Recording Drums - pop-punk sound ?

[TaylorEGO]

I am wondering if anyone knows the best way to record an OCDP drum kit to get it to sound like those on the Blink182 / Simple Plan records.
Its the same kit, but when I track it and mix it it comes out way different.

I have 8 channels to record with, the kit only has 2 toms.
I have been using:
Shure beta52 - Kick
SM57 - snare top
SM57 - Snare Bottom
SM57 - Tom1
SM57 - Tom2
(2) SM57s - Overheads
Shure KSM27 - Kick (3 feet out in front)

and that takes up my 8 channels.

I have recently acquired some more mics I could swap out:
Shure PG52, (3) shure PG56 (snare/tom mics), (2) Shure PG81, and an SP C-1.

any ideas?
Anyone got a better suggestion for mic-ing? or is it all in the processing?

[fldrummer]

Whats the sound you are getting now? I think travis is using audix mics. I dont think the PG's will help you much. If I remember right the sound is a real in your face close mic sound. Get something other then 57's for overheads. Maybe go get another C1 and use a pair of them.

[TaylorEGO]

the sound I am getting now is good...I am just having a tough time geting the really nice punch/pop from the kick and snare.

I've heard all kinds of crazy techniques for mic-ing the kick and snare with multiple mics...
I just wanted to know if anyone had a great success story for getting the Blink182/simple plan sound.

[Cloneboy Studio]

It's called SAMPLES. You think those kicks and snares are real???

ROFL!!!!

Dude, get something that triggers or get Drumagog to overlay some sampled drum sounds over the real snare. All of a sudden you will be un-impressed with Travis Barker.

[Bdrum]

Did you say that you were using sm57s for overheads?

[fldrummer]

You have to have a punk sounding drumkit first too. Stick a Remo powerstroke 3(I think it's 3) on the kick batter and have it pretty loose then try muffling inside the drum and do several recording test and see what you can to. Try cranking the top head on the snare and do some tests with that. Maybe have a mic on the batter of the kick to add some click to blend in.

[Blink 182]

on the uretha chronicals 2 video it has some studio footage of travis recording the take off your pants and jacket album. that might help with mic placement i suppose.

[TaylorEGO]

oh man,
I just got drumagog and plugged it into some of my old tracks...
thats awesome!

thanks for pointing me in that direction.
it all makes sense now.

know anywhere to get some really good rock drum samples for it?

[fldrummer]

http://www.toontrack.com/superior.shtml

[Wireneck]

drumkit from hell?

[ad0lescnts]

You also gotta have a live room and lots of compression/EQ.

T

[Drummer4Life05]

And overprduce it so it sounds like a robot.

[wang191]

What i'm learning in my recording class is that boosting about the 4k range in the eq will add a nice pop. thats about the range where the beater hits the head. It makes it sound a little louder with out intruding on the audio space.
Maybe that will help?

[ivebeentired]

Originally Posted by TaylorEGO

oh man,
I just got drumagog and plugged it into some of my old tracks...
thats awesome!

thanks for pointing me in that direction.
it all makes sense now.

know anywhere to get some really good rock drum samples for it?

did you get the demo off of the website? i tried to get it but when i installed it there was no program to click on it just added a read me and a uninstall to my start menu.

[ace516]

all right.. WHY HADN'T ANYONE TOLD ME ABOUT DRUMAGOG BEFORE. and im all trying to mix and mix and trying to make shitty snares and bass drums sound good.. God...

[BroKenSticKs]

enjoy your fake drums.....

[picostudios]

Seriously, triggers are for wimps that can't keep a constant volume on their drum hits. Not to mention triggers are also for lazy studio engineers that can't get a good sound out of a drum set.

[MichaelM]

Instead of trying to make your shitty kick and snares sound good by using fake drums, why not make your shitty kick and snare sound less shitty?

edit:
Actually, if you're a bit like me and lacking in the mic department I guess it's not a bad thing to trigger up the kick or something. I mean it's still better than a drum machine or midi (by that I mean it's still a real performance... sorta). I haven't bought drumagog and I'm trying to get the best sound out of the gear that I do have, all along in an epic quest for more gear

[RezN8]

Assuming you have well-tuned drums, AND you play just like your favorite drummer...

