Please Critque My Drum Sound!

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dumass

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hye everyone...please check out these drums...

http://www.nowhereradio.com/pintsize/singles

i didnt have the best mics when recording this...but please let me kno what you think of what i have using the stuff i had...
the set itself wasn't too great...it was a percussion plus....

snare- Shure sm 57
rack tom - pro 2 karaoke mic
floor tom - nady starpower
bass drum - ev cobalt 7
overheads - oktava mk012

all through a behringer mx2004 mixer...into m-audio delta 1010...into cakewalk..

also please tell me what i can do to make it better...
 
I tried to listen, but kept getting error messages about file not found and wrong file type.
It might just be our system.
I'll try again later.
 
yea it has been seeming to work for windows media player, so try using winamp or real player
 
sry, i meant it hasnt been working for windows media player...so try realplayer or winamp

blue bear: so what should i do to fix that, and what exactly do u mean boxy...

and do u think it sounds pretty good, considering the limitations?
 
By boxy I meant it sounds like it was recorded in a box just big enough to fit the drummer. It has a closed-in, constricted sound. No "air".

The sound may very well be appropriate for what you want it for, but as far as recorded drums sounds, I wouldn't consider it "good".

Personally I like the sound of a kit to "open up" in front of me, much like when I'm standing right in front of a good drummer, only with a wider sound field! Your recording definitely doesn't sound like that....

But again, YMMV - my preferences may not be appropriate in all contexts....
 
Assuming your kit is expertly maintained, new heads, tuned, etc...the single biggest influence on the way the kit sounds is the room.

Waaay back when I knew nothing, I went through 3 different snare drums before I realized that the carpeted, foamed walled studio (not mine) I was playing in was sucking the life out of them...
 
so its better to record drums in a bigger room rather than a smaller room?
 
It could be your mix, it could be the way that you EQed it or it could be that you're playing on cheap cymbals, but the cymbal sound dominates this reording and they just don't sound good. They are sustaining too much and they sound like Sabian B8's. There's not enough thud to your kick drum and there's not enough crack to yor snare (mix those up, cut back on the others, raise the high frequency on your overheads and cut back on the mid and lows).
I'm not familiar with the mic you are using for kick. Is it a low output? Your overheads and your snare mic are real good mics for what you're using them for, it may be time to upgrade the others. If you are using cheap cymbals, you have to upgrade for recording. Recording is a brutal critic.
 
yea im in the process of upgrading...im waiting on 2 more shure sm 57's and an akg d112...and maybe getting a b1 for either the floor tom or the snare but yea, i actually already fixed those things you were talkin bout at the same time. i also added some more high freqs in the bass drum to get some more slap/click..is that what it's called?

the snare was mic'd by the shell that so that maybe why it doesn't have that much "crack" . should i try micing from the top next time?

also, i'm gonna post what the new track with the things i fixed soon..
 
k its up...everyone please check it out n tell me what you think..
 
I'm not sure if I heard the first or second version, but I thought they sounded quite good.

If you have parametric eq, you might try and boost the bass drum a little and also lift the snare to give it more crack.

If you're recording in a carpeted room, you can compensate for the lack of 'liveness' by adding some fast delay
 
the second one's description said "updated drums"...but thanks man...it was done in a small room with soundproof foam on the walls, there were tiles on the ground, and jus a carpet where the drums were.
 
Since you didn't leave both clips up, I can't A/B the specific differences between the two, so I can't say if it's "better" or not...

I still don't like the kick or the snare, and the cymbals sound smeared....

OTOH, again, it may be perfectly appropriate int he context of the song you are working on.

Don't forget, you don't necessarily want the same drumkit sound on every song you record!
 
well yea, i like the way the bass sounds...and the snare...theres no hope for that...i guess i jus made a mistake during tracking by putting it on the side of the snare. i think that the cymbals sound a lot better from how they were.
 
Snare still needs more crack. Sounds kind of "tubby".

Kick needs more low end punch.

The toms were all boom and no attack.

I don't even know what to say about your cymbals. The hihats are extremely annoying. I definitely see a cymbal upgrade in your future.

Like Blue Bear said, it sounds very boxy and closed in. By the way, foam on the walls won't soundproof your room! That is probably what is sucking the life out of the sound...

:)
 
How big is the room you recorded in also the ceiling and what do you have on the ceiling.
 
dumass said:
...and the snare...theres no hope for that...i guess i jus made a mistake during tracking by putting it on the side of the snare. i think that the cymbals sound a lot better from how they were.
Click to expand...

You can still save you snare sound using parametric eq. Just experiment with the frequency curve until you find the snare frequency and lift it a bit
 
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