F**k the snare mic.

[Shailat]

Would be great if someone posted a sound file of a snare recorded with an sm57, and then the overheads of the snare, and then a mix of the two together. What levels do you bring the two together?

Thanks if anyone does this.

Dave

If I can get my site up again this morning then you can hear such clips here - http://24.61.194.88/

Go to the drum mixing article. There you can hear the OH's being mixed in with the rest of the kit. First without then with. I used a SM57 on the snare.

 

[littledog]

There is danger in this technique. The overhead over the drummer's shoulder is definately in peril. It's bound to get hit, mine did. This could ruin a take. Further there are a lot of mics you can use as OHs that will not like being cracked with a drum stick.

There is some flexibility in the method - the over shoulder mic doesn't have to be RIGHT over the shoulder - try moving it a bit to the drummer's right, while maintaining the two drumstick distance to the center of the snare.

It's true that every kit and every drummer poses unique challenges. I ALWAYS make sure that any condenser mics are placed so that the drummer can't hit them in any normal playing situation. Dynamics I'm less worried about, but still try to get them out of the way so that a take isn't disrupted. I can't afford to keep buying 414's everyweek for toms, so if I have to back them off a little, I will. Sometimes I get a surprise and they sound even better at a little distance.

 

[chessrock]

So, if it offends Chessrock's sense of artistic purity to use more than three mics, and he is getting a sound that he and/or his clients are happy with, then everything is cool. . . . Anyway, I'm glad Chess is getting better sounds now that he threw half his mics away.

lol. I've been discovered. I thought everyone already knew how much I like to stir up a good debate. To clarify a little, it's not that I have a problem miking the snare, or all the drums for that matter. It's just that, come mixdown, about 90% of the time, I wind up junking the snare mic in favor of what the overheads are picking up, and even more rarely do I wind up using any of the tom tracks.

I do a/b comparisons with and without the snare mic, for instance, and the only thing it really does is add a little beef. Albeit the exact same kind of beef I get by boosting 200 hz on the overhead mics, so sometimes I just think out loud and wonder why I even bother. (? ?) That's all. It seems like that extra 15 minutes worth of sound checking the extra mics would be better spent listening for stray rattles, rings, and buzzes. Sometimes I'll listen back and say "Do! ! Why didn't I catch that damn rattle?!" I was probably too preocuppied mucking around with the tom mics (that I likely won't wind up using)!

This has been a fun debate, though, so I suppose I should say something like "F**k all you guys" to keep this thing going. Alright, then, all you guys stink! Your drum micing sucks! How's that?

 

[davechurchill]

If I can get my site up again this morning then you can hear such clips here - http://24.61.194.88/

Go to the drum mixing article. There you can hear the OH's being mixed in with the rest of the kit. First without then with. I used a SM57 on the snare.

Shailat, thanks! Can't seem to get to the site though. Maybe you haven't got it up yet. Really appreciate it.

-Dave