Half-ass brass for recording?

[getuhgrip]

Thoroughly frustrated trying to get a recordable cymbal sound from TD8 module, so I'm going back to conventional cymbals.

What's clean and cheap set these days? ZBT4? SB8?

 

[Dr ZEE]

Thoroughly frustrated trying to get a recordable cymbal sound from TD8 module, so I'm going back to conventional cymbals.

What's clean and cheap set these days? ZBT4? SB8?

what do you mean by "I'm going back"? Do you mean you used to record drums and somehow ended up with a 'module'? Which devil has possessed you to do so?

ZBTs and SB8s are cheap...or 'cheaper' that's a fact. Now, are they 'clean'...? that's a good question sorta' speak, meaning depending on what 'clean' means to you.
What ever 'clean' means to you, I'd imagine that you have some 'clear picture of the sound' in mind, so I'd say the only safe way to get it is actually to go to the store and play/try some "cheap" cymbals and find what you like and buy them ...and then, well, come back to your studio and get thoroughly frustrated trying to record your real cymbals so they sound as you hear and like the way they sound ..heh heh
http://www.zildjian.com ... - they've got all their cymbals sampled...so you can get a bite of it, which may help, may confuse of even mislead in selecting the 'right cymbal for you'... , well, at least you can hear something ... I was playing around with ZXT thin crashes... thinking of maybe getting couple of them...

From my personal experience, only I can tell that I've found Sabian B8 20" ride pretty 'recordable' , I have 16" B8 crash...which is ..I don't know...kinda ok, kinda not good... it depends, I use B8 14" hats as right-handed extra closed hats, I like them for this job, I also have set them somewhat stange way ...with no bottom felt, the bottom hat just seats on a metal washer... so it's kind of extra 'metalic' psick-psick, but again, that's what meets my taste I guess...

Good luck picking your 'brass' etc ...
/respects

 

[Dani Pace]

Cheap cymbals??? I like to dream too! Seriously though, decent sounding brass dosen't come in cheap. The problem with the less expensive cymbals is that you have to use the thinest ones to get a decent sound and have a really light touch or all you will have is a bunch of bent brass. A friend of mine bought a set of Adam, they sounded pretty good at first but it only took a few hits on the rims untill the edges looked like a rollercoaster.

 

[getuhgrip]

I was blazing down the war-path when I started the thread! I had just come away from another dreadful session trying to build some convincing sounds from Rolands extensive, but ultimately lacking module.

DocZ, you were'nt my brazenly arrogant history professor at SJS, were you?

The short version is: small room/big drums. Enter experimental electronic drum set. Love the drum sounds, hate the cymbals!

I'm building a house that will afford me greater space for a studio, but I may retain the Rolands with some real cymbals. The challenge will be to keep the drum pad strikes out of the cymbal's overheads.

I don't think I'm going to be happy with cheapie cymbals. I was just letting off steam the other night.

 

[Dr ZEE]

I was just letting off steam the other night.

hope you're COOL tonight, then.

The challenge will be to keep the drum pad strikes out of the cymbal's overheads.

That's rather a good question.... hmmmmmmmmmm I used to have Roland kit (pre- V-drum era ) ... well, I never had even remote idea to try micing it ..heh heh .... but those clickies while you bang on rubber were rather loud (how bad/loud they are on v-heads?).
"Blending" those clicks with actual drum-sample sound may sorta' "eat them up" well...sort of ..., but if they are going to be picked up by overheads mics and you , I'd guess, may want to spread cymbals over the stereo field (image) ...so then the 'clickies' will also be "flying right and left", while you "hit" snare/toms/or what have you in your 'e-kit' ... this may be a tough thing to overcome. I wonder if anybody here have any experience with such situation...

/respects

 

[Tim Brown]

I'm building a house that will afford me greater space for a studio, but I may retain the Rolands with some real cymbals. The challenge will be to keep the drum pad strikes out of the cymbal's overheads.

I don't think I'm going to be happy with cheapie cymbals. I was just letting off steam the other night.

Well, the cheapest line I would suggest is the Paiste Alpha line.... or Wuhans, but the problem with the Wuhans is they are hit or miss.


Keeping pad strikes out of the overheads should not be a big deal since the triggered drumsound will mask the actual sound of hitting the pads unless you like your cymbal tracks cranked a lot louder than the drums.




Tim

 

[mikeh]

I agee e-cymbals don't cut it (and likely never will), however, I'm not convinced that low cost ZBTs or anything else in that price range is much better.

Some of the Wuhans are not bad, but as Tim indicates they can be hot ofr miss (you need to trust your ears).

Regarding pad hits in the overheads, as a general rule the sound of the triggered drum sounds should cover up the stick impact on the pads (in particular if using the Roland mess pads). As an option you can try gates on the overheads, however with the long decay needed for cymbal sounds this can be a challenge.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

Get BFD and trigger the sounds from your TD-8.

 

[Funky_A]

Paiste Alpha's

Pro cymbals..cheap price..

 

[pandamonk]

I know everyone's going to laugh at me, but wot the hell. Try the stagg double hammered brilliant series. Great price for the sound they give in my opinion. I used to have a set of ZBTs and got a Stagg crash because i was short of cash and wanted a new cymbal. I loved it and soon after, i sold my ZBTs and bought a set of Stagg DH. I love them, and people who have heard them have compared them to the higher ranges of Sabien and Zildjians. But it's all up to you, it depends on what sound you're wanting etc. If you can, have a listen to them though.