Noam Wallenberg treats drum distortion like a pedalboard experiment, duplicating a drum track and running it through guitar pedal plugins to see what breaks in interesting ways.
He switches to multi-mono mode and unchains the left and right channels, putting a different distortion type on each side: straight distortion on one, overdrive on the other. The mismatch creates a parallel layer that feels wide and intentionally torn apart.
EQ goes both before and after the distortion. Cutting highs pre-distortion tames the harshness, while EQ afterward shapes how the grit sits against the clean drums underneath.
To confirm the experiment actually works, he pulls the fader down to zero and brings it back up slowly, listening for whether it adds something real to the mix or just sounds cool on its own.
