My recorded drums What am I doing wrong??

  • Thread starter Thread starter rimshot86
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Anyway what you guys think of my final clip?I was actually happy with this one,wish the base drum had a bit more thump but whatever.
 
Certainly gaining ground. Do you have the kick muffled somehow? It isn't ringing at all, if I had to guess, I would think it was tuned a bit tight, with a good amount of blanket or something against the front head.

I would take down the OH's a hair, as a couple of the cymbols kind of jump out at a couple points. If you can, just a breath more toms. They are OK now, but maybe the tiniest bit quiet. Actually, if the OH's come down a bit, you may not need to fiddle with the toms, because that will decrease the snare more than it will the toms.

Did you ever list what mics you are using? I didn't see them listed, except in terms of what drums were miced, anywhere in the thread.
 
On the box they say super lux brand not sure at what exactly they are there not real nice mainly for live mics...
 
SonicClang said:
rimshot, if you keep recording drums and learning about how to make them sound better you'll get there I'm sure. If the two samples you've put up lately are your first attempts at recording drums, they're better than my first attempt.

The local studios around my town, Madison, WI, are always booked a couple months in advance, and the stuff I hear coming out of them isn't ANY better than what I'm doing in my basement studio. The only big-time studio in Madison is Smart Studio. They recorded Nirvanna, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage... The drummer of Garbage, Butch Vig, is the owner. They're a GREAT studio, but at $100 an hour it's a little steep for most bands trying to get heard on the radio. That's where I think I can come in. :) it's a dream anyway.
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So you're saying you're getting as good of sounds as DNA, Randy's Recording, Coney Island, Audio for the Arts, etc (including many undergrads @ MMI)? BS... :rolleyes:

I guess that "smiley face" eq is the way to go then huh?
 
ermghoti said:
Irrelevant. If you want to make money at recording, go intern at a pro recording studio, and take audio engineering classes at somewhere other than Full Sail.

In general, we on this board do not have the resources to duplicate the work of the mainstream pro studios (a few do, and I suspect they will agree with my broader point). In fact, the typical studio that makes it's business making demos for local bands does not have the resources to make a major label recording.

You can learn about gain staging, mic placement, eq, basic effects, mixing, etc at home, and you can learn to maximize the effectiveness of the equipment you have access to, but you are not going to make a pro recording any sooner than you are going to build a Formula One car, for the same reasons.

None of the above is intended as a put-down, but they are pretty much facts.
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ain't it the truth bro.
 
I'm unable to download the clips it looks like, so I can't comment on the sound of the drums right now.

Some general rules though that were only touched on maybe twice in this whole thread... (wtf?)

1. Good drums, if you don't have them, you are not going to get a good sound.

2 WELL TUNED drums, (not just by a drum dial, but by ear as well, never assume the dial is going to get you dead on, it should just be for an approximation if anything)

3. Good room, if you don't have one, find one to record in.

4. GOOD PLAYER, if you have none of the above three you may still get a listenable take with a good player.

If you're lacking in any of these four, your drum tracks are going to be lacking regardless of what mics and preamp you are using. Even your mic placement won't get you out of it. AND EQ!? WTF? You can polish a turd until you see your reflection but it's still going to smell like shit.

Sorry if I seem annoyed. It ain't with you rimshot, I wish I could download the drum tracks to give a listen but I kept getting timed out when trying.

Seriously, if you're trying too hard to "fix it in the mix" it's time to re track. Don't be afraid to crumple up that piece of paper and chuck it and start over, that's part of the fun of this.
 
earthboundrec,

Good to see someone local on the boards. Too bad you're being an ass though. Yes, a smiley face is all I ever do for EQ, that is exactly what I said. Amazing how perceptive you are.

When did I ever say I'm currently getting a better sound than any of the studios you listed? I said I think I CAN get a better sound eventually. Ok, I just re-read my post you quoted and yes, I did say I am getting as good of a sound as them, but I mis spoke. That's still no excuse for you to be an ass. God, your attitude is exactly what I hate about the local studio/musician scene in Madison. Everyone has this huge ego, especially the people coming out of MMI. It's a bit annoying to say the least.

Don't worry about me though, I've got my smiley face eq and I'm going to conquer the world. :rolleyes:
 
rimshot86 said:
On the box they say super lux brand not sure at what exactly they are there not real nice mainly for live mics...
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Well, I hunted down a Sound on Sound review for superlux drum mic kits, and they seem to at least sort of behave like drum mics. I wasn't sure if the reviewer was gilding the lily, but he did seem to make an awful lot of "for the price..." comments.

