Mic bleeding

[fris9]

I'm using a 2 overhead, kick, and snare mic setup to record, but I'm having trouble getting the snare to "pop" out of the mix. I've been told that I need to use compression on it and then give it a boost, but that brings up a new question. On my snare mic (sm57), i'm getting some bleed from the high hat, and a little from the toms. If I compress that mic, how will those bleed throughs affect the sound? One more question- do engineers delete noise between hits? Same with the kick drum. seems like a lot of work, but that it would clean up the bleeding, at least in between the hits on the kick or snare. Hope that makes sense.

[Farview]

With that type of mic setup, you are supposed to get the sound of the kit from the overheads and just use the kick and snare mics to add a little more uummmph! to the sound of the overheads.

If you want to micro-manage the drum mix, you need to close mic all the drums, a spaced pair of overheads and a whole bunch of noise gates. (and a decent drummer)

[Drakaland]

A gate on the snare should take care of some of the cross talk between the hi hats and snare.

[nddhc]

If your drums are on carpet then a hard reflective surface under your whole kit or even just your snare (like a small sheet of wood or similar) might help.

Also, the tuning of your drum, the room you record in, and the way you play it will have more impact on your sound than you can even begin to imagine - but that should be a given



Good luck -
Im still learning as well

[jamacian]

Get your drum sound in your overheads right so the snare pops out. Then if that's not enough pop mic the snare bottom. I spend a lot of time on my overheads, XY, ORTF or spaced pair, each has it's own sound and needs lots of fine tuning to get things right.

[Elton Bear]

I've had pleasing results with Overheads, Kick, and undersnare - little or no hi-hat bleed in your snare, and the overheads pick up more than enough 'pop' - the undersnare just gives a much richer sound to the whole thing.

[mrface2112]

welcome to the wonderful world of recording drums. my advice: don't hit the hat so hard and hit the snare a whole lot harder. that's the best way to fix that bleeding problem.

might not be the easiest, though. but you'll be better for it in the long run.

and remember, only use a tourniquet on a mic to stop the bleeding in a "last resort" situation. a clean compress is best.

cheers,
wade

[CJWalker]

Lately I've been doing a lot of playing around with the overall stereo image and getting the snare to cut through the mix with the rest of the set. I feel that most of the snare issues that I've been having are based upon the overhead mic' setup itself. The 'Recorderman' method and it's variants are a great starting point to get the snare centered and present. I have also become fond of using a second mic under the snare, phase flipped, to give a more 'dimensional' sound so to speak. Additional room mics also help depending on location. You can also try nudging/advancing the overheads a millisecond or so..

[guttapercha]

Originally Posted by Drakaland

A gate on the snare should take care of some of the cross talk between the hi hats and snare.

I've found that this approach doesn't work if the drummer hits ghosts on the snare.

[eeb]

this is my preferred set up on the kit.. I love getting a more natural sound with the over heads.. Our ep (that i'm currently mixing) I used 2 overheads, 2 room mics.. kick and 2 on the snare (top and bottom) the drums basically mixed themselves except a few bleed issues (solved with a bit of automation)

with this set up you're really relying on your overheads to do most of the work... getting a great drum sound before you start tracking is key..

that being said i agree with Elton bear.. try to make everything stand out in the overheads... some careful eq'ing might be an order.. try not to overcompress either (this might just be my personal taste but too much compression will kill that natural sound you get by micing this way and to me that's sorta defeating the purpose)

[Supercreep]

Hit the snare harder. Light touch on the hats.

[nuemes]

Attach foam just behind the head of the snare mic to keep the SM57 from picking up the hihat. Compression on the snare can add pop but be careful if using it while tracking or else you'll end up with something unnatural sounding.

[HangDawg]

Originally Posted by guttapercha

I've found that this approach doesn't work if the drummer hits ghosts on the snare.

See, I find just the opposite. Ghost notes are in the overheads and only the CRACKS come from the snare mic. That is, if you plan it this way and set the gates properly.

[guttapercha]

Originally Posted by HangDawg

See, I find just the opposite. Ghost notes are in the overheads and only the CRACKS come from the snare mic. That is, if you plan it this way and set the gates properly.

Interesting. I was trying to gate out the hat, but I see what you mean here. If I set the gate more stringently, the snare mic won't pick up anything but the crack. I'm gonna try it.

Thanks!


JD

[Supercreep]

a room mic with heavy compression will bring out those ghost notes. Mix it to taste.