question about compressing overheads....

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freakkguitarist

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way back in the day i never used to compress overheads, i left them pretty natural aside from some slight eq, lately ive been compressing the overheads quite a bit so i kinda get an "explosion" type sound from the cymbals, slow attack and midish release. it sounds good especially when i run sends to a buss and compress the set as a whole, but i was curious as to what you guys do to overheads?

Ian
 
I just recently started doing this too, so I figured I'd post in here just to keep it on top of things.

Consider it a bump!
 
so ive been experimenting with no compression on the overheads.....man, sounds fucking terrible to me! what am i doing wrong? the drums just sound dead and weak without a compressor on my overheads
 
If you really feel the need, parallel them with an aux send.
 
freakkguitarist said:
so ive been experimenting with no compression on the overheads.....man, sounds fucking terrible to me! what am i doing wrong? the drums just sound dead and weak without a compressor on my overheads
Click to expand...
The odd part of it is that to my mind dead and weak could just as likely mean over compressed or lacking transient -sort of the opposite of how a raw drum track would sit.
When you say O/H's is that whole kit or cymbals?
?
 
freakkguitarist said:
way back in the day i never used to compress overheads, i left them pretty natural aside from some slight eq, lately ive been compressing the overheads quite a bit so i kinda get an "explosion" type sound from the cymbals, slow attack and midish release. it sounds good especially when i run sends to a buss and compress the set as a whole, but i was curious as to what you guys do to overheads?

Ian
Click to expand...

I tend to compress my OHs. I usually use a fast attack and long release. fast attack catches the odd drum or cymbal hits that are too loud, and the long release brings out the ambience of the room more. Probably I go for around 4:1 ratio and set the threshold to produce a few dB of compression. But it really depends on how you recorded the drums and how dynamic the drummer was.

Sometimes I use a multiband and compress the high end and boost for a nice shimmer.

Eck
 
Compressing overheads

If I'm overhead miking in xy or a spaced pair, I don't generally use much compression because I always end up with an awful lot of abrasive hi-hat. If it is more of a folky type of thing, I'll just barely compress the overheads, 2:1 ratio with a few db of reduction. If I'm going for an older sound though, I like to use room mics instead of overheads, and get them about 5-10 ft back in the room, and I'll compress those pretty heavily, 6:1 but with a moderately slow attack and a fast release, matched to the tempo, to keep the transients but also emphasize the room sound breathing with the beat.
 
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