Hoobastank's cool snare tip

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RawDepth

RawDepth

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Yesterday I got a GC catalog in the mail. It featured a story about the rock band Hoobastank and their new studio gear.

Deep into the article it mentions how the drummer, Chris Hesse, likes to layer a click track over top of his snare track to brighten it up and to give it more crack. He says, "it brings a lot of snap to the track that it doesn't have on it's own." He discovered this by accident when the click track was left on during playback.

Hmm, it might be worth a try.
 
Cool.

Thanks for the hedzup.

I'll give it a shot. I've got some clicks that sound like wood block, cowbell and annoying beeps.
:D
 
Now that you mention it...I suppose the results will depend on what type of click track you have. He never did reveal that part.

I can only assume it should be the ever popular ticking clock sound. I suppose that the sound of snapping fingers or clicking drumsticks together might work too. Anything high pitched would add presence or brightness to the track.
 
Or you can just tune/mic your snare better and not worry about it. ;)
 
Greg_L said:
Or you can just tune/mic your snare better and not worry about it. ;)
Click to expand...

Which is a totally useless point if you have already laid down the snare track, and am happy with it otherwise...
 
stevieb said:
Which is a totally useless point if you have already laid down the snare track, and am happy with it otherwise...
Click to expand...

If you "am" happy with it, why add the click track? Also, you better be damn tight to the click, or it's gonna sound totally stupid. That is unless you like cutting and splicing drum hits. ;)
 
Well, who knows, maybe the guy was not able to tune his snare as hot as he wanted it to sound. Not every snare can be made to sound that way. If another drummer comes to your studio with a poorly tuned snare, this may serve as a fast fix after the fact. Though I agree, nothing is better than proper tuning.

I think with drum replacement software you might be able to get it pretty close to dead on with each hit.

I did listen to a few of the songs on the new album (on their official site,) and the snare sounds like it has a lot of head slap. You can sort of hear it on the drum intro of "So Close, So Far." That may be where he used it. The pop is indeed more apparent than usual.
 
I find that firing a .357 magnum in sync with the snare really adds a nice "crack" to the track!


Tip: point it AWAY from the overheads.
 
PhilGood said:
I find that firing a .357 magnum in sync with the snare really adds a nice "crack" to the track!


Tip: point it AWAY from the overheads.
Click to expand...

Depending on who is drumming, point it towards them.
 
The biggest problem is that you have to keep pausing during the recording!

play three measures/reload/play three measures/reload/play three measures/reload/play three measures/reload/play three measures/repair the drywall in the ceiling...etc.
 
RawDepth said:
Well, who knows, maybe the guy was not able to tune his snare as hot as he wanted it to sound. Not every snare can be made to sound that way. If another drummer comes to your studio with a poorly tuned snare, this may serve as a fast fix after the fact. Though I agree, nothing is better than proper tuning.
.
Click to expand...

A major-label, radio friendly band like Hoobastank shouldn't have any trouble getting a good snare sound without needing trickery. That's what I find silly about this.
 
And it also comes down to ...If it sounds good, it IS good.

Although proper tuning is best, nothin wrong with experimenting.
 
Greg_L said:
A major-label, radio friendly band like Hoobastank shouldn't have any trouble getting a good snare sound without needing trickery. That's what I find silly about this.
Click to expand...

I don't think it is that silly. Tens of thousands of people doctor up recorded tracks all the time. Usually because they didn't come out as good as they wanted. I've seen people do far worse things than that in an attempt to improve a track.

You are right that they could have gotten quality raw tracks in a major studio. Perhaps the tracking engineer didn't know the drummer wanted it that bright and poppy. Then later the drummer probably asked the mix engineer to do this on a whim.

Hey, if it made the guy happy, then so be it. He is the client...no matter how big the studio is.
 
Question... how would you layer a click to sync with the snare??

I'm a newbie with those special stuff =]
 
Well, my first guess would be...you'd lay down a click track...and play to it.:eek:
 
i've been resisting the urge to post here, but what the hell.

all these little "tips" and "tricks" are all fine and good, and maybe people get something out of them. but i personally find them ridiculous. just find a snare you like the sound of, tune it up right, throw a mic on it, and hit the record button.

all of this nonsense just confuses newbies who don't know what they're doing. if you're really out to find a good sound, you'll do it naturally without using stupid so-called shortcuts. blending a click is no different than blending a snare sample. to me, it'd be easier for every individual drummer with his/her individual style to overdub a sidestick and blend that, rather than program in some gay digital click.

not that it'd be more than slightly less gay.

call me old school. :rolleyes:
 
drossfile said:
i've been resisting the urge to post here, but what the hell.

all these little "tips" and "tricks" are all fine and good, and maybe people get something out of them. but i personally find them ridiculous. just find a snare you like the sound of, tune it up right, throw a mic on it, and hit the record button.

all of this nonsense just confuses newbies who don't know what they're doing. if you're really out to find a good sound, you'll do it naturally without using stupid so-called shortcuts. blending a click is no different than blending a snare sample. to me, it'd be easier for every individual drummer with his/her individual style to overdub a sidestick and blend that, rather than program in some gay digital click.

not that it'd be more than slightly less gay.

call me old school. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Amen +10
 
So maybe for newbies sakes we should not give any sort of advice in these forums then? I can't believe some of the comments in this thread. Its kind of funny actually, and truthfully, I do believe them.

I don't think there is any real debate over whether or not a snare should be well tuned, properly mic'ed etc. Of course you should always do your best to get the source signal sounding as close to the final sound that you are after. However, that does not mean that we should not be able to ever experiment with anything else either. Layering another sound in with the snare is "using a tool". What are some other tools that are commonly used in recording that not everyone seems to whine so much about? Compression, EQ, reverbs etc.... I fail to see much of a difference. I personally like to keep all of the tools that I have available to me at all times. If that means layering a shaker or a tambourine or even a click track, then so be it. If that means compressing the hell out of the overheads and EQ'ing the snot out of the kick, then so be it. If that means leaving all those things out and using the track JUST as it was recorded then so be it. In any event, the track was still played in this example, and all we are talking about here are some embellishments and artistic decisions. Personally, by blindly opposing such a technique, a person would be showing lack of creativity.

Also, it was mentioned earlier that Hoobastank was a bigger band with major label funding and that they shoudl be able to get the sounds they want without having to resort to "trickery". I find this statement pretty amusing as well. Where do you think half of the "trickery" out there these days came from? Do you really think that none of the "big" studios use these "trickeries"? I would say that if that is the case, the biggest trick they have done is convincing you that they are so good that none of that is used. Its dime a dozen, and even this whole click track idea isn't brand new, at least in its entirety. It is just another method of layering. It's slickness however is in the fact that its a track that was already there and with a couple of clicks is ready for production and is not nearly as time consuming as some other "trickeries" might be.
 
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