need help on drum track

[rohlson730]

Hey everyone,
I recently recorded a new tune called SOMETIMES OBSCENE. I've been drumming for about 2.5 yrs and learning over the past 3 how to mic them. Could you please have a listen to my mp3 and tell me what I should do to make my kit sound a bit better...ie obviously I cant rerecord this so I just need you to listen and tell me what frequencies to tweak and how to have my kit cleaned up and sounding a bit better now and in the future ie..eq, mics to use, compression recommendations. The link to the mp3 is:
http://chooser.mp3.com/cgi-bin/play/...es_obscene.m3u

Thanks,
Steel

[scroticus]

forgive me if im wrong but it sounds like it was all recorded at the same time in the same room, always tough to pull off
if this is the case then i think the biggest thing that would help is to record just the bass and drums first , with the bass goin through headphones to him and the drummer,this will allow you to capture just the drums and avoid that distant sound of an amp in another corner of the room , some blankets on the walls will do wonders for room noise
compress the kick a little more and if possible , add verb to the rest, good luck , cya

[minusone]

I agree with the other reply...

You really do need to split things out if you can... get the guitar amps out of the room. What I used to do is put the guitar amp in the utility room (which was cramed full of crap). I would just close-mic the guitar amp, which didn't give me any "room ambience" but the sound was pretty decent.

Next, your vocalist really cannot be anywhere near any instrument source. Usually, in a studio environment, the actual vocal track is recorded way after all instrument parts are recorded. This doesn't mean your vocalist can't sing along, in fact its usually a good idea, but this is typically called "scratch vocals"

Now, on to your actual question :-)

Recording drums in a less-than-perfect room is very tricky but can be done (I've been doing it for close to 5 years)... and what I have found is that mic'ing strategies is key and the mics you use.

Close mic'ing is probably your only real choice, because of the room, you actually want to minimize room noise levels... which means using digital reverbs to help fill out the kit (which I typically hate doing, but hey, its DIY man!)

I am a big fan of nothing in the kick, and stick a 57 or 58 in there, and maybe a 57 on the beater, this will give you a nice full kick sound. Then, just close mic the snare with a 57, and do the same with the toms. Of course you don't really need to mic each tom, just listen to the full drum mix before committing to a configuration.

Well, I hope that helps a little :-)

./dave

[rohlson730]

your points are all dually noted and will definately be taken into the account with the next tune.
steel