Harsh overhead

  • Thread starter Thread starter lukmen
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lukmen

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Hello everyone. So basically i am recording a song with max 2 microphones. I've recorded drums live witch were not in the best room to record drums i used single SM 57 for the overhead and the recorded track sound is just a tiny bit harsh. So i was wondering if you have any suggestions on how you deal with these kinda situations. Thanks :)
 
Kinda need to sort out what kind of harsh' maybe? Tone balance - too much upper mids? 'Splashy hard reflections/bleed?
 
A 57 for an overhead wouldn't be my first choice. That big 8k bump could be part of the problem. The cymbals and how they're played could be an issue too.
 
Plus the SM57, being a dynamic mic, has a heavier, slower moving diaphragm (compared to condenser mics) which means it reacts slower to the upper registers. This may bring out the low-mids, midrange and upper mids, which are the ranges the ear is most sensitive to. This, combined with a bad room, may result in perceived "harshness".

Just a guess.

Cheers :)
 
Well regardless of the problems that caused the issue he is currently having,. the fact is, the track has been recorded.

Possible ways you could deal with it:
- Sweep with a medium Q (not a crazy boosted high Q, you will fry your ears so quick) in the range you think the harshness is coming from until you zone in on it. Now bring that frequency down and find a good compromise between "less harsh but not killing the rest of the track"

- In addition to or alternative to the first idea, once you have identified the offending frequency zone, put on a de-esser tuned to that frequency and let it attenuate just those frequencies when they jump out. Your gain reduction you dial in will depend on just how badly you want to attenuate that frequency.

- In addition to the 2 above methods (or alternative) try some mild tape saturation to warm it up, round it off and beef it up a bit. There are lots of tape saturation plugins but they all do different things. Some add audible distortion as effect while others do a good job at rounding out the sound and phattening it up without any crunch or audible distortion - in specific I am referring to the DUY DaD Tape plugin. That's my go-to tape plug for these scenarios. It Helps BIG time.

Good luck!
 
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Sweeping will only find one offending frequency and my guess is that the harshness will progress through a harmonic series. I would try a dynamic EQ instead.

Cheers :)
 
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