Interesting drum recording effect.

[ryanlikestorock]

Here's a little weird effect trick that I think I invented when I was 15 and learning about home recording.

We had recorded the band, but found that our snare drum was sounding pretty flat. So, I hooked up a 15" speaker cab with just the snare signal running through it, placed the snare drum on a guitar stand and set it right in front of the speaker. When the recorded snare would sound through the speaker, the real snare would vibrate, making a really sizzly sound.

When the recording of this new snare sound was mixed with the original snare sound, a really interesting, fuller, weird effect was happening.

I also did a similar idea running vocals into a large drum and recording that sound... it can be make for a really weird stereo effect.

Anyone try stuff like this to make a mix a little more "interesting"?

 

[Drummer4Life05]

I saw something like this in an article in the Electronic Musician magazine. Stewart Copeland did it.
He would run the snare track through a little speaker, place it on the snare drum, and record the snare drum vibrations with a mic placed pointing at the bottom of the drum.

Adds a little more depth, I guess. Never done it myself, but it seems ingenius!

 

[ryanlikestorock]

Yeah, I figured someone had tried it before me... but, I guess I was just wondering if anyone here has done it before.

Just conversation. hah

 

[chessrock]

Why don't you just mic the goddamn bottom of the snare in the first place so you don't have to go through all that crap? ? ?

 

[ryanlikestorock]

Haha. A fair question. I was young when I was doing this, and I never thought of it... or didn't have enough mics or channels to do it. But, I think it's a different effect anyway. You can run any signal through the natural effects of another...

Pretty weird stuff.

I guess that's why I'm in mastering now. Keep me away from all the weird recording toys.

 

[chessrock]

I was only half-joking.

It is a pretty good trick, and rather popular with some of the bigger-name engineers.

I also like to run the snare track through a guitar amp with some good drive / distortion goin' on.

Sometimes it can sound cool . . . but then sometimes it can just sound like ass, too.