overheads

Posted on

Member Since: Jun 28, 2002

in a post a couple of days ago i asked about how i could make the snare not as loud in my overheads...i'm using 2 sm57s taped to the 8ft celings pointing down at the floor..the snare is in the middle of the 2 (witch are 11ft apart) and there maby 2 feet in front of the kit. the cymbals are about 5 feet high and the snare is about 2 1/2. still the snare is (on average) 5dbs louder than the cymbals it was 10 but i adjusted the mics around and this got the least in. its kindof (like i said in the other post) like a really crapy stereo snare track. the cymbals on the other hand sound really nice. the problem is that i have an extreamly loud snare drum...(i really like it except for this problem) maybe if someone could show me how to upload a small portion of the track on line somebody could mess around with it and help me with this problem. if anyone wants to give it a try your help would be greatly apreisiated

[ Back to Top ]


Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002


Jun 05, 2003 04:51 am

since you're recording the snare to it's own track, can't you muffle it somehow? duct tape migh be the trick. deaden the snare now, then fix it later in the mix. I know that solves one problem, and creates another, but you never know, you may get a new sound you like.

Also, try and utilize the cardioid nature of the sm57 and position/aim the overheads so that they are capturing as much of the cymbals without getting pointed at the snare. And then scoot your snare mic close to the head so that you can get the loudest signal letting you strike it quieter

suggestions, guesses, again, i've never done any of this myself

Member
Since: Jun 28, 2002


Jun 05, 2003 11:39 am

yes i have a muffle ring on my snare drum and its still loud as heck. im thinking about pointing the mics in towards the symbols but then the mics will be pointed more towards one of the symbols and i was thinking that the cymbol that it was pointed at most would be loudest. how do you think i should position the mics towards the symbols?

Member
Since: Jun 28, 2002


Jun 07, 2003 09:13 pm

yet another problem just happend. only this one is a simple fix. my over head tracks are off by a very small about. the snare took longer to get to the overheads than the snare mic... in your opinion would you keep it like that or would you move them so they are lined up with each other? altho it technicly is reverb it does not sound or give the same effect..it just sounds like someone moved the track or added delay on it. i just now noticed this when i listend to them together (snare/overheads)

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


Jun 08, 2003 05:23 am

if it sounds good, then cool...could be quite an interesting effect in theory. having said that, it might sound pants!

got a clip of it about? be interested to hear it...

Member
Since: Dec 23, 2002


Jun 08, 2003 10:13 am

I don't know if you have two boom mic stands, but what if you were to cross these two theoretical stands above your toms, pointing towards the cymbals so that they would be pointing 'out' of the kit instead of 'into' it?

Member
Since: Jun 28, 2002


Jun 08, 2003 01:55 pm

thats a good idea st. dave. as i said before thou i don't have the mics pointed neer the set. if you were the mic you would be seeing carpet. there 11 feet apart and the drum set takes up like 5 and a half. i guess there room mics...but i been messing around with the tracks and i like how it sounds the snare isn't much of a problem after i throw a limiter and then eq and finaly compress it. the limiter held the snare down so i could eq it out. FLAME, i ended up moving the overhead track so that it matches up with the snare track..it sounds really cool...it makes everything sound bigger...the fact that the mics are so far away but theres no delay makes them sound bigger. i'm really liking it. if someone tells me how to upload somthing on to the internet or send them to you i will send you a sample if you'd like flame i just don't know how.

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
Member
Since: May 10, 2002


Jun 10, 2003 11:01 pm

What all are you trying to capture with your overheads? If you are just using them to capture the cymbles, then maybe you would want to move the mics in closer to the cymbles like dedicated mics. General overheads won't buy you much with an unballanced kit i.e. loud snare. The only other thing I could think of would be to pad your snare, but that may take out a lot of color that you want.

Contributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002


Jun 11, 2003 01:54 am

Moving the overhead tracks backwards to marry up with the snare track in your sequencer will throw the phase of the entire kit (as you have probably noticed by experimentation) - however, if you have achieved a big sound, then this obviously is not an issue...

just thought I would add it :)

Member
Since: Jun 28, 2002


Jun 11, 2003 07:56 am

yeah i didn't really have anyproblems with the phase..i did with the other mic i didn't talk about that was stuck in a wood box (i had an extra mic...should i use it as a center overhead..or would this take away from the stereo imaging) the mic in the wood box i had to change the phase on ..but later on i ended up getting rid of that track totally

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
Member
Since: May 10, 2002


Jun 11, 2003 08:47 am

Overhead mics are ambiance mics. Use them to blend in the amount of room ambiance you want. Use dedicated mics to pick each piece of the kit.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jun 12, 2003 06:08 pm

Yes, as Walt said. Bring the levels of the overhead tracks down a bit and then back up until they fit in nicely. If they get to loud they will of course sound lousy as they are delayed some. But if mixed in just right they will add a bigger sound to the tracks.

Related Forum Topics:



If you would like to participate in the forum discussions, feel free to register for your free membership.