as the sound is already more consistent and impactful.

Don’t Forget the Toms!

This Saturn-based saturation technique isn’t limited to just kick and snare rooms. Buster extends this to the tom room mics as well, using a similar multi-band approach. This helps the toms cut through with power and character, while also allowing him to tame any excessive ringing or “honky” midrange frequencies that can often plague tom tracks.

Is This a “Magic Bullet” Technique?

Buster mentions that this Saturn trick is something he’s been experimenting with more recently, finding it particularly effective on drums and guitars. It’s not necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution for every mix, but rather a powerful tool in the arsenal. He sees it as an alternative to making numerous small EQ adjustments, offering a more “extreme” but often highly effective way to shape sounds quickly.

The beauty of this approach is its ability to add significant character and energy without necessarily sounding like obvious distortion, making the drums feel bigger, punchier, and more alive in the mix.

Level Up Your Drum Mixes (And More!)

Seeing a pro like Buster Odeholm break down his Vildjharta drum processing is incredibly insightful. Techniques like multi-band saturation with FabFilter Saturn 2 can really elevate your drum sounds from good to colossal.
Key takeaways:

• Multi-band saturation (e.g., FabFilter Saturn 2 “Warm Tape”) can make drum rooms “explode” without sounding overly distorted.
• Split frequencies strategically for kick (5 bands) and snare/toms (4 bands) to target specific sonic characteristics.
• Match high-pass filters on close mics and room mics to maintain phase coherency (e.g., 35Hz, 24dB/octave).
• EQ and compress room mics after saturation, often with the full mix playing, to ensure they cut through.

These detailed techniques are awesome, but understanding why they work and how to adapt them is even more powerful. That’s where diving deeper comes in. If you want to see Buster apply these principles and many more while mixing a full Humanity’s Last Breath track from scratch, you absolutely need to check out his session on Nail The Mix.

At Nail The Mix, you get to learn directly from the producers behind some of metal’s biggest albums. It’s about more than just presets; it’s about understanding the concepts to unlock your own sound and mix modern metal beyond presets. Imagine having access to the multi-tracks and watching world-class engineers build a mix, explaining every decision. That’s what Nail The Mix offers.

Ready to transform your drum sounds and overall mixes? Give Buster Odeholm’s Saturn technique a shot, and if you’re serious about taking your productions to a professional level, see what Nail The Mix has to offer!