Ringing in snare

Ronan said:
A $5 O-Ring will fix this problem in 2 seconds.
Click to expand...

......and you can even fashion one out of an old head with an exacto knife if you're on a really ghetto budget. i prefer the store-bought ones, myself.....but prefer moongel to the o-rings when given a choice.


cheers,
wade
 
Ronan said:
A $5 O-Ring will fix this problem in 2 seconds.
Click to expand...
Ronan, I know you have much more experience than I ever will, but you can't possibly be serious about the O-ring. I know it will stop the ringing, but you may as well be using a cardboard box for a snare.

O-rings to me are like duct taping guitar strings.
 
Ronan said:
A $5 O-Ring will fix this problem in 2 seconds.
Click to expand...

i've always kinda thought that an o ring makes a snare too dead personally.

with moon gel you can move it around to keep more or less of the ring if you want.
 
dr.colossus said:
This thread is two months old so i doubt that mjau is going to see this post, but.. Is it just the recodred sound that irks you, or are you having trouble with excessive resonance live as well? If its a recording only problem, then I'd play with mic placement, your close mic might be too close. most of the snare sound should be coming from the overheads with the close mic just there for the attack. I'm am now getting the best recorded snare I've ever gotten, and that is without using any close mics.
Click to expand...

colossus, are you close micing your toms? (even though your not close micing your snare...)???
 
dr.colossus said:
Ronan, I know you have much more experience than I ever will, but you can't possibly be serious about the O-ring. I know it will stop the ringing, but you may as well be using a cardboard box for a snare.

O-rings to me are like duct taping guitar strings.
Click to expand...

No, I absolutely love them a lot of times. Moon Gels can be really cool as well. If the O ring makes the sanre too dead I cut it to make it thinner.

I love really tight snares because when the snare is tight I can get most of my snare sounds from the room and overhead mics. If the snares are ringy they make the room mics gear really smeared and screw up the imaging in the overheads.

If its a really sparse record than some ring in the snare is cool, but if its a has dense guitars etc than a really tigh snare almost always wins in my book. Its a funny thing: so many drummers really love for their snares to be ringy, but usually almost all their favorite records tend to have tight snares.
 
Ronan said:
No, I absolutely love them a lot of times. Moon Gels can be really cool as well. If the O ring makes the sanre too dead I cut it to make it thinner.

I love really tight snares because when the snare is tight I can get most of my snare sounds from the room and overhead mics. If the snares are ringy they make the room mics gear really smeared and screw up the imaging in the overheads.

If its a really sparse record than some ring in the snare is cool, but if its a has dense guitars etc than a really tigh snare almost always wins in my book. Its a funny thing: so many drummers really love for their snares to be ringy, but usually almost all their favorite records tend to have tight snares.
Click to expand...

ronan, i posed the question to colusssus too...so in order to get a less ringy snare you 'muffle' the snare and use overheads and room mics and no close mic? but you still close mic you toms??? combined question (hope this makes sense :o )

the ringy snare and snare buzz are something that drive me crazy while recording...some tunes i don't want 'ringy' (i think as you have aluded to)...trying to figure out the best way to handle this.
 
shortness said:
ronan, i posed the question to colusssus too...so in order to get a less ringy snare you 'muffle' the snare and use overheads and room mics and no close mic? but you still close mic you toms??? combined question (hope this makes sense :o )

the ringy snare and snare buzz are something that drive me crazy while recording...some tunes i don't want 'ringy' (i think as you have aluded to)...trying to figure out the best way to handle this.
Click to expand...
The best snare sounds are a combination of close mics with the overheads, room, and even tom mics (depending on the setup, genre, etc...) Getting all those mics to work in your favor is the key to the kingdom.

Having the snare not ring while still having a relatively long note is a tuning issue (the snare and the heads have to cooperate for this to happen) The buzz can be helped by tightening the strainer up. If you have other instruments playng in the room, it will never really go away. Editing (or gating) the tracks will help.

You might have an easier time getting good drum sounds if you think as the whole kit as one instrument instead of a group of isolated ones.
 
shortness said:
ronan, i posed the question to colusssus too...so in order to get a less ringy snare you 'muffle' the snare and use overheads and room mics and no close mic? but you still close mic you toms??? combined question (hope this makes sense :o )
Click to expand...

Every record I make is different so there is no stock answer. It depends a lot on the style of music, the room and most importantly the drummer. If I have a great drummer in a good sounding room, I can get a very good drum sounds with one mic in front of the kit. I usually end up using a few more though.

In the record I am tracking right now at a nice studio in Texas with a really good drummer, I probably will not use the snare mic in the mix, or maybe just a little. I almost always record the snare mic. Even if I do not use it for the main sound, it can be a cool mic to have to do specific reverb techniques. I record Tom Mics about 50% of the time, but if the drummer is really good I should not need them much in the mix.

The majority of the sound of a snare and toms is usually better off coming from the overheads and room mics, and the close mics are just there for a little extra presence.
 
i figured that it was basically a combination of things...the things that drives me a bit silly is that when tuning i get a sound i like on a tom and that particular sound resonanates the crap out of my snare...so then you play the tuning game to get the resonance out, etc., etc.. i figured there was not a true clear cut approach :p
 
Whats funny here is people that are against tape, moongel or whatever yet in almost every studio shot of drums I have ever seen there is tape or something on the heads. Shit, Beatles studio shots show everthing from towels to tape! I kind of thought the men at EMI ( Abbey Road) knew what they were doing. For a ring in the snare if its not too loud I'll gate it as long as it does not ring through the othere mic's. Yes, having a great set, tunned proper etc. will help a lot. My experience is very few drummers know how to do that. No offense to drummers....I've had a lot of great drummers that I myself have had to retune there kit.and I'm not a drummer. I learnned from need.
 
jmorris said:
Shit, Beatles studio shots show everthing from towels to tape!.
Click to expand...
... le'me guess.... no moongel(s) thou? ;)

...
good point btw. In 'real working recording studio' the real ugly mess shall rule! That's how you know - it's a working studio, but not a 'show-room display' ;)
 
I've been blessed with an awesome room to record in, and three years of practice recording my drums in that room! I really like the way the sound of my kit combines through the air. I only use two mics on my drum kit. 1 overhead and a bass drum mic. It makes mixing a lot easier!
 
stancars said:
Convert your drums to e drums and record digital.
Click to expand...

You can not record 'e drums' - you only can RE-record them... ;)
unless you are talking about old generation analog e-drums, then it's true -your will never hear ringing nor any drum-sound as we know it :p
 
Brad_C said:
Why is everyone solutions on here duct tape or moongel. Oh my you can use other methods that won't make it ugly. My drums have no muting in them at all and they sound amazing.
Click to expand...

Well bully for you, Drum Sensei - the question is H-O-W.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top