Overhead processing!?!?!

> > > Overhead processing!?!?!

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Czar of Turd Polish
Member Since: Jun 20, 2006

Hey all,

I'm just curious on something. What do yall do, if anything, in regards to processing OH mics. Do you use any compression or EQ as standard practice. I tend to leave mine alone but am just curious of what others do.

I mainly use mine for cymbals, they also provide a lil air on the snare and they also pick up the beater smack of the toms nicely.

Anyways, I'm in the process of recording our bands demo and want it to sound superd, any advice would be appreciated.

Errr... this probably should have went on "Home Recording". I thought I was posting it there. Move if ya like please. Thanks!

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Kaos is only a form of insanity
Member
Since: Feb 03, 2005

Mar 21, 2007 03:29 pm

I never used to compress untill recently. I generally EQ, rolling off the bottom end and if required boosting the shimmer sound. However i do use LDC and not SDC's. Added to this i use darker sounding cymbals not gongy tinny ones. Now I have moved over to cubase SX I find that their multiband compressor works really well with the OH's. Bringing more clarity to the sound, But you need to go gentle with it.

But hey what do i know i'm only the drummer ;)

If you have room for another mic you can always add in a room ambient mic

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005

Mar 21, 2007 03:34 pm

Generally speaking I don't do anything to the OH tracks but panning. I seem to work mostly on mic placement these days as far as my OH's go. I like the way they sound without compression. I may roll off some of the low end but only if the mix is getting crowded.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 21, 2007 03:44 pm

Yeah, honestly they sound pretty nice, I use the recorderman technique with NT5's and like it quite a bit. I may tweak them a tad, but for the most part is sounds like you guys leave them pretty natural with just minor tweaks?

*edit* I do use the K2 as a Room mic when possible, but I only have 8 inputs of which I use 7 for drums and 1 for a scratch guitar when recording bands. Usually when I'm doing solo stuff I record guitar to a click and then do drums aftwards, this allows me to mic the room also. Alas, drummers tend to play better with a person than a pre-recorded scratch n click.

On that note I found a sweet sweet spot for my room mic, with my door halfway cracked and peeking my head in the drums sounded fantastic, room mic goes there from now on!!

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Mar 21, 2007 03:52 pm

I pan them, maybe EQ them, definitely compress them (5:1 with a pretty high threshold so its only taming peaks) but I've learned recently that adding any reverb to them tends to make the mix as a whole sound too spacy and reverberant. If that's the sound I'm going for then great but for the most part I leave off any reverb on the OH.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 22, 2007 01:22 pm

Ohhh, so you do run compression. 5:1 eh? I have never compressed them, probably a good way to tame that drummer who beats the heck out of the hats :)

I'll try it and see what happens, thanks again.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Mar 22, 2007 07:19 pm

Yeah I found that a medium ratio like 5:1 does what I like with the crash cymbals, which is attenuating the initial crash and bringing the tail out a little. For some reason I hate the sound of just a naked crash cymbal...it always sounds like a kid's drum set to my ears, no matter how nice the cymbal (okokok so I've only recorded pretty cheap cymbals).

As far as attack and release I pretty much use the defaults on the Classic Compressor, which uses a very fast attack and (I think) a medium release.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 22, 2007 09:23 pm

Hmm, I'm using the NT5's through a behringer T1953. I'll post some and let you have a listen. They sound pretty alright, I was just wondering what tricks folks do to make em better.

I got links here for the whole recorded set. I know the two high toms are a lil boomy as is the kick, other than that what do ya think? Are the cymbals jiving? Does it sound too processed? Input from yall is much appreciated.

First
Mixed for volume
www.cpttripps.com/wma/drum1.mp3

Second
Mixed, Compressed and dry
www.cpttripps.com/wma/drum2.mp3

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 23, 2007 08:07 pm

No suggestions? Anyone... Anyone...

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Mar 24, 2007 12:13 am

Sorry Cap'n, I'm on my laptop and the internal speaker just wouldn't do your hard work justice. I'll take a listen later when im in front of my desktop

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 25, 2007 02:35 pm

I would appreciate it very much. I'm doing my band a 5 song demo and the opinions of folks on here would matter very much to me. I've never done 5 songs that should have a similar sound and feel so I want to get it right the first time.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Mar 26, 2007 03:55 pm

Damn, somebody is an awesome drummer!

