Snare Drum Mic picks up too much other crap

[sbcgroup2]

re:

Uh-oh...

 

[RAMI]

Just imagine the post, as it is. Only with a bunch of f-bombs in there for accent ... along with a few "you guys are bunch of idiots" comments thrown in ... just for good measure.

.

Personally, I like the original better.

 

[sbcgroup2]

re:

Just imagine the post, as it is. Only with a bunch of f-bombs in there for accent ... along with a few "you guys are bunch of idiots" comments thrown in ... just for good measure.

.

Thanks alot....

 

[giraffe]

phase is hard to explain with out diagrams, but that's not what's going to resolve it..... trust me.

is there a good place to point him, a pre-existing explination of phase (ploliarity, whatever) possibly with crude diagrams....
anyone?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

How about just dipping some eq frequencies? (I usually drop out the ~1k range when de-essing vox).

I'm hoping this is a typo or a simple misunderstanding, considering most vox sibilance occurs somewhere in the 4kHz - 9kHz range (give or take a kHz amongst friends ).

G.

 

[jonnyc]

For all the "artists" that got their feelings hurt when I and others suggested helping musicians achieve a more recording friendly sound.


"you will often be required to 'SAVE THE CLIENT FROM HIMSELF'. This is the case MOST of the time." -- Slipperman


Often times he seems to know what he's talking about.

 

[littledog]

Telling musicians how to play can be a mixed bag. It's not just drums. I've got a grand piano that sounds better caressed than pounded - especially in my smallish room.

Some musicians, especially session pros, are very flexible and can adapt their style to any situation. They are usually the ones most receptive to taking direction from an engineer. But sometimes people can only play the way they play. Engineers have to be able to recognize this, and do the best they can.

It would certainly have been interesting to watch an engineer try and tell Jerry Lee Lewis - "don't hit the piano so hard, and it will sound better."

But I wouldn't want to be the one to try and do it.

 

[sbcgroup2]

sssssibilance

I'm hoping this is a typo or a simple misunderstanding, considering most vox sibilance occurs somewhere in the 4kHz - 9kHz range (give or take a kHz amongst friends ).

G.

I read somewhere to drop out the 1k range and it seems to do the trick for me. I adjust my eq frequencies in that range until the "s" and "p"s are tamed. I can try the 4-9k range, if need be as a comparison, but getting my desired results....

jeez...you guys are all makin' me sound like such an idiot...granted I'm an amateur, but i like my recordings...i really do!!

So let's get back to picking up a pair of those AKG 414's for OH kit mics and killin' those c1000s'.... It's either those or another pair of API's to use with the c1000s'...

 

[sbcgroup2]

It would certainly have been interesting to watch an engineer try and tell Jerry Lee Lewis - "don't hit the piano so hard, and it will sound better."

But I wouldn't want to be the one to try and do it.

Yeah, if you're that good of an engineer, you make the magic happen!!! That's what you get paid for! lol... just bein' a troll...

 

[sbcgroup2]

Josephson

But at the price point for a pair of Royers, you have LOTS of options - 414's and Josephson C42's come to mind as a starting point. But anything in that price range will sound SO different than your C1000's, you'll have a hard time believing it!

The Josephson C42's are less than half the price of the 414's! Are they comparable for drum OH usage...I like the price point (~$400)!! Plus they say they don't capture the "brittleness" you usually get out of the cymbals, etc...

How about a pair of AKG Solid Tubes?

 

[RAMI]

I read somewhere to drop out the 1k range and it seems to do the trick for me. I adjust my eq frequencies in that range until the "s" and "p"s are tamed.

Don't believe everything you read. "s" and "p" are not in the 1k range. Like Glen said, ESS-ing is alot higher than that.

jeez...you guys are all makin' me sound like such an idiot...granted I'm an amateur, but i like my recordings...i really do!!

I'm not judging your recordings because I've never heard them. But I guarantee you that if you keep learning and improving, you'll listen back to what you think was good in a year from now and say "I can't believe I used to like my recordings". Nobody's trying to make you sound like an idiot.

 

[sbcgroup2]

re:

Don't believe everything you read. "s" and "p" are not in the 1k range. Like Glen said, ESS-ing is alot higher than that.

I'm not judging your recordings because I've never heard them. But I guarantee you that if you keep learning and improving, you'll listen back to what you think was good in a year from now and say "I can't believe I used to like my recordings". Nobody's trying to make you sound like an idiot.

Thanks for being patient and I really appreciate all the input...this is addicting!

