too much snare on overheads, and it forces clipping

[shackrock]

my drum set up is 2 SM58's as overheads.... a sm57 on snare, and a AT pro-25 on kick drum. i put these all into seperate pre-amps in the behringer mx802a...and then send that to the my pc.

I get A LOT of snare on the overheads though...and it kindof seems like micing the snare hardly makes the difference, unless i want to EQ it... also - it clips about every other snare hit (either just the 2 overheads, or the 2 overheads and the sm57 (on the snare). Any ideas on how to stop that? lol.

should i keep the ball's on the SM58's (overheads)?

thanks.

[Track Rat]

How did you set the trim on the drum mics? For drums, those mic pre's won't need too much gain. If you have the trim set much past the 11:00 position, that could be your problem.

[mikemoritz]

Which part of the chain is clipping? Is the input clipping, or is it the output of the mixer? I mean if you turn the master faders does it fix the problem, or are the mic's themselves clipping? If it's because of the master faders, just turn them down.....you can fix that level later on since you're going into the pc. If it's the mic's themselves, turn the trim down. If it's clipping on the way into the computer, then check the line in level, or whatever level controls what goes in. Sorry if I'm confusing, but hopefully this helps.

Mikey

[shackrock]

well i think it's at the mics where the clipping comes in. and if i turn them down, then a lot of the time i get a lot less cymbals in the mix then i'd want......and most of the time there are still those random snare hits when it clips for no reason really....

but if i were to turn down the mic's level (the trim as you guys call it i think)...and then turn that channel/line's level up in the total mix....it would turn out better?

thanks

also - balls of the SM58 on or off?

[maddrummer]

This is something that I have to deal with too, so i've been using a compressor to even out the overheads. It seems to do the job so that i can use the snare mic more and have more controll over it. I don't know if this is something that people normally do or not but i have a feeling it is. I found that using a rack compressor instead of a plug in works a little better because you won't be increasing your noise floor at all. Hope this helps a little........ and if anyone else thinks that this is not a good way to do it please tell me what you do so I can try that out. Thanks......Josh

[Garak]

The 58's are not great mics for overheads. You need something more senstive and with a more open high end. I think the 58's drop off around 15k.

Anyway if you can't get any better mics.
Where do you have them and which way are they pointing?

Also how are the cymbals layed out? Are they down low ontop of the snare and toms?

How hard is the drummer playing the snare and cymbals? Take a listen while they are playing dose the snare sound the same on the track as it dose to your ears from where the mics are placed?

Most of the time you have to put a mic on snare to bring it out in the mix you seem to have the oppsit problem.

[shackrock]

hmmm ok..

here's some pictures of my drum set frlom a while ago - http://www.angelfire.com/emo/shackrockinc/homerec.html - but its still set up the same way. The mics ARE NOT set up how they look in those pictures though.

I put the overheads both pointing strighit down, one right one left, and pan them hard left/right. Then i usually EQ the mid and high both down a quarter turn or so...and hit the "low cut" button which cuts below 75 i think (off the top of my head, that sounds about right).