Do you always gate your kick mic channel?

[BrentDomann]

Or do you let it bleed a little bit? If you use an expander rather than a gate, that applies here.

I don't notice much of a difference in the drum mix or the overall mix either way in my current project, but if it'll clear up significant mud down the road I'll consider it. FWIW, the mic was through a port in the reso head, so there isn't much bleed at all.

Also, do fish fart water?

 

[Greg_L]

I never gate my kick track.

I don't think fish fart. They do burp though.

 

[RAMI]

There have been times when I gated it, but that's the exception rather than the rule. Recording voodoo, or mind games, but I can do 2 songs less than 24 hours apart, same set up, mics, same everything. One will sound fine, the other have issues that need to be addressed. Gating my kick is often one of those things. Sometimes, the leakage doesn't bother me, and other times (I think) I want a tighter, more controlled sound. Can't tell you why.

 

[Greg_L]

Recording voodoo, or mind games, but I can do 2 songs less than 24 hours apart, same set up, mics, same everything. One will sound fine, the other have issues that need to be addressed.

Same here. Totally been there. I've recorded drum tracks for different songs literally minutes apart and one set of tracks will need certain things done, the other sets something different.

 

[JG96]

If I want a kick to sound more dampened for a song I use some light gating. Otherwise I just let it be.

 

[witzendoz]

I usually only gate the kick if the drummer hits the kick soft and for example, hits the snare very hard so that the snare is very much in the kick channel. I have gated the kick if it is a boomy long kick sound for some reason, but I try to fix this at the recording stage.

Alan.

 

[Seafroggys]

I have never used gate on a recording, outside of playing around with a gate just to see what sort of effect it does. When I have recording an LDC on my bass drum, even with a tunnel I still get tons of cymbal bleed in between hits so I usually end up manually editing out the spaces between notes....but that does take a lot of time.

 

[witzendoz]

I have never used gate on a recording, outside of playing around with a gate just to see what sort of effect it does.

I don't use the gate when recording only during mixing.

When I have recording an LDC on my bass drum, even with a tunnel I still get tons of cymbal bleed in between hits so I usually end up manually editing out the spaces between notes....but that does take a lot of time.

Thats what a gate does?

Alan.

 

[BrentDomann]

Thats what a gate does?

Alan.

This will work or might even be necessary if there's too much bleed.

I'm liking the consensus here. I've never been one to gate but my most recent work is shaping up to include some of the nicest recordings I've ever captured, especially on a drum kit with just a few mics. I'm just checking out "standard practice" so I don't miss any opportunities to make it even better.

 

[Dogbreath]

I know it's just my own lack of expertise but I've never got a gate to sound natural. So I just go in like SeaFroggy does and manually edit the snare and sometimes kick.
Time consuming for sure but better punch and clarity.

 

[Greg_L]

I know it's just my own lack of expertise but I've never got a gate to sound natural. So I just go in like SeaFroggy does and manually edit the snare and sometimes kick.
Time consuming for sure but better punch and clarity.

You gotta tweak the attack time and release to open quick right at the transient and close slowly so you don't cut the natural decay. It also sometimes helps to gate after compression if there are level variances all over the place. The compressor can level everything out so the gate reacts the same way for each hit. It just takes some practice. It can be tricky though. A gate can really help or fuck everything all to hell.

 

[Dogbreath]

You gotta tweak the attack time and release to open quick right at the transient and close slowly so you don't cut the natural decay. It also sometimes helps to gate after compression if there are level variances all over the place. The compressor can level everything out so the gate reacts the same way for each hit. It just takes some practice. It can be tricky though. A gate can really help or fuck everything all to hell.

I admit...It's been awhile since I even tried it cuz last time it fucked everything all to hell.


Sure would be a time saver if I could get the shit right since I'm working on drum tracks atm...
And I've got 7 more tunes I tracked.
That's a lot of editing.

 

[BrentDomann]

I wonder if a gentle-slope expander in front of a gate might help you guys who use them.

 

[Greg_L]

I admit...It's been awhile since I even tried it cuz last time it fucked everything all to hell.


Sure would be a time saver if I could get the shit right since I'm working on drum tracks atm...
And I've got 7 more tunes I tracked.
That's a lot of editing.

I'd just let it ride before I manually edited the space between drum hits. That's just crazy talk!

 

[Dogbreath]

I'd just let it ride before I manually edited the space between drum hits. That's just crazy talk!

consider the source.

 

[Seafroggys]

Correction...I've never used gate in mixing. Or tracking for that matter.

 

[Farview]

I almost always gate the kick. But I tend to EQ and compress the hell out of it, so any bleed at all will sound very strange. If I'm going for a more natural sound, I usually don't find it necessary.

 

[BroKen_H]

Technically, a fart is a build up of gas from the bacteria in your colon, so no they can't fart water.

It's okay guys, I got the important part of the question!

 

[mixsit]

I'll use a gate or expander, and lately more often the transient designers. But it's almost never about bleed' but rather shaping the decay (or attack for that matter. Actually that applies to kick and bass.
The two and the tools' go hand in hand there.
But it depends a lot on the style of music and recording/mic/mixing methods doesn't it.

 

[Roozter]

When I've gotten the gate dialed in perfectly, along with some EQ on the low end, it does absolute wonders for the punch and clarity. I usually just look at gates like a DI box for microphones. You want to narrow it down until its almost as if you're getting strictly the source and nothing else.

This really does nothing for you other than giving you better control over the signal. One thing I have noticed is that well gated tracks tend to react much better to effects. Gate and add reverb to your track for instance, if your room is bad, or you just don't like natural reverb and want to get the best out of your Space Echo, gate it prior to adding your reverb. The reverb will only react to what the gate allows past its threshold, thus eliminating the old "reverbed room" sound.

So in theory, if you gated the crap out of every track you recorded, and did it all perfectly, I believe you would have a very solid recording regardless of where you were. But in reality if you're already in a good sound proofed live room, there is no reason in my mind to start incorporating gates unless you are trying to eliminate bleed as a matter of personal choice or upon request of a client. Live shows are a different beast, with different end goals, and I could see using a gate more frequently, but once again I feel it would be situational only.

Personally I prefer bleed in my drum tracks, and would rather work with it than against it. If miced and mixed properly, bleed can work more to your advantage in my opinion. So to answer your question, no.

First I would ask you the question of how did you get to a gate on the kick drum? Did an issue arise, or is it just curiosity? If it's the former, I would suggest looking earlier in your signal path, or even the room, for a solution to the problem that's requiring said gate. If it cant be solved there, use the gate, and in any case, solve it as early in the chain as possible.