Effects on drums

[mwarkentin]

Hi guys. My band is recording our first demo on a Korg D1600 digital recorder (16 tracks). We've got 4 mic's for the drums (2 OH, snare, and kick). I'm pretty happy with the sound we've been able to get so far, but I've also seen that we can apply effects (compressor, limiter, etc) to each input. I'm just wondering if there are any standard effects to use on certain parts to make the sound a little bit better.

I read something about using a gate effect to increase the separation on the mics, but I'm not even sure what the gate effect does. Any help is much appreciated.

I'm planning on recording them all, and then changing the eq after it's finished... is this fine, or should I be messing with eq right at the input?

Thanks,
Michael

[Queue]

Michael,
You've got a LOT to learn...
(But you came to the right place for help.)

Go here: http://www.studiocovers.com/articles.htm

Print off a few articles, an read them when you get a chance...

Queue

[Gidge]

http://24.61.136.253/

leave the majority of the effects for mixing......check out that website, especially the mixing drums article....

[mwarkentin]

Thanks for the resources guys... I've been reading a ton of stuff lately... hope it's all sinking in.

Anyways, it'll be an interesting experience anyways. I'm pretty happy with how the drum tracks are sounding right now.

[Gidge]

hey, how about a mp3 of your drum work?....

[Downside Studio]

the separation on the mics

Still waiting for the days there comes a newbie who understands

the separation of the mics

[mwarkentin]

On, of, is there that much of a difference?

I'll be working on getting mp3s of the tracks soon.. I was going to ask about that anyways, see if people could listen and give some hands-on recommendations. I'll let you know when I have something you can download.

[Downside Studio]

Well, I dare you to go to any of the homereccers and seperate one of their mikes. Preferably the most expensive one.

[mwarkentin]

Here's a link to one of the drum tracks.. no mixing or anything yet.

http://www.scs.ryerson.ca/~mwarkent/...rum_track).mp3

[Gidge]

Bad link...file not found error.....

[Gidge]

ok i got it this time....

[Gidge]

that didnt sound half bad...what mics are you using?....the cymbals sounded a tad dull........

[Gidge]

and the kick doesnt seem to have the umpph it needs......

[mwarkentin]

Shure SM57's on the overheads and snare, not sure about the kick mic. We rented them from the local music store, that was all we could get our hands on, besides the cheap ones from my church.

I'm very pleased with how it came out though, for this being my first time ever doing this.

Please keep in mind this hasn't been mixed though, I left all levels at 0 (or unity gain I think) when I mixed down to burn it. I will be messing with the mix once I get all the tracks laid down. Mostly I'm looking for recommendations for eq adjustments, or anything else you can think of.

[SirRiff]

Greetings,

I think that sounds pretty good for your first time man. Are the toms all tighted up? They sound a litle "mushy" or something.

Note: I have no drum experience whatsoever and do not plan to have any in the future.

SirRiff

[Vurt]

The D1600's bank of 1in8out Insert Effects are good for drums. Concentrate fist on getting a good drum sound without any effects, but once you have that, using them can sometimes give them an extra bit of presence you might like.

[mwarkentin]

Just wondering... you have to use those while recording the drums, or can you apply them to the tracks afterwards?

If you have to do them while you're recording, I don't think we'll have time to redo all the drum tracks, unfortunately.

[Vurt]

You can (and in most cases, should) apply them after they've already been recorded.

[mwarkentin]

Ok, thanks, that's what I was hoping for... time to hit the manual.

[mwarkentin]

Actually... I wasn't completely honest. We have an old recording of a few songs. Download this if you want a laugh.

http://www.scs.ryerson.ca/~mwarkent/...Adrenaline.mp3

That's the same song that that drum track I posted was for.. I think you'll understand why I'm pleased with the sound.