Critique my sound!

[Gherkin]

Hi guys!

I finally got myself a Digi 002 recently, and have done a few drum recordings.

I'm using an Audix D6, SM57 and two Rode NT5s.

I think the outcome is decent, but am looking for others' opinions.

Be brutally honest, and overly critical, please.

http://www.deflection7.com/forum/download.php?id=757

[travelin travis]

sounds like you have a nice room and kit. the kick ain't my thing. kind of basket bally with no slap or body, like the mids are severely scouped. everything else sounds good to my ears. take that for what it's worth, i'm not a drummer of any sorts.

[mitosis]

Kick's a little too loud and overbearing at least on my speakers but if that's what you are going for keep it up. Where are your overheads located? It soudns like they are picking up the toms fine but are missing the cymbals completely. Try to get most of your sound with the overheads and then define the kick and the snare with close micing. Overall I like the tone of the drums and the toms soudn nicely tuned. What cymbals are you using? They seem really low pitched and without much "shimmer". Maybe up the highs in your overheads.

[mitosis]

Originally Posted by Gherkin

Be brutally honest, and overly critical, please.

Wait till jonnyc gets here

[NegadivOne]

Wow I actually really love the kick sound. To me it sounds EXACTLY like slipknots. The whole kit kinda sounds like his actually. The only negative things to me were the cymbals sounds a bit too chunky and as already mentioned might need more high end to them or different placement. And also they dont sound bad at all, but the toms seem really dry. Did you use coated heads or muffling on them?

[nevome]

Originally Posted by NegadivOne

To me it sounds EXACTLY like slipknots.

Thats probably what bothers me about the kick since the rest of the kit sounds like something off of the FooFighters debut. I love that room BTW, a little more shimmer in the cymbals and balance the kick and thats the drum kit I'm trying to find.

[mitosis]

What set is it?

[drossfile]

sounds pretty frigging incredible overall. the kick is a little too artificial and loud--kinda reminds me of my SR16. otherwise, well done. i have to ask--natural reverb or added? i can't tell if it's mp3 compression or a dsp that gives it a slightly noticable digitized feel. either way, works for me. i think if the kick was tamed down, the cymbals would shine more--their tone is fine imo.

[SMX_Dizzy]

Originally Posted by mitosis

What set is it?

I hope he doesn't mind me answering

http://www.pearldrummersforum.com/sh...d.php?t=135167 < That's his set: a Pearl SBX

[Gherkin]

Originally Posted by mitosis

Kick's a little too loud and overbearing at least on my speakers but if that's what you are going for keep it up. Where are your overheads located? It soudns like they are picking up the toms fine but are missing the cymbals completely. Try to get most of your sound with the overheads and then define the kick and the snare with close micing. Overall I like the tone of the drums and the toms soudn nicely tuned. What cymbals are you using? They seem really low pitched and without much "shimmer". Maybe up the highs in your overheads.

The overheads are about 1' above my cymbals, which are about the same distance above my toms.

The main crash are Meinl Amun 16" Medium and Powerful crashes, which, in person, are very much like you described. I have some brighter crashes on the way.

Originally Posted by NegadivOne

Wow I actually really love the kick sound. To me it sounds EXACTLY like slipknots. The whole kit kinda sounds like his actually. The only negative things to me were the cymbals sounds a bit too chunky and as already mentioned might need more high end to them or different placement. And also they dont sound bad at all, but the toms seem really dry. Did you use coated heads or muffling on them?

Thanks. I play in a metal band, so my kick has a plastic click pad and a powerdisk. It tends to be a love/hate kind of sound.

The 10x8 and 12x9 toms have Clear Ambassadors on both sides. The 16x13 tom has a Clear Emperor over a Coated Ambassador. The kit is a Pearl SBX.

This is my first time using Clear Ambassador batters. Coated Ambassadors seemed much more lively.

Originally Posted by mitosis

What set is it?