I'm certainly no authority on how drums should sound but upon first listen to the compressed version, I'd say that the snare needs a little more oomph to it...maybe just more volume or something to give it a bit more "crack". It sounds to me like the snare in that clip is mostly out of the overheads or something. I mean it sounds very live, like I'm in the room with it. I'd guess that it'd get a bit lost in a mix. As a solo it sounds great but it may need more presence to live happily ever after.

I'd be curious as to how the kick will sound in a mix. It sounds a little hot in the 120Hz (guessing on that frequency...sounds a little boomy) range, but until it ends up with a bass guitar and other instruments I can't really tell if its too present in that range or not. Its got a nice thump to it, and a nice beater smack as well.

I like the panning, which is nice and wide. Some people don't like that as much but I sure do. Sounds like I'm sitting on the drummer's throne.

Again, I'm no pro when it comes to drums. I'm a guitarist by nature so my opinions on drums are worth about...oh...2 cents :)

Sorry I didn't get to this sooner Captain!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Mar 26, 2007 10:22 pm

Hey Tripps, I agree with Tadpui on the snare needing a bit more punch to it. Are you compressing the entire kit at once, or do you have access to be able to compress the snare track on its own? The rest of the kit sounds very good on the second mix with compression, I wouldn't mess with it too much at all other then a little EQ once you start mixing if it needs it. On the snare I am guessing it is a 6" but could be wrong. How are you miccing the snare, just the top or top and bottom? I would maybe try and compres again in the mix and mess with adding some low mid to give it some punch.

If I get a minute tomorrow I will drop it into Wavelab and see if I can squeeze the snare a little and let you know were it sounds punchier. I would maybe take just the snare track and put a parametric EQ pluggin on it and try and sweep the low mids after adding a bit more compression and see if you can find the sweet spot.

Otherwise I'm with Tadpui on the drummer being very damn good.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 26, 2007 11:00 pm

All are seperate indeed. And yes tad is right on the OH being the more pronounced snare. I can bring it up in the close mic and add some crack/oompf/pow.

Ahh the drummer, he is my neighbor/bandmate. That was a quick clip from one of the faster songs we've been recording. I am extremely lucky to be able to jam with him any night of the week, he is very good and only playing 5 years.... which makes me sad as I've played for many more years and am not near as good. Just gifted I guess.

On the kick fitting in the mix. Here's my theory :) - He is a very high toned kick guy with more punch than boom (110-120). Where our bass player is that super low toned guy(70-80), I tried to approach with that in mind, hope it works out :)

But again, thanks for the input guys. This was the easy part, once I start cramming it all together I will be asking for more advice.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Mar 26, 2007 11:37 pm

Oh and I just realized that I didnt say the most important thing, which is that this sounds great. I get a little over-caffinated at work and my post kinda sounded negative, but you've got an excellent start here. This'll sound great in the end I can just tell.

I found that I can get away with quite a bit of compression on the snare mic. At the right level, it can blend very well with the overheads and not sound too squished.

But with a drum line like that with so much dynamic range on the snare it gets a bit over my head (finally, a pun on the thread title!). Enhancing it without flattenting it might be challenging. I'll be interested to see the other advice from people that you get here as it progresses.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 27, 2007 01:45 pm

Thanks, and no I did not think you came off as negative.

I played around alot last night as we finally have the guitars and bass tracks down. The kick/bass thing worked out pretty good. It is still in it's raw form as I think I am going to have one of the local studio guys I trust (and brainpick) do the mastering for us. I have probably the same software equivelant for mastering, but he actually knows how to use it :)

Soooo... my next question will be in regards to the overall mix being ready to be mastered.

Answer:On a good day, lipstick.
Member
Since: Jun 24, 2004

Mar 27, 2007 02:10 pm

SHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Don't say "Mastering" in a thread unless you want dB-Wan popping in to link you to Harbal...

BTW: Great drumming. I've been using Groove Agent - which is great, but hearing that made me (gasp...am I really saying this?!!!) miss real drummers.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Mar 27, 2007 02:44 pm

Hehe, I have HarBal, as does the studio I am taking it to when done. He just knows how to use it better (along with some other tools) :) I do stuff for local musicians for free just to get experience, in that case I do it all myself. But for this CD I want to get the best we can for cheap as possible.

Oh did I mention

HarBal!!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002

Mar 27, 2007 08:38 pm

We should see h ow many times we can get HarBal mentioned in one thread.

I need to go get my upgrade for HarBal as well here. And I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the use of HarBal there also.

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