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

It would certainly have been interesting to watch an engineer try and tell Jerry Lee Lewis - "don't hit the piano so hard, and it will sound better."

That didn't and wouldn't happen because JLL actually knew what he was doing. But when some mook walks into the studio with daddy's credit card and more drums in his kit than years of experience actually playing them, you're damn right the experienced engineer is going to "save him from himself".

Of course when you get that lovely combination of nascent musician and rookie engineer...well...you have the HomeRec MP3 clinic .

G.

 

[HangDawg]

I briefly read thru the thread, so I apologize if this has been said, but to minimize the hi-hat, you really need to be aware of the mic's pattern and placement. I get very little bleed from the hats in my snare tracks....

I have to agree. I did so well placing the snare mic last time I recorded drums, I needed a mic on the hats. First time for everything I guess.

 

[littledog]

No one can make a hard determination on your behalf as to which mics YOU will like best for overheads. We can only make suggestions for ones for you to audition. I suggest you continue to research the issue and develop a short list, then arrange with a professional dealer to get ahold of them and do a listening shootout in your own room.

I happen to use the C42's almost exclusively as overheads - both in my own room and when doing remote live recordings. I tend to use some variation of the Recorderman 2-drumstick configuration (although I tend to use a slightly longer distance) or else a coincident-pair configuration - depending on the kit and the style of music. (Sometimes on "live" gigs I just use one pointing straight down at the snare as a mono OH). I have a pair of 414's, but since I like them so much on Toms, I don't tend to experiment with them much on overheads - but they are a classic favorite with many top engineers as OH mics.

The other consideration, though, is what mics will round out your collection the best. After all, these mics are not always going to only be used on drums - assuming you record other instruments as well. If you don't have any small diaphragm condensers yet, they are very useful creatures,and that may influence your decision towards the C42. If you are unhappy with whatever large diaphragm condensers you have, that would argue in favor of the 414. Both of these are very versatile mics that will see constant use on a variety of sources, which is why I picked those two in particular.

On the other hand, while you may find a few things the SolidTube is good at, I would not call it a versatile mic in the same sense as the other two. If you got an incredible deal on one, it might be an interesting way to round out a collection, but there are plenty of mics I would buy first, and buying two of them seems to be a bad allocation of resources.

If for some reason you absolutely can't figure out a way of trying before you buy, the 414's and/or C42's are still good choices for the following reasons:

1) You can always use them somewhere on something, even if you eventually replace them on OH's with something else.

2) They are always going to be people looking to buy them off of you if you don't like them.

 

[littledog]

I have to agree. I did so well placing the snare mic last time I recorded drums, I needed a mic on the hats. First time for everything I guess.

You had too little HH in your overheads? You should write a book on how you did it - it would be a best seller!

 

[guttapercha]

snare mic thread cont'd

Hopefully everyone's not totally sick of this topic, but I'm wondering what different peoples' "ideal" snare sound is from
well-known recordings of different genres. Just include the genres that matter to you.

For instance:

70s prog. rock: Rush Permanent Waves
80s pop: Genesis abacab
70s fusion: any snare that Narada Michael Walden ever played on a record
90s Post-PearlJam Rock: SoundGarden Superunknown


Anyway, if anyone cares to add this to the context of the snare recording problem, I'm all ears and would be curious to hear what the more experienced engineers among us would recommend in trying to approximate a particular snare sound.

Hope everyone is feeling great and having fun,

JD

 

[chessrock]

Interesting way to steer it off-topic, guttapercha.



Alright, then. I'll bite on it. Here's chessrock's short list:

> Abbey Road, Beatles
> Physical Graffiti, Led Zepelen
> Zenyatta Mondatta, Police
> Blood Sugar Sex Magic, RHCP

As for the second part of your quetion, I hate to say it, but the best way to approximate a given snare sound is to get a snare that gets you in the general vicinity of sound that you're striving for ... then tune it the way you like it, and hit it the right way. As this topic has so very well pointed out, you'll also want to be weary of how aggressively you're playing the hi-hat and that sort of thing.

.

 

[NL5]

You had too little HH in your overheads? You should write a book on how you did it - it would be a best seller!

Yep, I almost never mic the HH, and then usually don't use the track if I have it. The HH cuts thru the OH's just fine most of the time - and I have my OH mics 8-10 feet up......

 

[TexRoadkill]

I happen to use the C42's almost exclusively as overheads .

I just picked up a matched pair. They seem to be pretty sweet mics so far.