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ghetto3jon
New member
should overhead drum mics be compressed? (i use a beta 52 on the bass drum, 57s on the toms and snare, and mxl-603s for overheads)
Light
New member
Depends on the sound you are looking for. I have done it many ways, from no compression to whacking the living crappola out of it. There is nothing which can not be compressed, and there is nothing which must be compressed. Use your ear, it is the only expert which will tell you what you need to know.
What I know is that, when I am doing loud rock and roll stuff, I like to do some mildly heavy compression on the over heads, and then I squeeze the bejezus out of the room mics. Toms, snare and kick will vary from drummer to drummer.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
What I know is that, when I am doing loud rock and roll stuff, I like to do some mildly heavy compression on the over heads, and then I squeeze the bejezus out of the room mics. Toms, snare and kick will vary from drummer to drummer.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Track Rat
Just Your Average Sized Member
I agree with Light but as a matter of practice, I personally tend to go very easy on compression on overheads. It seems to me that if I stand on the overheads too hard that the sheen of the cymbals suffers. Room mics on the other hand get squashed. I also like to assign the kick, snare and tom mics to a couple of subs ouyt as well as the main stereo outs. I send the bussed drums to a compressor and bring that back to a couple of channels and puch it up under the drum mix that I already have going. It can thicken things up nicely.
Light
New member
Track Rat said:
Sometimes you WANT to squash that shimmer though, particularly with the really loud rock stuff. But yeah, I am probably gentler on the overheads than the room mics.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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M.Brane
New member
Don't do it!
Squash the piss out of the close mics, but leave those overheads nice & open.
If you do squash 'em, go easy on the ratio and the threshold.
Squash the piss out of the close mics, but leave those overheads nice & open.
If you do squash 'em, go easy on the ratio and the threshold.
Light
New member
Some of the most fun drum sounds I have gotten have had the overheads just wailed on. It can give a very cool Nine Inch Nails sort of sound. But for most stuff, M.Brane, yeah, go easy on the overheads. Just don't get the impression that it never works.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Track Rat
Just Your Average Sized Member
Very true Light. No rules, just generalizations. If it sounds correct for the tune, put your boots on and stand on it.
Light
New member
Track Rat said:Very true Light. No rules, just generalizations. If it sounds correct for the tune, put your boots on and stand on it.
I can not image tracking Tommy Lee (no I have not, just a style comparison) without using the hammer and anvil to beat the sound into submission.
This is kindda fun. How many different analogies can we come up with for heavy compression, anyway?
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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geekgurl
New member
Light said:
How about "that head-in-a-vise feeling"? Just listen to Rush's Vapor Trails to hear what I mean.
M
M.Brane
New member
Light said:
One of my all-time favorite songs is "When The Levee Breaks". Talk about compacted drums!
I just love the way those crashes bloom.
In the context of that song it works and works well. I've read that was tracked with just a couple ribbons.Of course not everyone gets to track a drummer like Bonham.
dafduc
New member
Zero-G's Brutal Beats loop CD has some roughed up "When the Levee Breaks" mixes. I'm still savoring my choices about how to use them.
How about: "squash it like a fat girl riding a vegetarian"?
How about: "squash it like a fat girl riding a vegetarian"?
pipelineaudio
Well-known member
Bloom Bloom !!! like he said thats the word!!! damn good analogy
depends what you want, the old aerosmith style overheads would be 2 1176's or an 1178 with ALL the reduction buttons pressed in fast attack and release about a quarter of the song tempo, mashing the hell out of it and REALLY letting you hear cymbals " bloom"
another one is starting a shelving eq at 8-12khz and really turning it down like 6 to 12 dB then sending it into an 1178 set around typical snare drum settings, like 25-40 mS attack and release around 1/2 the song tempo...think Slayer or Sacred Reich for this one
depends what you want, the old aerosmith style overheads would be 2 1176's or an 1178 with ALL the reduction buttons pressed in fast attack and release about a quarter of the song tempo, mashing the hell out of it and REALLY letting you hear cymbals " bloom"
another one is starting a shelving eq at 8-12khz and really turning it down like 6 to 12 dB then sending it into an 1178 set around typical snare drum settings, like 25-40 mS attack and release around 1/2 the song tempo...think Slayer or Sacred Reich for this one
Light
New member
dafduc said:
Brilliant!!!!!!!!! I love it. Come on, lets hear some more.
How about "make it feel like the guy in the car in Goldfinger."
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi