HELLLLLP......Hats are too F#@%ing loud

  • Thread starter Thread starter Detroitroadrage
  • Start date Start date
Detroit,

You have a downloadable version of the OH's? It's very hard to properly analyze streamed audio.

G.
 
if you tried traditional micing/mixing techniques I doubt your hats would turn out like that. there is a reason we build a drum kit from the kick and overheads. I don't care if you have 15 years of recording mixing or whatever. I call it like i see it. When you go and pan the tracks seperate of the cymbols they will sound off cause each mic will pick up bleed off of the other drums and it will sound unnatural at best to hear sounds panned in 2 diffrent places at the same time. I wouldn't want my cymbols balanced the whole way through at least not for a natural sound but maybe thats just me. Theres something very odd with your left crash to the sound fades in and out all through the track
 
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I've had trouble with loud hi-hats from my overheads once or twice. The solution for me was three-fold:

1) I made sure I was using a snare-symmetrical set up for my OH's, and I lowered (in height) them more towards the kit

2) I made the drummer readjust the hats' height and position. Lower and further back, away from the kit to the left and further behind him (he didn't actually put the hats behind him. . .)

3) Play your hats softer. It's a different world, the recording studio, from the live setting. The playing styles are much different.


Good luck. It sounds like you're SOL if you've tried everything else.
 
doulos24 said:
if you tried traditional micing/mixing techniques I doubt your hats would turn out like that.
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I know you said you tried regular micing techniques, but I gotta agree with doulos. It sounds like you are trying to fix one problem, but created three more. I record kits with two sets of hats every now and again, and never had any problem with balance. I typically use a spaced pair, equidistant from the snare, directly above the cymbals. I raise them up enough to get a good balance between the cymbals/drums. I also build the kit from the OH's, and get the bulk of my sound from them - This is impossible from the tracks you posted.
 
To me it sounds like you're hitting the hihats too hard in comparison to the rest of the kit. Maybe instead of laying off the hats, you could try hitting the drums a little harder?

Regarding placement, I'd worry a lot more about having the snare centered than having the hihats equal... :eek:
 
I dont have any miracle cures.

My mixes and tracking of drums have allways had a Hi-Hat prob, I allways hated the sound, loud and very dull sounding.

Hi-hats that has been used have varied form brand to brand, from very expensive ones to cheaper ones.


Just now recently I finaly got a sound I could live with.

The recipe was simple.

Get a Medium sized room, so that the drums are a few meters away from each wall.

I used Akg 414 spaced, one pointing down over the right cymbal right tom, and one pointing down on the ride -floor tom.
Had em about 1 meter pluss over the cymbals.
Signal went into Universal audio solo pre`s.

Bang the sound was there, I`ve never had a better drum OH sound.
 
Gherkin said:
To me it sounds like you're hitting the hihats too hard in comparison to the rest of the kit. Maybe instead of laying off the hats, you could try hitting the drums a little harder?

Regarding placement, I'd worry a lot more about having the snare centered than having the hihats equal... :eek:
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Thats where most of my problem starts, is when I center the snare, then my right hat is louder than the left, which is a HUGE problem during mix/post because when I try and balance the hats then I increase or decrease the level of the left or right side cymbals/toms. That is why I may try and record with dedicated mic's for every tom AND cymbal and hats......that is gonna take a crapload of mic's.
 
Detroitroadrage said:
Thats where most of my problem starts, is when I center the snare, then my right hat is louder than the left, which is a HUGE problem during mix/post because when I try and balance the hats then I increase or decrease the level of the left or right side cymbals/toms. That is why I may try and record with dedicated mic's for every tom AND cymbal and hats......that is gonna take a crapload of mic's.
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You're making this WAY harder than it needs to be. You can center the snare and balance the hats. It's not that hard.
 
NL5 said:
You're making this WAY harder than it needs to be. You can center the snare and balance the hats. It's not that hard.
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O.K., listen up. From the overhead perspective, my left hat is less than 1ft. from my snare (just left of my left leg) and my right hat is about 3ft. from my snare (other side of floor-tom and rack). Maybe this is info I should have posted sooner. I am gonna post a pic of my setup soon and see if that helps my defense (hehe).
 
Detroitroadrage said:
O.K., listen up. From the overhead perspective, my left hat is less than 1ft. from my snare (just left of my left leg) and my right hat is about 3ft. from my snare (other side of floor-tom and rack). Maybe this is info I should have posted sooner. I am gonna post a pic of my setup soon and see if that helps my defense (hehe).
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I don't understand how this is a problem. I've never seen a symmetrical drumset. Ever. Not one. :)

edit - can you explain how you "centered the snare"?
 
Detroitroadrage said:
Thats where most of my problem starts, is when I center the snare, then my right hat is louder than the left, which is a HUGE problem during mix/post because when I try and balance the hats then I increase or decrease the level of the left or right side cymbals/toms. That is why I may try and record with dedicated mic's for every tom AND cymbal and hats......that is gonna take a crapload of mic's.
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Does your playing sound balanced in the room?
 
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Detroitroadrage said:
From the dedicated mic, slightly panned opposite the o.h.
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LOL. No, I meant in the OH's - when you tried conventional mic positioning.

edit - yeah, I think your mic positioning is what's at issue here. I put the snare back in the center of the OH's, and the balance is fairly close - http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?id=16761 - now, if you got your mic positioning better, you could adjust for the snare to be centered in the OH's as well as balance in the hats. Also, you could always mic the hats to balance them out as well. Then, I'd work on tonality. The cymbals are pretty harsh to my ears.

edit 2 - Ya know, some of that harshness may be due to me centering the snare. Much better to do it with mic placement.....
 
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JG96 said:
i boost cymbals in the high mids so try cutting that, also theirs dampening kits so your hi hat will be more quiet when hit
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i agree. my suggestion is to keep the high hat mic for fullness purposes, and then just cut its volume in the mix...and like tht other dude said, cut the mid-highs on the OH's. Also check to make sure your other mics arent picking up on the hat.
 
mad hats

try padding the overheads and increase the distance away. this will give you less intensity and a more spacious sound. once you have the tracks down put on a multiband compressor w/ moderate attack and low ratio
 
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