drum recording and compression

[molovesco]

I'm about to start a new project with my band and drum recording is coming soon. I'm trying to learn as much as possible before we get started. Since we are using a BR-8, we are micing the drum kit and runing it to a mixer. Then, getting the best mix possible and running it stereo to the BR-8. I have been seeing stuff about compressing the drums, be it the whole kit, or just the kick and snare. Since I wont be able to isolate each drum once its on the BR-8, should I just run the kick and snare through a compressor or wait and compress the whole track on the BR-8?

 

[littledog]

You have a couple of options, depending on your mixer. Let's assume you have one two-channel compressor. If your mixer has insert points, you could compress just the kick and snare by plugging one channel of the compressor into the kick insert, and one into the snare insert (on the mixer). (Note: make sure the compressor channels aren't "linked"). Your other option is to compress the entire submix. You may want to do a couple of test takes with the drummer trying it each way, and see what gives you the best result.


Remember, it's easier to add more compression than to take it away, and since you can always compress the whole drum submix further during mixdown, don't overdo the compression while tracking.

 

[molovesco]

I have two seperate compressors, so I'll just experiment and see what I like. Thanks.