out of control hi-hat....

[timandjes]

My hi-hat sounds are too harsh on my recordings. I've got a snare mic pointing across the top of the snare, two OH condensers set up using the 3 to 1 pattern, and one bass mic inside the bass shell.

All the other sounds are pretty good. Is there another mic placement that might help 'lighten' the volume of the hi-hat? It could just be the tone of the hi-hat itself. I could move the snare mic but it's still got to be near the snare, which is of course, right by the hi-hat... Any idea's?

Or, is there a way I could eq some of the hi-hat volume out?... (I'm sure that's a difficult question to answer without actually seeing my set up, but any basic guides would be helpfull... I've never really felt like I was an expert at EQ'ing).

THANKS!

 

[matty_boy]

I think that the harshness you describe might be coming through the snare mic. If your hats are really close to your snare, this could be the problem. I like to keep my hats about six or seven inches above my snare. That way, i can place my snare mic above the snare, but below the hats. Hope this helps.

Matty

 

[dcptnsdcvd]

make an isolation cone

this may sound a little silly but, you know the little cardboard sleeves that ProMark sticks come in? take one and open it up the long way so it is one flat piece of cardboard (or use any piece of thin cardboar or reely heavy paper about 5"x5") and cut about 2 inches in from the side, about an inch away from one side, like so;

------------ _
| | | ---- 4"
| | _|
cut---> |- - - -| <----- cut
------------ ]-- 1"

once you've done this, curve the whole peice like the bill of a ballcap or like the cone around a dog's head (you know, when they have scurvey and wanna itch). then, place the piece of cardboard on the snare mic, covering the top of the mic. take a hair tie or scrunchie or rubber band or whatever and put it around the mic to hold the "cone" on (wrap the hair tie around the 1" part right below the head or screen and let the other part "umbrella" the mic head), like here...

_ ------------
4"-- | | |
|_ |_ _| <-----mic head covered by cone
1"---[ \---/ <------attach tie here
| | <---- microphone
\ /

i hope that makes sense, lol. the "cone" will wrapp around the mic and block out any sound coming from whatever direction it is blocking. if you turn the cone so that it is blocking the hi-hat it will probably cut it out of that mic all together. then you can mess around with your overheads if the hi-hat is too low. this always worksd for me. on my rack mounted toms, i have a splash or effect cymbal abover all three of them, and when recording with open "un-coned" mics i get overkill with the cymbals. i put these cones on every tom mic and block out the sound of the cymbals. it's a cheap way of isolation, but it damn well works! i hope i didn;t get too confusing there. give it a try, it works.

 

[dcptnsdcvd]

dude, that didn;t work for shit. why can't it just display it like i wrote it. it doesn;t let you put all kinds of extra spaces in the thread, it deletes them when you submit the post. soab.

 

[timandjes]

Hey, those sound like Great Ideas... I really appreciate your advice... I'm going to give it a try....

The cardboard thing isn't silly @ all.... Years ago, I worked as an aircraft assembly person and I amazed my boss when I made a fiberglass application tool out of an empty 2 liter coke bottle....

It's amazing how trash lying around can be used so technically!

Take Care...

 

[drumtracks]

A little reverb on those Hi Hats (vocal reverb works great) will soften and give them a more translucent sound

David
Professional Affordable Drum Tracks