Thanks for the link, Lee.
So, what does a guy that doesn't have an SSL and a nice room do?
Well, at least I got the compression part.
Another question is, does the gate get triggered by the reverb itself or is it sidechained to the snare? Sidechaining is gonna be an issue for me, since I'm still on Cubase SX2, it doesn't support sidechaining out of the box, and I'm unaware of any sidechainable gates that can be used with SX2 like some compressors can be coersed in such action by using Group channels and some funny routing. Although I should be upgrading to 5 in the near future.
The other issue is that I seem to have difficulty dialing up reverb that works well with snares in general, both in software and hardware (using KDFX reverb in my K2600)... although I think I know what I've been doing wrong, so will be trying a couple of methods with KDFX over the weekend, software is pretty well useless for this.
So you say you feel you're doing something wrong? Hmm. Perhaps I can help...it's just a matter of developing an ear for it. There's a few different ways to pull it off effectively.
Well I mean technically you dont need an SSL or any really over the top gear. Just the basics: a decent reverb, compressor, EQ and a noise gate. Of course the better the gear, the easier it is to do. It's all a matter of visualizing the sound and just taking the time to tweak it. It depends on how inventive you're willing to get.
When I think of the physics that's going with the 80s snare, I think of it in different parts:
My way would have this signal flow:
-Dry "punchy" snare -> EQ -> Compressor
-Aux send -> gate (triggered) -> Verb -> Heavy compressor -> Gate (timed to BPM)
1) The verb-
I don't personally believe there's a "one size fits all" verb that works on all snares. I do have a few "go to" verbs, but it comes down to way too many different things in a mix for me to suggest a perfect verb every time. I *always* spend the time to hunt down new FX from scratch with every new project. It could be that one of my altiverb patches do the trick on one mix, but it could also be a lower res generic verb might do the trick on another mix.
I don't know unless I hunt for it and listen. I mean I have hundreds of custom patches to choose from. I always tell myself that no two verbs are alike, so I try to visualize it before I go looking for it. Some algorithms are very bright, others very dark. I know big stuff like long plate verbs, hall verbs and church verbs are things I go to for big big sound. Again, I spend a couple of hours building up a list of patches I audition in the mix before finding a good one.
2) The snare, dynamics and bring it together nice and tight:
So think about the physics here for a minute. When you hit a snare, the crack (attack) is always followed by the reverb tail. It's something we all know as a basic truth. You have to build from the dry snare, because that's where it starts. If you can't get that dry snare as punchy and perfectly "aggresive" as you can, there's no hope of pulling off this big sound. And it's not hard to do. Simple compression and EQ will get you there.
Imagine the snare sound like a punchy "PLAH". An untreated snare can come off like a pussy-ass "tink". Very tinny and tiny. I personally like to compress hard (maxed out) at first and build backwards from there. I start easing up my ratio, attack, release and thresholds until I get right in the pocket. Of course you have to check that against the mix from time to time. You might have to add some top end with the EQ to brighten it up after compression. I personally like to do this pre-compressor.
Once you have that punchy "perfect" snare, then the rest should be pretty standard. You send that to an aux channel with the gate first, then the verb, followed by the compressor and the "tie the knot" gate.
The idea behind that first gate is really important. You essentially want to create some what of a short timed delay between the time the snare hits, and the gate opens. It's that relationship that creates the giant impact of a consistently punchy snare. You're essentially letting the dry attack of the snare dominate first followed immediately by the reverb tail in that first few milliseconds. So you're actually using the gate to *remove* the attack from the aux channel. By itself it sounds horrible, together with the dry snare, it's awesome.
If you can't get that triggered gate to work with the dry snare, you've lost the critical impact effect from the entire snare. It won't sync right. You would calculate the release time on that gate to the BPM of you song so it always opens in musical time.
The rest is just a matter of tweaking to taste (verb, compressor, verb level, etc). Just feel it out, you'll get it
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