Overshooting the toilet bowl snare miking tecnique

L

L mandrake

CRM114
Now that I have your attention.
While instructing my son how to position himself over the toilet bowl to pee so as not to overshoot and pee all over the floor at the other side, or to stand too far away and dribble on the floor closest to himself, the scene suddenly became familiar and I realized that maybe my snare miking tecnique requires some rethinking. I generally position a sm57 about 2 inches above the edge of the snare about a half inch over the rim and point it down right at the centre. Ive experimented a lot but never seem to get 'the' snare sound that I want. Recent research and discussion suggest positioning the mike more across the snare (as in more parallel the the snare) to pick up more of the total sound of the snare rather than the stick sound. I realize this aint rocket science but does anyone have any views on this approach?
 
Never tried it, but I was toying with the idea of miking the snare from the side - I might try your approach, sounds v interesting
 
You might think this is even weirder. I have my snare mic about 2 inches off the snare, about 1 inch in from the rim....and pointing STRAIGHT DOWN.....at the skin, literally perendicular to the floor. I know it sounds weird, but it works fo rme.
 
Got any sound clips? Doesn't it sound quite weak, as you're pretty much recording the outer edge of the head?
 
Recent research and discussion suggest positioning the mike more across the snare (as in more parallel the the snare) to pick up more of the total sound of the snare rather than the stick sound. I realize this aint rocket science but does anyone have any views on this approach?
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That's generally what I try first, with any drum. The "target" is the impact point of the stick. Ideally, I will get the attack from the middle of the pattern, and the ringing of the head off-axis. I will also keep some space between the mic and the skin, at least three fingers, which I believe lets in more of the local sounds, like the bottom head, and the snares (on a snare, obviously).

Keep us posted on any other excretory epiphanies you may experience, that one was great!
 
Elton Bear said:
Got any sound clips? Doesn't it sound quite weak, as you're pretty much recording the outer edge of the head?
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You can click on my link and listen to about 15 different songs with that technique. I don't find it sounds weak becasue I have the mic close enough to still pick up a lot of attack, but I find it also gives me more of the "body" of the drum, too.

(By the way, I'm not spamming, but I was asked to post a clip, I just figured it would be easier to send you to my site and you can scan the tunes)
 
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L mandrake said:
Recent research and discussion suggest positioning the mike more across the snare (as in more parallel [to] the snare) to pick up more of the total sound of the snare rather than the stick sound. I realize this aint rocket science but does anyone have any views on this approach?
Click to expand...

I assume you mean on the bottom, since on the top that way would get hit constantly. :)

Yeah. That's sort of how I mic the snare. Not completely parallel, but not pointing at the center, either.
 
Elton Bear said:
RAMI... your crazy theory works - good miking there! Not bad material either ;)
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Hehe...Thanx Elton. I'm not saying it's the only way to go, and for that matter it might only work for me. I find my snare is really loud and has a good crack to it. When i pointed the mic right at the centre, it would overload the mic on some hits. And if I moved the mic back too far, there was too much hi hat and toms coming in. So I sort of discovered this by accident. But, like I said, if I had a different snare, it might not work. Thanx dude.
 
L mandrake said:
Now that I have your attention.
While instructing my son how to position himself over the toilet bowl to pee so as not to overshoot and pee all over the floor at the other side, or to stand too far away and dribble on the floor closest to himself, the scene suddenly became familiar and I realized that maybe my snare miking tecnique requires some rethinking. I generally position a sm57 about 2 inches above the edge of the snare about a half inch over the rim and point it down right at the centre. Ive experimented a lot but never seem to get 'the' snare sound that I want. Recent research and discussion suggest positioning the mike more across the snare (as in more parallel the the snare) to pick up more of the total sound of the snare rather than the stick sound. I realize this aint rocket science but does anyone have any views on this approach?
Click to expand...

How does the drum itself sound?
 
My snare's pretty loud and tends to overpower the rest of the kit... I will definitely be trying different mic placements when I finally get my own setup...
 
ez_willis said:
How does the drum itself sound?
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The snare sounds great. It's a new pearl signature series, 6 1/2 inch. It's metal, and has the internal damper (dampener??) and I keep vascillating between the open snare sound with lots of ring, using the dampening thingy, or using moon gel. I'm a friggin libran, I think I am eternally cursed with vascillating and oscillating and looking for the perfect snare sound. Life was so much simpler when I just played guitar.
 
One should only vascillate when there is a lubrication issue. But remember that it still is a petro based product. Still, I hope you feel better.
 
Vacillation is irreversible. Consider that, and make absolutely sure you have absolutely no desire to procreate if you decide to go through with it. Also, a bag of frozen peas can not be beaten for reducing the pain and swelling.
 
You might think this is even weirder. I have my snare mic about 2 inches off the snare, about 1 inch in from the rim....and pointing STRAIGHT DOWN.....at the skin, literally perendicular to the floor. I know it sounds weird, but it works fo rme.
Click to expand...

hell yea dude...this is the best method i've found so far of getting the "crack" off of the head, but without the stick noise
 
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