Anyway, I'll assume the mics are at least usable, and since your tracks, particularly the last two, aren't disgusting, it's a likely hypothesis.

A weird thing, is the kick drum seems to be getting worse from clip tp clip. Either the thump is getting eaten up by other sounds, or maybe the head is getting out of tune without you noticing. Check the tuning first, then make sure you are leaving room with the other instruments. I leave the kick in charge of 50 to 120+ hz, depending on the material/source. Below 50, most playback systems will not reproduce much, so just keep the ultra lows under control, so a subwoofer doesn't go berserk, and you're fine.

Based on the review, I would guess that kick mic would be very position sensitive, so experiment with placement. A little movement, alone, could account for much of the difference in the sound of the kick among your clips.
 
I'd say after listening to the clips, alot of your problem is coming from the room. I can hear it, and it ain't helping you.
 
SonicClang said:
a smiley face is all I ever do for EQ,
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Could you post a sample of your work? I'd like to hear a bunch of 57's slapped on a kit with a nice smiley eq curve on all the tracks. I bet it sounds just like your nick, a big SonicClang.
 
SonicClang said:
earthboundrec,

Good to see someone local on the boards. Too bad you're being an ass though. Yes, a smiley face is all I ever do for EQ, that is exactly what I said. Amazing how perceptive you are.

When did I ever say I'm currently getting a better sound than any of the studios you listed? I said I think I CAN get a better sound eventually. Ok, I just re-read my post you quoted and yes, I did say I am getting as good of a sound as them, but I mis spoke. That's still no excuse for you to be an ass. God, your attitude is exactly what I hate about the local studio/musician scene in Madison. Everyone has this huge ego, especially the people coming out of MMI. It's a bit annoying to say the least.

Don't worry about me though, I've got my smiley face eq and I'm going to conquer the world. :rolleyes:
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For the record, I am not a student at MMI nor have I ever been one, and I can agree with you that usually when an MMI student talks to me about recording, they're usually talking out of their ass. But, then again, I have met dudes from there that are freelancing at Smart or DNA after their first semester.

On another note lots of the engineers in Madison at various studios freelance at Smart.

I'm sorry I have to be an ass but I have to call out bullshit, for the sake of the original poster of this thread.
 
SonicClang said:
God, your attitude is exactly what I hate about the local studio/musician scene in Madison. Everyone has this huge ego, especially the people coming out of MMI. It's a bit annoying to say the least.
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If you harbor such resentment of the local scene then why do you want them to be your clients? Sure I've come across egotistical musos in town, but they usually suck anyways... I haven't yet encountered an ass of an engineer here yet though. (besides some live music guys).
 
HangDawg said:
I'd say after listening to the clips, alot of your problem is coming from the room. I can hear it, and it ain't helping you.
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like I said its room with windows all around.anyway to fix it?
 
rimshot86 said:
like I said its room with windows all around.anyway to fix it?
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What are the room dimensions? What's on the floor/ceiling. Are you able to cover the windows? Do you own/rent or is this your parents house? Your recordings will never get better until you fix the room issues. I don't care if you have $20K in mics and preamps.
 
HangDawg said:
What are the room dimensions? What's on the floor/ceiling. Are you able to cover the windows? Do you own/rent or is this your parents house? Your recordings will never get better until you fix the room issues. I don't care if you have $20K in mics and preamps.
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its my parents pool house,10 / 15 I would say.Its hard wood and windows.
 
OK, I didn't read all 3 pages of this thread before posting, so I might be repeating something already mentioned. I read the first page and some posts from the second. I have to say, you've been getting some good advice, but you've also been getting TOTALLY bogus advice, too. Don't ask me to elaborate because it would take too much time to copy and paste, etc...Also, there's nothing worse than people presenting "opinions" as "fact"...When someone starts their post with "What you HAVE to do is...." Be wary. Especially if it's preceded by "Dude".

Like I said, it might have been mentioned in later posts, but I didn't read one person telling you that you probably should be starting out with just 4 mics, in my opinion. Forget the tom mics for now, you're just asking for phase problems. You should be able to get a great sound with 4 mics. Then, if you want to get adventerous, you can consider adding the tom mics. If you don't have the experience and knowledge, those tom mics are going to cause you more harm than good. And even with the experience and knowledge, you may never want to use more than 4 mics.
 
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In this context, it refers to the same source sound arriving at two or more mics at different times due to the distance the sound has to travel.
 
Listen to what's going to tape. If something sounds hollow or phasey, trouble shoot the offending mic or mics and move them.
 
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