Great sounding drums

[nicolaad30]

I have been looking for a retumbant sound on my drums. I have always tryied to get a sound like November Rain (Guns'n Roses) drums.

The thing is that i can't get to conceive the whole idea and process.

if you can help me with this I really will apreciate it...

Thanks

Nicolaad

 

[littledog]

I have been looking for a retumbant sound on my drums...

No fair making up words so that the rest of us feel illiterate and inferior!

 

[nicolaad30]

sorry abouot it

I misunderstood the meaning of the word. I´m not a native speaker so I always make up words that don't exist. Well, what you have to change in the first script is the word "retumbant" by the word RESONANT.

If you kno something, please help me with it...

Thanks...

 

[VOXVENDOR]

I like to use the old standby SM57's on the Toms..... The Audix D-series has some damn nice mics.....

Alot of that sound is the heads, and drums themselves, and proper tuning and damping (if needed)

Good luck.

Joe

Voxvendor is posting in red today to symbolize the 9/11 tragedy

 

[mixsit]

Don't know if this is in the direction your looking for, but try experimenting with some fast atack and release compression (I'm assuming on the 'kit' mics or perhaps a drum sub-mix here). You can, by varying atack/ release times, partly control the snare level and decay properties (assumes snare has the loudest peaks in this mix), and by doin this it can bring the rest of the kit 'up' relatively. Beyond this amount of compression you can also get into more of the background sounds of the kit, heavy compression and release-timing effects, but probably with slower settings.
Peace.

 

[littledog]

Aha! Now that I understand the question...

Seems to me that resonance has little to do with compression and perhaps even less to do with specific mic choices.

The key to getting a great resonant drum sound is to record the drums in a BIG room with a high ceiling. Utilize distant room mics (in conjunction with your closer mics) to take advantage of the natural room sound.

While it is certainly possible to get big resonant drum sounds in a small dead room, it is certainly more difficult.

Where compression does factor in is that the room mics will probably want to be squashed pretty heavily, so that the softer parts of the track still are getting the advantage of the room mic.

But speaking of mic choices, if you have some 414's or other LD condensers with a hefty pad feature, try them on your toms some time for fun! (Positioning is important here - not just for the usual reasons, but to make sure the drummer doesn't slam them with his/her sticks!)

 

[knownuttin]

nicolaad30, were there 29 nicolaads on this board before you? Just kidding! Welcome to our humble hang-out.

Where are you from? We have members from all over the world. Maybe someone here speaks your language. If so, you would not have to make up a new one.

Please listen to littledog. He knows what he's talking about.

The most important element of drum sound is the room. Before you put up a microphone, how does the player sound in the room? If he can't sound good there, you need a different room. Or a different player. Or drum kit.

It does not require a lot of money. You have a sound in your head that you are seeking. Don't let anything stop you until the sound in your ears makes you smile. And please, tell us about it.
-kent

 

[nicolaad30]

trying..

Thanks all you guys...by the way, I'm from Italy, but I live in Venezuela. But there's not problem with the language stuff, I can express almost what I need in english...I lived in Boston for a year.

Well, let's go to the point...the drums sounds kind of weird in that room, (the room in metters is about 3x5x2). The sound is a bit dead and there's a small amount of reverb in the room, (about 40millisecons or less). I was thinking of trying to place the mics differently but didn't know how. It is a great idea to put together the sounds of close mics and condensers for the room, but isn't it going to sound too far the drums?

Thanks...

nicolaad

 

[jeronimo]

Hello guys, I had my live room projected to record drums mostly (I'm a drummer ).
The room is small but I'm getting good sounds out of it. I'll post mp3's soon!!!

 

[knownuttin]

Nicolaad, move those mics around till it sounds good. There are no rules. If it sounds good, record it.
-kent

 

[Robert D]

Excuse me for disagreeing, but THE most important factor in geting a good drum sound is good sounding drums. This seems obvious, and was probably not mentioned because it's like DUH.....but then it's amazing how many drummers walk into the studio with the clock ticking, and the engineer and or producer have to spend time tuning drums, changing out heads, taping stuff, etc. Or drummers come in and record with dead heads and an out of tune kit with rattleing hardware, and then complain that the engineer didn't get a good drum sound for them. Neither the room, nor the mix engineer can just create a good drum sound, only enhance and capture it.
Then, the room comes in, and yes, is very important.
RD

 

[FURAX Eric]

Aside from all the other points made, reasonable amounts of reverb on the snare/toms (but don't put it on the kicks/symbols) make the drums sound pretty good.

 

[littledog]

With only a 2 meter ceiling, you hare facing a difficult task! I hope you record only short drummers!