Gate Settings for Drums: Cleaning Up Tracks

Gate settings for drums control when audio passes through and when it’s reduced or silenced, removing bleed and tightening the overall drum sound. Proper gate configuration maintains the natural character of intended hits while eliminating unwanted content between them. Understanding each parameter’s function enables achieving clean, punchy drum tracks.

How Gates Work on Drums

Gates compare incoming level to a threshold. When the signal exceeds threshold, the gate opens, passing audio. When signal falls below threshold, the gate closes, reducing gain according to range settings.

For drums, gates distinguish between intended hits (loud enough to trigger opening) and bleed (too quiet to trigger). The goal is passing complete drum notes while eliminating inter-note bleed.

The challenge: drum dynamics vary. Soft notes must still open the gate while loud bleed must not trigger false opening. Finding the threshold that accomplishes both may require compromise.

Threshold Setting

Threshold determines what level opens the gate. The setting must pass all intended hits while rejecting bleed.

Set threshold above bleed level but below the softest played note. Listen to the entire performance to verify no notes are lost.

Start with threshold high, then lower until all hits pass through. The highest threshold that passes all intended notes provides maximum bleed rejection.

Variable playing dynamics may make finding optimal threshold difficult. Ghost notes are particularly challenging—very soft notes may fall near bleed levels.

Attack Time

Attack determines how quickly the gate opens after signal exceeds threshold. Fast attack preserves transient detail; slow attack softens the attack.

For drums, fast attack (0.1-1ms) typically works best. The transient is critical to drum impact; slow attack cutting the beginning of transients damages punch.

Most gate attack settings for drums should be at or near minimum. There’s rarely reason to slow drum gate attack unless intentionally softening attacks.

Lookahead, if available, allows the gate to open before transients arrive, ensuring no attack is lost. This adds latency but preserves every bit of the transient.

Hold Time

Hold keeps the gate open for a specified duration after triggering, regardless of signal level. This ensures the complete note passes before the gate considers closing.

Set hold long enough to pass the sustain portion of drum hits. Short hold can cut off sustain unnaturally.

The required hold time depends on the drum and playing context. Tightly-damped drums need less hold; resonant drums need more.

Tempo affects appropriate hold settings. Fast tempos with quick note succession need shorter hold; ballads with sustained drums need longer hold.

Release Time

Release determines how quickly the gate closes after hold expires when signal is below threshold. Fast release creates tight cutoff; slow release provides natural decay.

Fast release (10-50ms) creates tight, punchy drums but may sound unnatural if too abrupt. The gate closing is audible on sustained material.

Moderate release (50-200ms) provides more natural decay. The gate closes gradually, creating smoother transitions.

Slow release (200ms+) creates very gradual closing that may allow bleed to creep in. This defeats the gate’s purpose if too slow.

Range Setting

Range determines how much gain reduction occurs when the gate closes. Maximum range creates silence; reduced range creates quieter but audible content.

Full range (complete silence) provides maximum bleed rejection but sounds obviously gated. The contrast between open and closed is dramatic.

Reduced range (10-20dB) is more natural, reducing bleed to less problematic levels without complete silence. This approach often sounds more musical.

Range setting converts gates toward expander-like behavior. Low range with moderate ratio creates gentle reduction rather than hard gating.

Sidechain Filtering

Sidechain high-pass filtering removes low-frequency content from what the gate “hears.” This helps the gate respond to mid-high transients while ignoring low-frequency bleed.

For tom gates, sidechain high-pass around 200-300Hz helps ignore kick drum bleed while responding to tom attacks.

Sidechain filtering doesn’t affect the actual audio output—only what the gate detector receives. The full-frequency signal passes when the gate opens.

Element-Specific Settings

Kick drum: Rarely needs gating since it’s usually the loudest element. If needed, threshold just above bleed, fast attack, moderate hold, moderate release.

Snare drum: Moderate threshold to pass ghost notes, fast attack, moderate hold matching snare sustain, moderate release.

Toms: Threshold above cymbal bleed, fast attack, hold matching tom sustain, moderate-slow release for natural decay.

Common Problems and Solutions

Missing soft notes: Lower threshold or use expander instead of hard gate.

Unnatural cutoff: Slow release or reduce range for softer gate behavior.

False triggers from bleed: Raise threshold or use sidechain filtering.

Obvious gating sound: Reduce range for more natural behavior.