recording help, tom ringing

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tju85

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Ok, heres the scoop. I bought a firepod. My setup is 1 up 2 down as follows:

1-kick
2-snare
3-10" tom
4- 13" tom (as floor)
5- 16" tom (as 2nd floor)
6-overhead left
7-overhead right
8-nothing

Now..this is my problem. When I record, everything comes through great. The problem is, when I play back what I've recorded, the toms start ringing. The mics on the toms pick up the toms when I'm not hitting them IE the sounds of the bass drum. If I mute those 3 tracks, it sounds great until I actually HIT the tom. Then the overheads don't do them justice and it sounds dead. Especially the lower pitched ones. If I SOLO the tom tracks, I can hear them ringing.

Here is the signal chain I am using.

Mic>Yamaha MG 16/4>Firepod>Macbook

I'm recording into Logic Express.

The only way I could think about fixing it is cutting out all of the tom track where the tom is not hit, but that would take forever. My other option I thought of was mix all the 3 toms on my mixer, send them to AUX 1, and then put the AUX 1 mix into the firepod in channel 5. Then I would have channel 6-8 open. That way, I would only have to cut out ONE tom track, versus 3. Less time consuming.

Last question, when I'm recording, should I record with my levels for say, snare, just below clipping? I'm not sure where I should record them for the fullest, loudest, studio sound that I hear on records I get.

These are the mics I'm using:

Bass- AKG D110
Snare- SM57
Toms- Audix F10 on 10" and 13", Audix F12 on 16"
Overheads- Audix F15 in XY

ONE MORE QUESTION I JUST THOUGHT OF:

In my overheads, my snare and bass sound different, it picks up more of the ringing. With the sm57 and designated bass mic, I can solo each track and hear how it really sounds. Basically, is there a way I can just pick up cymbals in my overheads, and not so much snare and the click of the bass?
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First thing if you are using clip on mic holders get rid of them they are junk for recording. Use stands
You need to use gates for toms and snare and kick to get rid of the ring or deaden the drums but that just makes them sound like a box.
Second No you cant reduce snard and tom sound in the overheads, They are your most important mics for the overall sound of your drums.
And are you sure that you have a problem? Have you mixed your drums the way you have them now with other instruments or just alone. They may sound great with the band mixed in.
 
Herm said:
First thing if you are using clip on mic holders get rid of them they are junk for recording. Use stands
You need to use gates for toms and snare and kick to get rid of the ring or deaden the drums but that just makes them sound like a box.
Second No you cant reduce snard and tom sound in the overheads, They are your most important mics for the overall sound of your drums.
And are you sure that you have a problem? Have you mixed your drums the way you have them now with other instruments or just alone. They may sound great with the band mixed in.
Click to expand...
I think that last sentence is a good point. I get some ringing too from my toms, but once the instruments are plopped on top of them, you can't even hear it.
 
Herm said:
First thing if you are using clip on mic holders get rid of them they are junk for recording. Use stands
You need to use gates for toms and snare and kick to get rid of the ring or deaden the drums but that just makes them sound like a box.
Second No you cant reduce snard and tom sound in the overheads, They are your most important mics for the overall sound of your drums.
And are you sure that you have a problem? Have you mixed your drums the way you have them now with other instruments or just alone. They may sound great with the band mixed in.
Click to expand...

True, I didn't think of it that way. Right now, I was mixing with just playing some drum beats. I haven't had time yet to have my friends come over and record with instruments.

Also, how shoudl I apply the gate on the toms, and why shoudl I apply it on the snare?

If you want, I could send you the Logic file and you could check it out.
 
Just insert the gates on each tom channel in Logic. Set them so they only come on when you hit the drum.
 
gate gate gate.

gate everything except OH's.

gate gate gate.

and throw some comp. all around, and some verb on snare.

pan to happiness.

bake at 350º for 25 min until golden brown.

funny though, it never comes out all that great anyway...
 
Farview said:
Just insert the gates on each tom channel in Logic. Set them so they only come on when you hit the drum.
Click to expand...

What's your preference, gating while recording or after?
 
ez_willis said:
What's your preference, gating while recording or after?
Click to expand...
After. You have no idea how hard (or soft) the drummer will hit. If you gate it too hard, you could miss some hits.

Always gate after you record.
 
Why don't I get a signal when I do this. Plug all my mics into my firepod, and then use a 8 channel TRS snake and go from the OUTPUTS on the firepod to channel 1-8 LINE IN and/or Insert on my mixer? I don't get any signal at all from any channel. Whats up with that?

I can plug all my mics into my mixer, use the Insert as an OUTPUT (plug TRS cable half way in) and then plug them into the firepod, and the firepod gets a signal.

Whats up guys?
 
tju85 said:
Why don't I get a signal when I do this. Plug all my mics into my firepod, and then use a 8 channel TRS snake and go from the OUTPUTS on the firepod to channel 1-8 LINE IN and/or Insert on my mixer? I don't get any signal at all from any channel. Whats up with that?

I can plug all my mics into my mixer, use the Insert as an OUTPUT (plug TRS cable half way in) and then plug them into the firepod, and the firepod gets a signal.

Whats up guys?
Click to expand...
Not that it has anything to do with this thread but....

You need to assign the inputs of the firepod to the outputs of the firepod. I'm sure there is a utility to do this. RTFM
 
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