PHIXER for Tom Fills: multi-mic fill phase that keeps body on mono fold
Rack and floor close mics plus overheads can make fills feel huge in headphones. On phone playback, Bluetooth, club PA mono, or livestream fold, attack stays and body dips. Polarity and a few samples of timing come first. Free phase-repair helps after residual L/R fights remain on a stereo tom or kit bed you must keep stereo. It is not a tom replacer, and it does not replace a true mono listen on the bus.
Download PHIXER free YouTube tutorial
PHIXER is free stereo phase-repair (VST3/CLAP/AU · Win/Mac/Linux) from Riverflux Audio. Frequency-aware phase rotation for leftover L/R fights on stereo material. It is not a polarity button, not a delay matcher, not a widener, and not a substitute for mic placement. Use it after hygiene, when residual spectral cancellation remains on a stereo bed you must keep stereo.
Three tom-fill failure modes this page covers
- Close tom vs OH fill phase. Fine in cans; hollow floor / rack body on phone or club fold. Deep guide: Tom multi-mic phase.
- Kick cousin: in vs out. Same two-path fight on the kick. Use-case: PHIXER for Kick In/Out.
- Kit cousin: snare top/bottom + OH/room. Same fold shape on the rest of the kit. Use-case: PHIXER for Drums.
Fast tom-fill mono audition (about 60 seconds)
- Sum L+R on the tom or drum bus (or monitor controller mono). Listen to rack and floor body with close mics and OH open.
- A/B stereo vs mono across a fill. Note what disappears: floor body, rack punch, or attack that was actually cancellation.
- Mute OH briefly. Flip Ø on each close tom. Keep the flip that returns body without killing the fill contour.
- Nudge a few samples of attack timing before chasing plugins. Confirm on a phone speaker, then again after bus EQ / compressor / saturation.
Honest order of fixes (before spectral phase rotation)
1. True mono listen on the full fill
Hard L+R sum or monitor mono with close toms and OH open. Habit: tom multi-mic checklist and mono check workflow.
2. One hero for body on each tom
Prefer one close path for weight and let OH carry space. Do not let every close mic fight as equal stereo width beds that steal Mid from the hero hit.
3. Polarity before more processing
Flip Ø on each path while mono. Keep the flip that returns body. Guide: polarity vs phase.
4. Attack timing before spectral tools
Nudge a few samples or ms so transient peaks agree across close and OH. Often enough on its own on phones and clubs.
5. Skip when intentional thin fill is the point
Some mixes deliberately thin in mono for attack-only fills. Honesty list: When not to use PHIXER.
6. Only then audition residual L/R spectral fights
If a stereo tom or kit bed must stay stereo and fold still hollows a band after the steps above, gentle frequency-aware phase rotation can help. Prove it with mono A/B. Watch the YouTube tutorial and the mono demo.
Tom fill path types
| Setup | Common mono failure | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rack + floor close + OH | Fill body dips when summed | Polarity + timing; mono listen |
| Floor tom + room bleed | Attack stays, weight disappears | One hero body; flip Ø |
| Stereo kit bus + tom spots | Fill scoops on phone fold | Drums use-case |
| Kick in/out under the fill | Sub fights tom body | Kick in/out guide |
| Hard-panned twin fills | Width collapses on mono | Less Haas; mid-leaning print |
Kick and drums cousins (short version)
- Kick in vs out has the same two-path fold shape as close tom vs OH. Full write-up: PHIXER for Kick In/Out.
- Snare top vs bottom and OH vs room share the kit mono habit. Full write-up: PHIXER for Drums.
- Polarity and timing still come first on every cousin. Spectral tools after residual L/R fights only.
When not to reach for PHIXER
- Wrong polarity on a close tom or OH (flip Ø first).
- Obvious attack misalignment between close and OH (nudge first).
- You only need one hero mic or a mono-safe print of the fill.
- Intentional thin fill that is meant to stay attack-only in mono.
- Honesty list: When not to use PHIXER.