Mixing and bleeding

Reggaesoldier

Reggaesoldier

New member
how much of a problem do you people have when you record, lets say, acoustic drums and you mute everything but the kick to begin mixing in the bass? Do you hear too much or nothing of the rest of the kit? lets say you want to eq your snare, but you hear too much hi-hat in the snare mic no matter what you do. Following me?
Is it something you just have to learn to live with?
 
You control bleed by proper mic technique (selection/placement).... if you have a problem with bleed at mixdown, it means the job wasn't done correctly during tracking...........
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
You control bleed by proper mic technique (selection/placement).... if you have a problem with bleed at mixdown, it means the job wasn't done correctly during tracking...........
Click to expand...
thats the only real conclusion I could come up with too.
so you're tellin me when you drop the rest of the mix to listen to the snare, all you get is the snare? nothing else?

if thats the case, man I'm doin' somthing wrong.
 
Remember the Law of Bleed...

Ambience is bleed that you like.

Bleed is ambience you don't like.

You can (and I dare say should) use bleed to your advantage if you're careful.
 
Reggaesoldier said:
thats the only real conclusion I could come up with too.
so you're tellin me when you drop the rest of the mix to listen to the snare, all you get is the snare? nothing else?
Click to expand...
Not at all. There'll always be bleed. The art of mic placement is to minimize what you don't want. But, some bleed is actually a good thing. The only time it becomes a problem is if there's a phase problem or if the drummer has nasty sounding hats or cymbals or plays them unevenly but then you have bigger problems.
 
If there is way to much of the rest of the kit in the kick drum (assuming the mic is inside) hit the drum harder! Or stop pointing the mic at the snare. Or get a tourniquet.
 
when i work with a drummer in my studio i work with him/her for about an hour before the session even starts.
just to figure out what kinda animal im dealing with. Do they hit hard/soft.
Where do they hit hard/soft if they do. That helps me determine mic placement alot. Figuring out mic positions/mics, for this particular drumset/drummer.
get to know them a little, so the communications we make are clear and concise when tracking time comes.

may seem a little much to some recordists.
but it means alot to the artists.
 
Is there an exact problem that you need help with, Reggeasoldier? Or is this more of a general question?
 
Massive Master said:
Remember the Law of Bleed...

Ambience is bleed that you like.

Bleed is ambience you don't like.

You can (and I dare say should) use bleed to your advantage if you're careful.
Click to expand...
OK - I'll 3rd this Law. Very nice ! Deserves another reprint ;)
 
knightsy said:
Is there an exact problem that you need help with, Reggeasoldier? Or is this more of a general question?
Click to expand...
it was more of a general question. I wanted to know what other people dealt with or how they dealt with the bleed.

I wasn't clear on whether or not I should ONLY be hearing the single drum or not. I didn't think there would really be anyway to mute the rest of the kit to a single mic, but I just wasn't sure.

Great input guys, thanks a lot!
It seems to be those simple roadblocks that cause the most trouble. :cool: :mad:
 
if you know the drummer will play unevenly or starts to do so xy the overheads so you dont have this sound that the drums are left or right heavy or fight the automation balancing act, also the only thing i could say that would be bleed on a kit is the kick gettin in the overheads so try to isolate the kick better by creating a tunnel with heavy carpet and a chair exstending the bass head and micing inside the tunnel helps control bleed. If there still is bleed you can gate the kick carefully and or cut the overheads around 120-150hrz with a high pass filter Some good overheads have this type of a filter built on them old akgs etc hope this helps.
 
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