Drums are Pearl SBX.
10x8
12x9
16x13
22x18
14x6.5 Snare

10x5 Steel Snare

Cymbals from left to right from behind the kit:
10" Meinl Byzance Splash
14" Meinl Amun Dry Hats
16" Meinl Amun Medium Crash (This is the dark, low pitched crash.)
16" Meinl Amun Powerful Crash
8" Meinl Byzance Splach
18" Meinl Amun China
18" Byzance Medium-Thin Crash
21" Sabian HH Raw Bell Dry Ride

Originally Posted by drossfile

sounds pretty frigging incredible overall. the kick is a little too artificial and loud--kinda reminds me of my SR16. otherwise, well done. i have to ask--natural reverb or added? i can't tell if it's mp3 compression or a dsp that gives it a slightly noticable digitized feel. either way, works for me. i think if the kick was tamed down, the cymbals would shine more--their tone is fine imo.

There is no added reverb, but I am using some light compression, which accentuated the natural reverb.

Thanks everyone for all of your comments so-far. They've been quite helpful.

[drumminsnowman]

i think the drums sound excellent. the kick is very punchy, if u were to put guitars and bass... and a whole song together, that kick drum would make the song sooo punchy with a tight bass line. if you make any songs, lemme know, i would love to hear it!

sorry for the lack of any new feedback... but i just think it sounds really good.

[Gherkin]

Originally Posted by SMX_Dizzy

I hope he doesn't mind me answering

http://www.pearldrummersforum.com/sh...d.php?t=135167 < That's his set: a Pearl SBX

I should've thought of that myself...

The heads I'm using are different and there's another splash to the left of the high-hats, but apart from that, it's the same.

[jonnyc]

Originally Posted by mitosis

Wait till jonnyc gets here

I'm not that brutal, just like to help. I don't think the kick is going to sound as nice in the mix as it does here. The real tricky part to recording is getting the kit to sound great with the rest of the instruments and I'm not totally sure this will. It's not really bad enough to pick apart and I'd really like to hear this in a mix. I personally would roll off the low end of the kick a little bit and get tighter playing and you'll have something real nice to work with.

[mitosis]

and you are seriously very helpful!

[Greg_L]

id kill for my drums to sound that good.

[Uladine]

That room sounds awesome. Could you provide a brief description of dimensions and acoustic treatments, if any? Just curious. I wish I had a room like that to record in.

[Gherkin]

Originally Posted by Uladine

That room sounds awesome. Could you provide a brief description of dimensions and acoustic treatments, if any? Just curious. I wish I had a room like that to record in.

It's in my bedroom. No treatment at all.

The room is quite large, with high ceilings. The floors are carpeted with fairly normal carpet. The drums are set-up facing away from a bay window. There are wooden venetian blinds on the window.

I'll get a diagram up if i can work how to draw a picture... (Just switched from Windows to a Mac!)

Originally Posted by jonnyc

I'm not that brutal, just like to help. I don't think the kick is going to sound as nice in the mix as it does here. The real tricky part to recording is getting the kit to sound great with the rest of the instruments and I'm not totally sure this will. It's not really bad enough to pick apart and I'd really like to hear this in a mix. I personally would roll off the low end of the kick a little bit and get tighter playing and you'll have something real nice to work with.

Thanks for the opinion. I don't actually have any other instruments to be recorded, just myself for the moment.

I checked the mix out on Behringer Truth monitors at school, and I agree about the low end. At home, I only have an assortment of headphones and a PA system. I used my Sennheiser HD280s to monitor. It'll be a bit before I can get some real monitors. I'm thinking of getting Alesis MKII Active monitors, mainly because there seems to be an abundance of them in Australia at the moment for cheap

About tightness... Well... I'd just set everything up and had about 20 mins before my family would silence me for the night. I was in a hurry to get as many different sounds as possible!

[Elton Bear]

Lush sound. Your bass drum sound IS a love/hate issue, and I hate it - but it works for you, so who am I to judge...

However, one thing I would say is that panning your second snare seems a little strange, especially when you start playing a groove using it exclusively.