Neat snare recording trick...

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tubedude

tubedude

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Compliments of Steve Chahley...

Okay, here's one for sorting out weedy snare sounds - this was suggested by a drummer when we realized the snare sound was unsuitable at the mix stage (too thin and not enough snare rattle), and I didn't think it would work......... but it worked bloody great!!!!!
First, we sent the snare signal from the multitrack out one of the tie lines and into a bass amp. We put the speaker cab on it's back (speaker facing up) and placed the snare upside down (batter side to the speaker) on top of the cab. We used the EQ on the amp to remove all the high and mids, and boosted low end. Turned the amp up until the gushes of air from the bass cab (with each snare hit from tape) were triggering the snare to play as though it were being hit!!!

We then tuned the snare and fiddled with mic positioning (close to the snare bottom) until we were happy with the sound (remember to try reversing the phase of this signal when you combine it with the original snare track).

I couldn't believe it, new life in a badly recorded snare track, and it follows all the original dynamics and fills the drummer played to a T!!!!
 
You would not believe how tailored to my situation that post was. I rushed some drum tracking over the weekend, cause the drummer had to travel to a gig. The kick and overhead tracks were OK, the rack tom track wasn't great but was made acceptable by eq and gating, but the snare was just not there.

I'm gonna try this tonight.

Nice one.

pAp
 
I've talked about this trick here 4 or 5 times. You can use any amp and speaker and it works really well. I've done it with everything from an Auratone sitting face down on the drum while it's in its stand covering the whole thing with a blanket and mic'ing the bottom to setting a Peavey Bandit on it's back with the snare drum sitting face down on the amp, etc. Of course you flip the phase on the mic but even in a DAW I won't drag it into alignment with the original snare track. Even though it's a little bit late, it works for you bacause it keeps the snare hits up that much longer.
Here's another trick for you. If you have access to a PA and you want to wake up drums you can run the kick track through it at HIGH volume and mic it. Mix that back in with the original track. Or get a decent stereo mix of the whole kit going and run it through the PA at an equally high volume and mic that and mix it in with your original tracks. I usually use compression on that pair.
 
Track Rat said:

Here's another trick for you. If you have access to a PA and you want to wake up drums you can run the kick track through it at HIGH volume and mic it. Mix that back in with the original track. Or get a decent stereo mix of the whole kit going and run it through the PA at an equally high volume and mic that and mix it in with your original tracks. I usually use compression on that pair.
Click to expand...

I considered doing this, because I always loved the way drums resonated at this local club we play at a lot, and know the guy who runs sound there who might be willing to let us do that.... but I liked the way the drums reverated in the room. Does what you're talking about just add more fullness to the kit (like thicken what's already there), or more real-ness and take away the "dry" sound of the kit (like the sound of the drums reverating in the room at a gazillion jillion dB properly replicating the sound of playing at a club?)
 
Oh, and would you do that BEFORE, or AFTER you've already eq'd and processed the drums how you want? (would you play the raw or the processed tracks)
 
That and more. A kick and /or the whole kit just sounds "different" coming thru a PA. I think it has a lot to do with the natural compression that goes on in a speaker when it's being driven very hard. Also you give the low frequency waveforms more room to develope and of course you get some of the room in the mics. More, fatter, bigger than life kind of a sound. It doesn't work for everything but for metel and more aggressive styles it can be very cool.
 
Where/how would mic the PA, anyway? Middle of the room facing at the speakers? Right up on the speakers? What kind of mic, dynamic? Condensor?

What I thought about doing was having two mics, right behind the speakers, facing out into the room where the PA would be firing, so you hear the sound of the drums just blasting the room. Or maybe combining that with micing from the front. Oh, the possibilities...

I would just wanna make sure I knew exactly what I was doing beforehand, I wouldn't get too many chances to have that massive PA all to myself....
 
I saw an article in HR magazine where they place a car speaker on top of the snare and play back the snare track while micing the snare from about 4" overhead.
I forgot to try this before I sold my acoustics....
wonder if it fattens the track?
 
You can do this with just about any speaker.
 
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