Micing underneath the snare.

R

Rhamett

New member
Does microphone on the bottom of snare make more difference to overall sound?
Should I be using another track on drums?
 
I have mic'ed under the snare on several occasions and I never used that track. I didn;t think it added much. BUT, let you ears decide, it all depends on what kind of sound you are going for.

of course, I have gone minimalist on my kit, overheads and kick three mics, simple and sweet.
 
personally i really like having a bottom snare mic track. that way can emphasize different things on the top and bottom snare track with EQ or compression and stuff to try and get the best snare sound i'm after.
 
I would certainly try it out a few times. I actually use my nicer (more expensive) mic on the bottom snare than I do on the top snare. I find the bottom snare mic is integral to a big ballsy snare sound. I usually use a shure beta57a with an AKG 451 taped to it on top, and an AKG 414 or 451 or even sm57 on bottom.
 
I always mic the bottom, mainly to be able to change the overall snare sound without having to reach for the EQ. Sometimes it's not used, most times it is. It generally seems to add "presence", especially if the drummer ain't too good / hard hitting.
 
ragata said:
especially if the drummer ain't too good / hard hitting.
Click to expand...
This is very true... The last band I was in, our drummer died when in the studio. He would play really soft for some reason, with the exception of the kick drum, which he would pound away on. The engineer added a mic on the bottom of the snare and it sounded 100x better. It's definitely worth a try.
 
Depends on if you want the sound of the snares. I usually do.

Close micing the TOP of the snare frequently sounds like popcorn. Most of your snare sound is in the overheads and turning up the top of the snare track just brings it out more. Turn it up too much, though, and you lose the sound and just get that THUNK of the close mic.

Close mic the bottom, though, and you get the sound of the snares. Start turning that up and suddenly the snare pops out in the mix. A little goes a long way. Be careful compressing it, too. Because the snares have a lot more decay than the beater head mic compression can increase the sustain of the snares and sound odd. As always, you just have to get the settings right and I've found that with micing the bottom it really pays to get the sound you want with mic placement.

Watch out for bleed from the kick beater. And the snares resonating with tom hits.

-C
 
Do you reverse polarity?

Hi,

Do you reverse polarity on the bottom mic?

I have heard suggestions to reverse polarity on a beater side kick mic but then there is only one head. (asumming the other kick mic is inside the shell)

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
pikingrin said:
This is very true... The last band I was in, our drummer died when in the studio.
Click to expand...

I thought that was the start to a very morbid story... thought it was a little off topic as well.
 
I think certain styles of music will tend to call for it much more than others.

When I think of a Rockabilly style, I think 'bottom snare' a lot more than I would heavy metal, for example.

If that makes any sense.
 
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