Well, it’s clear that Greg_L, Tadpui and Steenamaroo are all useless trolls. They have nothing to offer, except their incessant need to waste the precious space of this and probably other forums. You are all so useless it took Bubba po to explain the fluffer joke before you got it. Dudes, why don’t just Skype each other and you can be snarky face to face.
I would like to thank bouldersoundguy, Miroslav, heatmiser and mixsit for bringing something to the table. They point out that OH-CY or cymbals only may not be the best way to explain the concept I was trying to explain, which is, those that track the overheads as “glue” as heatmiser puts it, not necessarily having to get the drums and cymbals together as the main sound. Those that put mics on every drum and then have overheads use the overheads differently from those that don’t mic every drum.
Obviously it’s inherent with overheads the full kit will be recorded. But the technicality is primary source versus secondary source.
So, if a kit has a mic on the kick drum, mic on top of the snare, mic below the snare, mic on the rack tom, mic on the floor tom, mic on the hi hat, and then two overhead mics – these overhead mics are doing something different for the recording than a set up that has a mic on the kick drum, a mic on the snare and two overheads. You see that difference? That is all I’m trying to point out. Any two mics can be put over a kit when all the other drums are mic’d, because they are secondary.
Sure, asking people to rethink a post they made ten years ago might be preposterous, but let me tell you something, these forums are a great place for information. I read them for exact purposes. It’s a shame the fluffers exist out there that troll these forums and waste a lot of space and time for serious people trying to achieve something. So, in an effort to make the information in these forums as useful as possible, I didn’t think it was too much to ask people to rethink how they wrote about overhead mics in the past. The technical use of them for primary source versus secondary source is a valid technical difference.
So if someone has sweet Fatheads with Lundahl transformers, and they are used for overheads where all the other drums are mic’d, this is different from someone using Rode M5s as overheads with no other drum mic’d except kick and snare. I guess the idea of using short code for the technicality was a stretch but at least it was an attempt at a simple way to show the difference. In lieu of OH-FK and OH-CY, I’d probably switch it to OH-PRI and OH-SEC, for overhead primary source and overhead secondary source. Now, surely the fluffers out there whose brains can’t fathom new ideas this might be difficult, but hey that’s fine. This forum was supposed to be about just that: a new idea, a different way of talking, writing about an old idea.
Also, I understand one might point out that even in the secondary overhead format they are being used as the primary drum sound source. Yes, but if all other drums are mic’d, that gives the engineer options that aren’t available to those without all other drums mic’d. As an example, how does Oktava MK-012 work as secondary versus primary? It’s a valid question for all the rave reviews people give those mics at that price point.
And furthermore, overthinking and overdoing the mix down isn’t in my bag. I don’t have or use plug ins, DIs, preamps, etc. Track the main source as best as possible and limited to no EQ is how we do it. If someone has a highly regarded set of mics like the MK-012 and uses them as overheads, but then totally compresses and whatever else to them, does that really explain how the mics really sound when used cleanly? There are so many one line posts to these threads it’s ridiculous, as people don’t give the full extent to the idea they are trying to convey. Details people, not one liners.
This experience has been fascinating. I’m beginning to think the trolls don’t even record or use varying equipment, heck if they even play music at all. They just sit back and read every damn post and their goal is to attack negatively instead of bringing something positive or worthwhile to the table. Because in a sad way, their minds get gratification for being negative. It’s a pity our forums have to deal with this nonsense.
But for those of us out there that take this stuff very seriously, I thank you for your comments not only in this thread but across the forums. Serious people read this stuff looking for real answers, not idiot fluff.