Cymbals || Acoustic treatement ||

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Blor007

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Hi a couple of questions in 1 thread ; here I go:

We have a very loud drummer he hits the cymbals like they need to break;
Problem: The overhead mic's are picking up cymbal sound relatively too loud !!


-solution 1 : technique : someone told him that if he would hit it straight on it would sound better.
Anyone got a site with cymbal technique?

-solution 2 : buy lighter cymbals : He does not like the sound of these and they intend to break faster which costs him alot of money.
Will smaller/lighter cymbals sound worse/be less stong/be better for recording?
-solution 3: recording without cymbals at first and then playing the cymbals in later.
Anyone had experience with this approach / how should I try to record the cymbals , with all mic's / only the overheads ?

-solution 4: room acoustics: The room is 3*3*2,3 meters (very small), we also tried in a normal living room which is 6*12*2,6 but the cymbals remain too loud. Both rooms have no real acoustic treatement.
Will acoustic treatement be a huge factor in reducing the cymbals from the overheads ? or should I focus on other aspects?

-solution 5: making the rest of the kit louder , euhhm, euhhm :D
we still have neighbours you know :P

Anyone got some other solutions or some answers/tips , they would be quite helpfull

Thx in advance
 
Has he tried using thinner wood tip sticks on the cymbals.... ? that would help and may solve the problem... cymbals run away quickly when u hit hard.... without adjusting his finesse, or taping strategically...i would try that first
 
A couple of drum lessons with a good teacher - focusing on cymbal technique - followed by hours of practice should solve the problem. cyclone2005's recommendation is worth a try for a quick fix.

I don't recommend it for recording purposes, but using heavy tape on the cymbals will make them quieter and ring less. I usually use a few very strategically placed pieces of duct tape on the underside of large ride cymbals to "tighten" their tuning and resonance.
 
Um, tell him not to play so loud/hard. It's like asking how to not wreck your car when you keep running it into brick walls.
 
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try moon gel. If you can't find it let me know ,it is the modern day miracle for recording drums. You should have some
 
Blor007 said:
Hi a couple of questions in 1 thread ; here I go:

We have a very loud drummer he hits the cymbals like they need to break;
Problem: The overhead mic's are picking up cymbal sound relatively too loud !!

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Click to expand...

Simple solution... tell him to hit the cymbals gently. That´s all. Any average drummer can do that. Even playing DeathMetal! :D
 
Hitting the drums softer is not the answer. Some guys beat the hell out of their drums and make it work.

Imagine if they told Dave Grohl to ease up on the bashing before they recorded Nevermind.


Like it was suggested, moon gel might help. Moving the overheads to a better spot may also help. I don't know how many inputs and mics you have at your disposal, but micing each individual drum will help the blend.
 
reply, yeah i have to agree with everyone else. the drummers technique is ganna make the most difference in your case.... and it doesnt nescarrily cost money(unless you take the teacher route) only practice time
 
get him some lighter sticks, possibly semi hollow sticks
 
Move your OH away futher or as everybody suggest add moongel also lighter sticks will help, all these options should help with your cymbals. I only use 1 OH for room micing which our drummer suggested, but he's been in and out of recording studio's and know when to whale and when not to, BTW our drummer swears by moongels. Goodluck and peace out.
 
The problem with Moongel is that it not only lowers the volume of the cymbals, but also removes some of the high frequency shimmer.

A couple things you might want to look at to get more tamed cymbal sound from you overheads.
1. Try cardaroid, omni will pick up a lot of the high frequency reflections from the ceiling and walls.
2. Move the overheads to different positions, try x-y and l/r placement to see what you like best.
3. Maybe use LDC's instead of SDC's or vise-versa.
4. Wood-tip sticks will help.
5. Treat your room (and floors, especially if they are hard-surface!) with HF absorbtion material. Like foam, blankets, etc..
 
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