Snare mixing issues
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Posted on Dec 14, 2004 08:24 am
bbbitter
I'm back bitches!!!
Member Since: May 27, 2004
I have been working on tracking some material for my band for about 8 months now and can't seem to get my snares recorded and mixed right. Our sound is very industrial but also very hard rock. I used an SM-57 pointed away from the hats and in the direction of the center of the snare drum. I did not mic the under side of the drum because of a lack of inputs. I still get a great deal of bleed through in the mix from the hats that is very pronounced when I compress the signal. Can anybody give me some tips on how to apply EQ and compression (multiband or overall) to get a nice snare sound in my mix?
Mine keeps coming out sounding hollow. Almost like putting your head inside the snare when its hit. It sounds really loud but not that powerful. By the way my snare is from a Yamaha stage custom fusion kit if that helps at all.
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vdalehubbardLost for words with all to say.Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003
Dec 14, 2004 10:15 am Snare is VERY hard to get that nice snare sound recorded right. Honestly, you just have to get the best sound you can and try to improve it during mix down. I also record with a mic pointed towards more of the outside of the rim to get a better sound out of it. Course, our drummer rim shots it everytime he hits it just about. You are probably looking for that nice "smack" sound instead of a dull bass-y hit. Compression helped me out BIG TIME with that. I can't remember the exact setting I used but I can look and tell you. Somebody else here might know a decent setting for a snare right off the top of their head.
What my drummer did was tighten the snare up really good without being so tight that it would break or sound too high pitched. It sounded weird but it recorded nicely for us. It became a really short sounding snare but after adding reverb during mixdown, we got a nice sound. The ideal thing is to mic the top to get that deep hit sound, mic the bottom to add the snare sound. I also couldn't do that method due to lack of mics. I'm going to try it the next time we record drums.
Hope this helps!
af_analogcrazy canuckMember
Since: Nov 25, 2004
Dec 14, 2004 01:57 pm Is your snare head new? If not, change it...this will help A LOT. I try to go after the tone I want out of the snare, if it doesn't sound "big" enough then I add a slight delay to it to fatten it up. You can add snap with some high mids.
TheJazzyOneYour favorite rockstarMember
Since: Feb 03, 2003
Dec 14, 2004 04:02 pm I had the same problem. What I started doing is making a copy of my snare drum mic track when mixing, and gating as high as I could so that the snare hit came thru, but as few of the other sounds as possible did. Then I EQed a LOT with a boost at about 5KHz. I leave the gated snare completely dry.
What this accomplishes is giving me a seperate track where I can actually boost the crack of the snare without getting the rest of the room noise with it. If you have a very fast attack and release on your noise gate then it does a very effective job.
af_analogcrazy canuckMember
Since: Nov 25, 2004
Dec 14, 2004 04:08 pm oh yeah...i meant to include that to get rid of unwanted hi hats in the snare mic, try to get your drummer to raise the hats away from the snare (as high as he can get away with)...this does the trick for me, then the overheads can take care of them, or mic them separately.
Tom P.Hillbilly DeluxeMember
Since: Nov 25, 2004
Dec 14, 2004 09:39 pm point the mic directly at the drummers crotch especially if using a 57, and about 2 inches from the top this will take away alot of hat. hope this helped..tp
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Dec 15, 2004 11:24 am Ya, I gotta ditto VDale. I am constantly learning when it comes to drums. I am working with a drummer right now that has a long history of recording his kit(s) and am learning a lot. The mic placement we used on his snare was just to the inside of the rim pointed almost streight down at the snare. We are getting a great snare sound. Now, here's the catch; He tried three different snares, putzed with each for quite a time before picking one and doing the fine tuning of the mic. He has a "golden ear" when it comes to his kit. He also stopped by about a week later and played a tamborine over top his snare hits. Had me mix it in at a level so low it was inaudable, however it did change the sound in a positive way in the mix.
One thing I do with a kit is either get out of the room and listen very carefully through cans with no outside room audio bleeding through, or do little sample recordings and revlew them as I adjust mic placements. The post-session realization that "this sounds like crap" in the mixing stage is very depressing.
MinkusMazBane of All ExistenceMember
Since: Mar 27, 2003
Dec 15, 2004 12:03 pm i like close-mic'ing the shell of the drum when i only have one mic, because it gives the snare as well as the top, and is pretty optimal for reducing hi-hat bleed due to its proximity to its source instrument (VERY close!) and the fact that that hats are not inside its polar pattern.
but if you've already tracked, you can always use the replacer to add in a snare sample.
Dec 15, 2004 04:03 pm as far as the bleed is concerned...a compressor teamed with a gate can have you seeing stars man...try it out...
Dec 15, 2004 05:30 pm i dont know how you guys feel about eq'ing live sets, but since you mentioned the tone...
i am using a snare sample in my fruityloops, and it sounded a bit boxy or baglike. i started playing around with a narrow notch of eq and swept it along and found a sweet spot that changed the tone very much and made it surprisingly realistic. made it tighter, less artificial, more woody sounding. you can do a lot with EQ notches on snares to completely change the sound. well, thats what i'm finding on my samples anyway.
EdvoMember
Since: Feb 18, 2004
Dec 16, 2004 05:47 am If to use close micing of the top head while recording, my advice would be to tune bottom head sound higher than top head. Beat with a stick both heads and listen difference. Top head will give fullness and bottom head will give more high snare sound. This is not good if you put the mic on the shell, only when you put it above top head. In gigs with poor pa I usually tune in contrary to the suggested.
vdalehubbardLost for words with all to say.Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003
Dec 16, 2004 07:46 am Oh yeah forty, EQ will have a huge difference too. My drummer also tried different size sticks and wood tip instead of plastic. I don't remember what he used but I know he used a totally different stick then what he was used too, just to get a better recording.