The room you record your drums in has A LOT to do with how your drums are going to sound. Then it's all about the placement of the kit in the room and the placement of mics.

You also have to consider the preamps, compressors, effects, etc. as well as the types of reverb and stereo spacing you're going to use.

Just a lil' question for ya... if Blink-182 is considered "Punk," then how should we categorize the Sex Pistols? Would that be Ol' Skool Punk?

[picostudios]

Sometimes you have to use triggers through. IT may not be the sound you are going for, but it's what you can do. I mean, I ONLY use triggers if a drummer is so shitty that he can not keep a decent volume on his drum hits. Most of the time, I try to coach em to get them to play consitant. Not to mention, I usually like to fine tune drums. Sorry if my comment was a bit harsh, I just HATE triggers.


As with any genre of music, there are various types.

Street Punk
Pop Punk
Punk Rock
Oi Punk

etc...

Blink 182 WAS a pop punk band, but after Dude Ranch, it went downhill from there.

Good pop punk:

Lifetime
Kid Dynamite
Painted Black

[treymonfauntre]

if you're just named ex lifetime bands its "paint it black"
blink182 were pop punk, just with really really bad vocals and lyrics

[ace516]

Ok using drumagog isn't for wimps. watch .. if you don't want to "cheat" and your a NOT SO BIG BUDGET hot shot, you could go in the nice technique as follows: mic up the snare for example until you get a good sound. we're just doing the snare. record it and mix it and blah blah do your magic. THEN record the drummer with the rest of the kit just as if he was playing live. when you got your snare track recorded, compress and expand it and you know the rest, noise gate, dynamics processing blah blah. THEN with drumagog insert the first isolated snare sample mixed and ta da!! you got a nice snare instead of a track with other stuff bleeding in there. see, that's not cheating .. it's called low budget and not enough channels to mic for an amazing sound ... but yeah, you still need to know how to mic place well as you will be doing that for the isolated track.

[RezN8]

I don't think you'd want to resort to samples after spending all that money on a great kit and decent mics.

For better results, try thinking of the drum kit as one complete instrument, rather than a bunch of seperate sounds. After tuning each drum to it's fundamental tone, try tweaking the drums so they sound in tune with eachother as well. Once again let me state for emphasis - the room you are recording will also be a major factor.

After tuning and tweaking your drums and room acoustics, then try this experiment. Have someone walk around the room while you're playing and listen for a spot in the room - high or low - near or far - where the kit sounds good and balanced. Place one of your condensor mics there. I think the C1 might be too bright for this, but the PG81 or KSM27 might do the trick.

Try recording just this mic on one track and your BD on another. You might have to tweak the position of the mic several times to find just the right spot.

When you find it, record it, and see what you've got so far. Try adding compression to both tracks and see what kind of results you get. Most of the "punk" music I hear these days seems to rely heavy on compression, but just the right amount. Too much and the cymbals will start sounding washy and your sound will crap-out real fast.
I would also dial up a small room reverb, season to taste, but not too much.

Once you get the hang of this, then start adding your other mics - one at a time.

I would swap out the SM57s you're using on the overheads for the PG81 and KSM27. Maybe use the PG81 as a single OH -- above your head facing down at the kit -- then use the KSM27 in front of the kit but raise it up a little higher to capture more of the kit without losing the fullness of the bassdrum. I don't know if this will get you the Blink sound you're looking for, but it probably will sound a lot fuller then what you're getting now.

If you're running low on the tracks, the first one I would give up is the mic under the snare. A good way to approach this is to have your overheads capture the full sound of your kit, then use the close mics for punch.

Gotta fly. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
Cheers, Rez

[perfectedge05]

I've been recording for a number of years now, and I always get a great sound from my drums or someone elses kits. I DO NOT use samples!!!
The best thing for an engineer to do is get the experience by recording and fooling around with the sound...OH YEAH - invent your own sound if you can!