Keeping Snare Bleed out of Kick Mic

P

Phyl

Guest
I recently got a drum set for the studio and have been experimenting with mic placement.

I've taken the resonant head off the kick and placed a D112 inside the shell, about 3" away from where the beater hits the head, pointed slightly off axis.

I'm getting some snare bleed into the D112. I've tried gating the D112 and using EQ, but still get too much bleed. It's not real loud, but enough so that when mixed in with the other mics it makes the snare sound thin. I've tried reversing the phase on the kick mic but that just makes the snare sound mushy.

Maybe it's the UAD gate I'm using...don't know...maybe there are better ones.

Any ideas? Would putting some sort of baffle between the snare and kick drum work?
 
I use the digirack expander gates & they work well for me................I would suggest that moving the mic away from the beater might be an idea also, over to the side a bit maybe.................away from the snare

in my experience it is almost impossible to remove bleed due to the nature of a drumkit. In order to punch the whole thing up & give more seperation try further experiments with your gates.......................if it makes you feel any better it took quite a while for me to finally feel at one with the gate as it can be a real mindfuck if treated wrong

I've never baffled any part of my kit to try & remove bleed BUT that's not to say some of the many threadsters havn't either
 
Yes, like Slidey said, move the beater away. You'll probably get more low as a bonus by giving the air some time to hit the mic (probably not the most technical reason, but it will sound better :)
 
The drummer is hitting the snare really hard and the kick really quiet. Tell him to stop.

Moving the mic back will help because it puts the shell of the kick between the mic and the snare.

You might also be using too much compression on the kick.

Another thing to try is put the front head back in the kick, put a hole in it and stick the mic just inside the hole.
 
Farview said:
The drummer is hitting the snare really hard and the kick really quiet. Tell him to stop.

Moving the mic back will help because it puts the shell of the kick between the mic and the snare.

You might also be using too much compression on the kick.

Another thing to try is put the front head back in the kick, put a hole in it and stick the mic just inside the hole.
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I'm the one playing the drums, and your right, I was smacking the snare really hard and hitting the kick really wimpy. That's what happens when you put a guitarist behing a drum set.

I moved the mic back and evened out my hits; it sounds much better now.
 
Farview said:
A pad won't help bleed. It just turns down the volume of the whole thing.
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yeah I would've said that.................but............................well.......................................I forgot OK

glad to hear you're getting a better result
 
one question I have is why do you mind the bleed? But it really bugs you use a blanket in front of the kick and build the old drum tunnel thing,it help with all bleed into kick mic. Gates work well for me if I need them after tracking, little scarey during tracking in case the drummer kicks too soft.
 
jmorris said:
one question I have is why do you mind the bleed? But it really bugs you use a blanket in front of the kick and build the old drum tunnel thing,it help with all bleed into kick mic. Gates work well for me if I need them after tracking, little scarey during tracking in case the drummer kicks too soft.
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Bleed is good when the drummer plays with the proper dynamics. He admitted that he didn't. I've run into guys like this, it's not what you would think of as bleed. The problem is that the snare is louder in the kick mic than the kick is. That only happens when you beat the crap out of the snare and lightly tap on the kick. He doesn't have a mic bleed problem, he has a technique problem.
 
I once had to record a heavy metal band. The drummer was extremely loud on the snare and a pussy on the kick. Gating didn't help because the snare was even louder on the kick mic than the kick itself.

I ended up with triggering it from tape to Cubase and cut/delete all snare hits bij hand.

Next I used a kick from the Alesis D4 and the result was a couple of phonecalls from bands asking about that great kicksound, weird.
 
Farview said:
He doesn't have a mic bleed problem, he has a technique problem.
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exactly

some of my favourite drum sounds ever have been captured with 2 mics.................and that entails having a drummer that can play dynamically correct
 
Han said:
I once had to record a heavy metal band. The drummer was extremely loud on the snare and a pussy on the kick. Gating didn't help because the snare was even louder on the kick mic than the kick itself.

I ended up with triggering it from tape to Cubase and cut/delete all snare hits bij hand.

Next I used a kick from the Alesis D4 and the result was a couple of phonecalls from bands asking about that great kicksound, weird.
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When I run into guys like this, I just put a trigger on the kick and record that.
 
big country said:
what the fuck is a pad good for ?if it doesnt stop bleed.
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mwhahahahahaha....................................lol...................................lmao................................are you serious

it lowers the gain level so you can pick up a louder sound source without blowing your mixer pres through the roof

it's not going to stop other sources coming in which is what you apparently seem to think it does
 
Farview said:
When I run into guys like this, I just put a trigger on the kick and record that.
Click to expand...

How would you do that? Seems like I've read about using the kick or snare to trigger a sample; not quite sure how to implement it in SONAR though.
 
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