Making drums sound better

[silver_addict]

Well I have recorded a bunch of drums and I was wondering if there is any sort of filter I could apply to make them sound slightly better. I'm using cakewalk. The End. Thanks. The End.

[Drummer4Life05]

T-U-N-I-N-G.

If they sound like crap going in, they can't sound good coming out.

[fldrummer]

Right on! Don't forget the room and mics/mic placment.

[Drummer4Life05]

Originally posted by fldrummer
Right on! Don't forget the room and mics/mic placment.

Right! I knew I was forgetting something.

[LeksBD]

There's an old saying, "You can't polish a turd."

If it sounds shit in the first place, you 'aint gonna make it sound any better by using racks and racks of outboard effects/graphic filters/compressors on it.

If the drums sound too resonant, slacken off the batter head a bit. People are too scared to let the heads breathe, just because you can tighten them loads, doesn't mean you should. And 9 times out of 10 you'll find you probably get a much better response from the drum afterwards.

If they feel like you are hitting sponges, tighten them a tad. But don't spend too long overtuning them. Too many people get to a stage where they get a reall nice sound, but they think how they got to find that sound, and they start again. Fiddle about, find a good sound, and stick with it. If it sounds good, then whats the problem?

Leks.

[VTgreen81]

The problem is when folks don't have a clue about how to get "the sound". Too often I see drummers spend too much time tuning only the batter head and forgetting about the resonant or bottom head. (Yes, they need to be tuned as well, and this is where you can really tweak your sound).

[Rimshot]

I agree with most everything said so far, but I have some additional suggestions to make.
Tuning is by far the most important things to do to achieve great sound (other than a great drummer). Keep in mind, microphones occassionally hear and record things differently than the human ear. If you are tuning for recording, you will probably have to make some adjustments for the recording equipment and the room. I sometimes like to tune my drums with live mics while wearing tracking headphones for that final adjustment. You may find that you'll need things like "moon gels" or studio rings or just plain old gaffing tape to tone things down a bit in the studio. This isn't always the case, if you want that very loud ringing resonant sound, but I have found that what sounds good in a large hall or in a live club venue may not work as well in the studio.
In a well treated room, you can pick up the sound of a fly's fart. You must make sure that all of your hardware is secure, your seat doesn't squeak, your pedal doesn't squeak and you don't get a hum on your cymbal stands. Toms clicking rims together is another problem to watch out for.
Shallower drums and a smaller kick (20") record better than the big heavy live stuff. Thinner faster cymbals are also better. You may like to play the big heavy "Z's" on stage, but the studio usually likes the "A's" better (if you are using Zildjians). As for the other brands, go with the thinner faster cymbals. You want cymbals with a faster decay in the studio. You can hit your drums hard, but a lighter touch on the cymbals records better. Do your level checks "all out" so you can assure you don't clip mics as you get involved in recording.
Recording is a whole different game than playing live.

[VTgreen81]

Originally posted by Rimshot

Recording is a whole different game than playing live.

Quite humbling as well. Just when I was starting to think I don't suck, we went into the studio, ..............yup, I still suck.

But knowing and recognizing the suck is the first step in overcoming the suck.

[VTgreen81]

Originally posted by silver_addict
Well I have recorded a bunch of drums and I was wondering if there is any sort of filter I could apply to make them sound slightly better. I'm using cakewalk. The End. Thanks. The End.

I know very little about it (read as nothing) but there's a drum replacement software called "drumagog" that may do what you want.