Room snare sound

G

gawkman

New member
I'm looking for a way to get a snare drum to have a rim-shot "crack" sound in a full room. This is a very specific sound, and the only bands I can think of offhand that have this sound is Vision Of Disorder (their first self-titled album), and the snare on "Give It Away Now" by Red Hot Chili Peppers (though that snare drum is tuned lower than I would). The sound kinda reminds me of what a snare sounds like coming out of a PA at the back of the room of an medium-sized empty club. It has a way of just cutting right through the mix.

Any suggestions?
 
Yeah, sounds right so far. With a really tight head. But I know plenty of bands that have snares like that but still don't have that same rim-shoty roomy-sound
 
I'm not a real drummer, and there's the possibility that i don't understand exactly the sound you're looking for, but it sounds like you're after a piccolo snare with a little verb, right?
 
Im thinking that the room may have a lot to do with the sound of the drum. Different rooms will probably bring about different sounds and exaggerate certain frequencies. The room mics used, if any are another big part of that "roomy" sound. A close miked snare will probably sound deader than a close miked snare with a pair of room mics. The room mics may help bring out the overall ambiance of the kit. For example, a deafening rim shot will most likely cause the other drums to resonate, creating bigger sound.

Well, I hope that this helped.
 
LOL

Thanks for respondin'... what kind of mics are good for recording a good "room" sound? Can you give me a few names? How (where) do you set these up?
 
CJ, oh so true!!! It shocks me sometimes how many drummers in local rock bands have not come to the realization that they need to learn it before they can get the snare sound they hear from others. Oh well.

Ed
 
CJ's right, if the drummer's not hitting rim shots, the snare's not gonna ring the same way. For room mics, any ol' omni's will work for starters. You need a fairly live room for them to have much effect. Space 'em out in front of the drums. 10 feet? 20 feet? I don't really know, my room is small and pretty dead. You can also try putting them on the floor, pointing them into the far corners of the room, just experiment and see what works with yr room. If you have a PZM try sticking that in a stairwell, it will probably have more of an effect on the kick than the snare, but yr kick will sound most gigantic.
 
Yo, the suggestion of a piccolo was good but there is more stuff you can do. I play some ska and reggae in my band so I have also experimented with getting that crack. My experiments have shown that wooden snares (maple generally) work a lot better when tuned up. You dont neccessarily have to do a rim shot but that is most likely what the sound was. basically, crank that thing up if you are going for the RHCP sound and hit pretty solidly. And if you dont know what a rim shot is then that is your first objective. :)
 
Although I agree with the King on the quality of the wooden snare, if you want extreme crack out of the snare, you need a quality snare that can take a lot of pressure (i.e. the $79 dollar kind will not work).

Tune the snare side head normal and adjust the strainer to a semi-tight pull. Find a REMO Falam head for the batter side and torque away (use a rachet). The Falam head is used mainly by drum corps for the super tight cutting sound, I swear they are made of Kevlar.
 
Those Kevlar heads are LOUD!!!!!!! You can really blast out shots on those things. Well a 3" rim and a giant pair of vic firths help. Our drumline uses REMO blackmax. We play loud! They are probably the best marching heads. Never tryed them for a set snare.
 
Believe me, I know what Kevlar is. You're more likely to break the drum cranking it down tight than the head itself!!!!
I know tons about drumline stuff, but it's the set that I am lacking knowledge of.

Hey CJ, who do you play for?
 
That is good. Congrats. And I guess that makes you... CENTER SNARE, correct?

I don't know about you, but I've always wondered what it would sound like if a trap player used a marching snare like that for the snare in their kit.

Then in the drum solos, somewhere you could bust out and be all, CHEESE INVERT, HERTA, EGGBEATER, PATAFLAFLA
 
No, actually I play tenors, last year it was bass drum. I am very proud of our drumline and pit. And I have always wondered what it would sound like to use a marching snare for a set. Though if you listen to some albums, with all the gating and cranked levels....Check out Creeds new album if you haven't already...the snare drum is the loudest thing in the mix!!!!! Cuts right through.
 
Yes it does, but it stills sounds a little bit too dry or dead for what I'm going for. I made some clips of a band that has that sound (shoulda just done that in the first place) in mp3 format so that it's still decent quality enough not too distort the sound. Give these a listen and tell me what you think of that snare sound:
http://members.pluhextreme.com/gawkman/vodclips.html

Tenors are fun. What do you have, quints?
 
Yes quints, they are a lot of fun! :D

BTW, I took a listen to those MP3s and have some ideas.

1)Put two mics on the drum. One on batter and one on the snare side. Sm57 for top and for bottom or use a condensor on the bottom for the extended high end.
2)Gate to get the "pop" and compress the batter head.
3)Add some verb with a short tail or gate.
4)Delay snare side head slightly, compress, and home in on just the short snare resonation after the stroke using a gate.
5)Then EQ.

Thats what I think was done on the snare tracks that I listened to.

Im gonna mess around with it myself and upload an MP3 on my FTP space with the settings I used to compare.
We'll see how this works!!!!

[This message has been edited by CJWalker (edited 05-12-2000).]
 
Gawkman...I've tried the Remo FALAMS on my set snare before. HUGE sound...but not very responsive. BTW...to get that Chili Pepper sound, Chad Smith uses a black nickel snare. It's made by Pearl and is (coincidently) his signature model. Personally I like the sound of a 3"x13" maple piccolo. And on the rimshot thing...is your drummer hitting the bead of the stick dead in the middle of the head? If he's hitting off-center or close to the rim it will get a rim shot, but it will be higher pitched and ring. Hitting the bead in the middle of the snare will make it POP a little more. Good luck...
 
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