hihats suck

wesley tanner

wesley tanner

New member
they seem to be the beast that I cannot quite tame how I'd like... I usually wind up using a 414 on my snare, d112 on kick, choose a dynamic for the toms if I mic the toms at all, and then SP C4's for OH...

I usually get plenty of bleed in the snare mic and oh's that I don't even directly mic the hats... but they always sound a bit wishy washy to me, even if they're nice freakin' hats... is it worth it for me to move the oh's to have a better phase relationship with the hats? I almost always measure from the snare to the oh's and I don't want to lose that, you know? and of course I follow the 3:1 rule..... so, any tips on making a crisp clean hat sound when they're open?
 
Bigger hats sound less loud than smaller hats.

A Beyer M201 on snare can do miracles.

Put some coins in the bell of the lower hat cymbal. (Steve Albini)
 
wesley, anyway you could post an MP3 of the sound and a pic?

The 414 is actually a great high at mic. I think the wierd hat sound is probably coming from the position of the 414 on the snare.

Check out the positioning on the mic on snare in this pic. Also notice the position of the 414 on hats. I'd recommend you either change the position of the 414 on the snare until you get a good sound on both the snare and hats. Or else take the 414 off the snare and use it on hats. And put another mic, such as a 57, on the snare – making sure the back of the mic is facing the hats – which will give you rear-end rejection and pick up much less sound from hats from the back of the mic.

http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/jazzooo8.htm

If you keep getting shit hat sounds then try another pair of hats. What kind of hats are you using?
 
i've recorded all sorts of hats, from new beats to mastersounds and k customs and others. the mastersounds were the only ones i enjoyed to any degree.

normally i would be happy to put the 414 on the hats, but i only have 4 tracks to record at once (tascam 428). sometimes the hats get overbearing enough as is, and when i'm pressed for time, I can't afford to lose a set of tracks to an overbearing hihat... after talking to a buddy of mine who graduated berklee's production engineering program, i think a lot of it may just be inexperienced drummers smashing away at wide open hats, a sound that is pretty freakin' wishwashy in reality..

edit: i'll see what I can do about getting a sample, and i'll take pics the next time i mic up, if possible (I don't have my own digi)
 
wesley, in my experience "problems with the hihat dominating" are usually 99% the result of the drummer--not the mics, room or placement.

sure you can try different mics and placements to compensate, but usually the solution is to get the drummer to not beat the snot out of them.....and that's a difficult thing to get them to do.


cheers,
wade
 
I guess it's true, it really will make you go blind...

I see the C1 in the pic, but I don't see the 414.
 
mrface2112 said:
wesley, in my experience "problems with the hihat dominating" are usually 99% the result of the drummer--not the mics, room or placement.
sure you can try different mics and placements to compensate, but usually the solution is to get the drummer to not beat the snot out of them.....and that's a difficult thing to get them to do.
cheers,
wade
Click to expand...


Second that. Sound unheard, this is what I theorize.

Brent Casey
PMI Audio Group
877-563-6335
 
Cardioidpotent said:
I see the C1 in the pic, but I don't see the 414.
Click to expand...
what C1??


I usually don't have a problem with the hats dominating the mix, I make sure to avoid that -- I've experienced it and HATED IT... usually they just don't sound crisp when they're open, but I love their sound closed. so, I believe I will have to spend a bit of time instructing drummers....shudder....


edit: nevermind, found the link

edit 2: look just above the hats a little to the right, you'll see the top of the 414, silver face down. b-uls, ehh?
 
Last edited:
Dot, I just read your description of the SP B1 on the Sound Pure site, and it contains the word 'little' three times ... I'm looking at my B3 next to a few different mics here and it doesn't strike me as being particularly small ... :confused:

I'm with the theory that it's 99% drummer and kit. I would split that about 70% drummer and 29% kit ... I've heard people more skilled than me make my crappy kits sound quite usable, and I've seen a million punk drummers murdering the potential of some really good cymbals too. The last 1% is the mic and room ... within acceptable bounds, the difference between a 57 or a C414 or an NT5 or whatever is tiny compared to the others in my limited experience. YMMV!!
 
BTW - Most drummers need to learn to open their hats less and use a slightly different part and angle of stick to get a crisper sound on open hats.
 
wesley tanner said:
usually they just don't sound crisp when they're open, but I love their sound closed
Click to expand...

Well if your relying on the off axis response of the 414 to pick up the high-hat it's the higher frequencies will be attenuated most and thus no crispness
 
noisedude said:
Dot, I just read your description of the SP B1 on the Sound Pure site, and it contains the word 'little' three times ... I'm looking at my B3 next to a few different mics here and it doesn't strike me as being particularly small ...
Click to expand...

That's not my writing. : ) I write better than that and my descriptions are more detailed.

For condensers, the B series are sort of "little".
 
<< For condensers, the B series are sort of "little". >>

i'd call them more "squat" than "little". they're short and fat.......kinda like R2D2. :D


cheers,
wade
 
Wow, I really see the superiority of your writing right there! :D:D

Cheers Dot ... I just want to say you are one of the real good guys, and in this post-DJL era (if it really is permanent), we're going to need more people like you around to fill the gaps vacated by the flame wars. :)

Nik
 
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