Micing Snare Drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nik D
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Nik D

Another brick in the wall
Hi, this is my first post, so don't kill me or anything if this has been brought up in the past... I've done a search and found nothing, so here goes... I have 2 sm57s and I can't get that killer snare sound like I hear on all recordings. I've tried diffrent mic placings but it's not close to that 'pok' type sound I'm looking for. Here's my gear and what I have to work with. P4 2GHZ computer running Nuendo, 2 Echo Layla recording cards, Samson 16ch mixer, 3 57s, an Oktava 219, and a pack of CAD drum mics. My top 57 is about an inch over the top headand angled down twords the middle, and my bottom is about 4 inches away, aimed at the center. Also, any tips on getting as much of the hi hats out of the top snare mic would be really helpful. Thanks - Nik.
 
I would stick with just concentrating on getting the sound from the mic from above. I can usually get a better sound from it. First thing you must do is make sure the snare sounds good in general. Tune it up and possibly replace the heads. What type of sound are you currently getting? If possible upload it somewhere and put up a link. This will allow us to help you more. You may need to play with the EQ, compress, acoustics of the room, or change the snare in general. If you can't upload somewhere then just describe the sound you are getting.
 
Yep keilson hit it right on the head.

You should be able to get the sound you're looking for with what you have, unless that sound comes from a specialty snare.

Describe the sound you're looking for. "Pok" doesn't help give the full picture. :D
 
Make sure you reverse the polarity of the bottom mic too (ie flip the phase).

Does the snare sound good in the room?
 
I don't have any way to host an audio sample, so I'll try to describe it. I'm looking for more of a 3 Doors Down type of snare sound. (I went through a bunch of mp3s I have to find a good example) My currant sound has too much snare sound, so I knocked some high eq off the top mic and that helped a little, but it's really quiet. I think it would sound much better if I could turn the mic up a bit, but then the hats are too loud. It's driving me crazy because I can't tune out the hats... Anyway the snare sounds wicked in the room (I'm in the basement and it's very accousticly dead) Also how do I reverse the polarity of the mic? I've only been into the recording thing for about a year, and I've just gotten some high quality gear withing the last few months. I'm still building lots of experiance, I just finished recording my friend's band's cd, and I'm pretty pleased with the resaults.
 
Dont be afraid to back that mic up. Thats the hardest thing for me to get through my thick skull when recording drums. Usually for me 1 inch is way too close. I always got crappy sounding snare tracks because I was afraid of getting too much bleeding on the snare track, but then I thought "awww fuck it" and and backed the mic up about 3 inches and it instantly sounded better. When the mic is really close it will only pick up the sound of the area on the head that it is closest to maybe. Backing it away seemed to give it a more natural sound.

To minimize hi hat bleed, try to mic the snare from where the hi hats are positioned, so the hats are behind the mic. I usually position my snare mic at about 10 O'clock.
 
I agree with Uladine. A lot of pros will mic where the grommet on the snare is. We're micing my snare with 1 sm57 about 2 inches away and again, when it was close up it sounded like a basketball bouncing.

As far as trying to minimize hi-hat bleed, get a paper cup of some sort, cut a hole in the bottom and slide it over the mic. This will help some. IMO, you're not going to completely isolate the hats and I don't think you want to, this is what gives the track character and depth.

As far as the sounds on commercial recordings, keep in mind that it is all analogue and you aren't going to reproduce it, you can come close though. One trick I've read about recently that some pro engineers are using is a sample of a snare hit mixed with the actual snare. Try it... It's all about experimenting and getting the right sound for you - don't try to mimic, carve your own path!

Good luck.
 
Just chiming in. Uladine hit it. I like the sound with the mic back a couple of inches, not over the snare. It gives the sound a chance to develope before it reachs the mic. I sometimes use a bottom mic but almost always end up not using it because of snare rattle.
As far as phase reversing, some mixers and most preamps will have a phase flip switch. If you don't, you can modify a cable by reversing the wires at one end of a mic cable (pin #1 remains the shield, pin #2 and pin #3 are reversed).
 
I changed the mic placement and used the paper cup trick, and it sounds so much better! You guys totally rock!
 
Yeah!

I'm glad the cup trick worked for you. I think this is the first time I've been able to help someone and not the other way around!
 
As far as trying to minimize hi-hat bleed, get a paper cup of some sort, cut a hole in the bottom and slide it over the mic.Originally posted by wondercrush
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This makes the 57 sound a lot different, adding some weird phase trouble.
If you can`t flip the phase on the bottom mic, it will sound a lot better using just one mic, as two mics will cancel each other out.

Amund
 
I'm not trying to argue, because I really don't know much other than I used that trick with a 57 and there were no phase problems.

Maybe it was an anomoly...
 
Something strange happens each time I record a GREAT drummer:

Less HH bleed in snare mic.
Great balance in the OH`s
Cymbals sounds sweet and lush
Consistent levels on the kick and snare tracks.

And I get the credit...........

Amund
 
Yeah, a great drummer definitely helps out the sound like nothing else can. Too bad I rarely get to record any.:(
 
Yeah, my drummer really sucks. His time is off, not consistant.




Too bad he's me :( :)
 
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