How do I simulate overheads w/ pc drums?

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Ace_SD

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I have my pc drum kit (fruity loops) sounding pretty good but I would like to "gel" the kit together like overhead mics do to a real kit. I would like to have a
track, I guess, that would have a stereo image of
the whole kit so that it sounds more like a real drum
set in a room. Know what I mean? Basically, I want
to simulate a pair of overheads with pc drums.
Any ideas on how to do this?

Thanks.
 
Er, you don't!!!

Try running the stereo mix through a distortion unit and record the output with a "bit" of distortion, then mix that in with the drums tracks a tad. Make sure to track delay it about 5ms to emulate the delay overhead mics would have from the source sounds.

I don't think you are going to get a "real" overhead sound this way, but it should help a bit.

Good luck.

Ed
 
Why distortion?

Thanks for the help.
Can you guys tell me why I would want distortion
on my "overhead" simulation?
And I'm guess the compression suggestion is for
the cymbals, right?

Thanks.
 
one more thing, sonusman...

By recording the output, do you mean mixdown the
drum tracks into one track and then add distortion to
the resulting wav file and then add that the the entire mix or is there another way to do this.

Thanks again.
 
Re: one more thing, sonusman...

Ace_SD said:
By recording the output, do you mean mixdown the
drum tracks into one track and then add distortion to
the resulting wav file and then add that the the entire mix or is there another way to do this.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You can try it this way, or you can run the drum tracks out of the recorder into a distortions unit, and record that.

Play around with it.

Compression will not offer the desired effect in this case. I would be very reluctant to apply compression to Fruity Loop tracks.

Ed
 
Re: Re: one more thing, sonusman...

sonusman said:


Compression will not offer the desired effect in this case. I would be very reluctant to apply compression to Fruity Loop tracks.

Ed
Click to expand...

Ed is Correct. I misread the question, and thought the original thread message was asking how to simulate overheads, on real drums, when you don't have overheads....
 
Will sound crazy but...

Why not try this?
Pan the cymbals any way you like, and then separate the monitors as far as you can, mic them, push play and rec...
I don´t know how much quality you may loose, but you´ll surely get a room/pan effect, and you´ll have them in stereo. Think that may sound more realistic than the FLoops only. You also can blend the original FLoops cymbals with the fake overheads...
If you try it, please tell me how it worked...

PC
 
I don't think that sounds too crazy PC. I was about to suggest the same thing. Try cranking your speakers really loud and micing from a distance, or the other room or something.
 
Ace_SD said:
I have my pc drum kit (fruity loops) sounding pretty good but I would like to "gel" the kit together like overhead mics do to a real kit.
Any ideas on how to do this?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You could try dialing up a reverb that has a natural room sound to it and adding a touch of it to all the drums to make them sound like they are all in the same room. How well it works will depend on how 'wet' the Drum samples are though.
 
would I have to use 2 mics?

So if I crank my monitors up and mic them, would I
have to use 2 mics for the stereo recording? How would
I do that? I only have one mic unfortunately. This idea sounds like it would work, though.
 
Can try this...

Maybe you can disconnect one speaker and mic the other and record it in a mono file (with the cymbals already panned as you want)
Then record the other speaker the same way and put them into a single stereo file (maybe you´ll have to "sync" them with a multitrack application) but this will do the job. It´s the same process divided in two. The only thing is you won´t get a little leaking between tracks... Be careful not to pan anything a 100% L or R, because that will surely be a sign of "faking".

Other thing you can do is the same as above but without disconnecting the speaker you are not using, so you´ll get the leaking. Be sure to separate the monitors as far as possible of each other.

If you try it, then tell us.

PC
 
LOL

Dump your kit down to a stereo pair and apply a reverb with a decent pre-delay. Record the reverb only, to 2 ch. panned L & R.
Now play the original tracks (not with the stereo pair) feed in the recorded reverb, and thin the bottem and low mids out
 
Need clarification

That last post sounds good too.

Could you please clear some thing up for me?
I'm a newbie and all so I want to make sure I understand.

1) Ok, mixdown to a stereo pair. By that do you mean 1 track that is stereo?

2) How would I record the reverb only?
2 channels? Does that mean 2 mono tracks and then
pan them hard left and right or just a bit?
Aaaahhh!! I'm sorry. I don't understand what you mean.

Thanks for the help everyone. It seems like I will
get the results I'm looking for once I try these methods.
(Saturday I'll post an mp3)

Thanks again.
 
Re: Need clarification

1) Ok, mixdown to a stereo pair. By that do you mean 1 track that is stereo?

No - mixing down to a stereo pair = say you have multiple channels making up your drum sound, you have them panned the way you want to hear them, and you have them sounding right. Now you play this mix, and record the outputs to 2 channels. If you use a software program you bounce them to disk, if you use a console you'd bus the channels to 2 busses and record that.
Then you will end up with 2 channels, one panned left, the other right - your stereo pair.

2) How would I record the reverb only?

You apply reverb with a pre-delay to the 2 tracks you have just made, route your auxilliary returns to your inputs, and record your inputs, again to 2 channels panned L and R.
 
powercouple,

Umm...I certainly meant it as a compliment. And let me add that the "expert" by my name is there only because I have more that 250 posts on this site. No other reason.

I might suggest the we keep pop psychology out of the discussion as well.

Thanks,

Rusty K
 
Channels and Ingenuity

Sorry, more questions, Sjoko2. Please bear w/ me. :(

Currently, I'm not using channels (I think). Are you referring to midi? I have my kit on 4 audio tracks, not channels like in midi. They are kick,snare, cymbals and toms all panned the way I want . So does bounce to 2 ch means to mixdown to 2 equivalent stereo tracks and
then pan one left and one right?

Should I pan hard?

FYI, I'm using n-tracks studio.
I think I see what you're trying to accomplish now. Seems like a good plan if I could just get the method down.

Hey, powercouple, Rusty certainly meant that as a compliment. I think your understanding of the word
"ingenuity" is incorrect. It means "Inventive skill or imagination; cleverness. " Nothing to do with people
believing something that isn't true etc.

Thanks.
 
you see...? I was right...

I was right... my third-world concepts ARE in fact mistaken...
I didn´t knew that ingenuity had that other definition.
That´s the problem of not having English as my primary language
*sob* *sob*
I am deeply sorry for being such a volatile asshole
sorry guys... I think it´s not my best day...

Sorry Rusty... I mean it...

I overreacted that way cause I´m already sick of people trying to
diminish others (now I see it´s not Rusty´s intention).

As you can see I deleted my stupidity and I´ll let this post so you
can remember what a big time moron I can become

:(

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.

PC (and it´s only me the prick, not the other member of the PowerCouple)

DV
 
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