Snare Miking

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bogushippie

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Anybody have any tips for getting a good snare sound with 1 mic on the top?
I use an audix F series mic on the snare, and as you know, it never really sounds like what you hear out in front of the kit. I've tried a mic under the snare also. That didn't help too much. It seems like I have to rely on alot of EQ to make it sound descent.
 
bogushippie said:
Anybody have any tips for getting a good snare sound with 1 mic on the top?
I use an audix F series mic on the snare, and as you know, it never really sounds like what you hear out in front of the kit. I've tried a mic under the snare also. That didn't help too much. It seems like I have to rely on alot of EQ to make it sound descent.
Click to expand...

The snare is probably improperly tuned and doesn't sound as good as you think. New heads and a proper tuning/damping should get it sounding good in record mode. A single SM57 pointed down at an angle toward the middle of the top snare head should get all the sound there is. Block one ear and use the other ear as a mic and see if the drum still sounds as good as you think.
 
I'm having trouble getting the sound I like on the snare. I like a crisp crack-y kind of sound like on the old Stones records. I will try more tuning. I am using an Audix Fusion mic on it now, but I have been thinking of putting a 57 on it to see if it improves. Thanx.
 
There are different approches to positioning the mic. It all depends on what sound you are getting verses what sound you are after.

Mics don't hear things the way our ears do and experimenting is always in order.
If the sound you are getting is a thick boxy punch like you are hitting a box, but no snap try backing the mic up from the snare and give it some space.
Sometimes I will point a 57 almost parallel to the drum head as opposed to pointing at a heavy angle.
This gives it a crisper sound with stick sound, but not the thunky punch sound.

Sometimes the right sound is only attainable using a condensor.
 
Stones recording: Great snare, great player, great room, great engineer, great mic, great pre, great compressor.

You: Unknown snare, unknown room,unknown preamplifier and post processing, SM-57.
 
I'm using a Tama wood snare. Room is about 10.5x17.5. Running a 57 or Audix Fusion mic on the snare into a Soundcraft Ghost. Inserting a DBX 266 comp inline.
I have tried pointing the mic straight down at the edge of the rim, and I tend to like the sound better, but the drummer comes in and angles it to the center of the head. It does get too boxy sounding. Also, I am trying to get it through the bass players thick skull that the snare mic sounds different than what we hear in the room, but I might as well talk to the wall, brcause he just comes back with "it's poorly recorded".
I will have to use some reverse psychology on him.
 
The overheads always add something to the tone of the snare so be careful with listening to just the snare track solo'd.

Which also brings up the fact that what you hear solo'd and think sounds rubbish might actually sound good in the mix. If you listen closely to the snare on many professional records it sounds completely different to how a snare would do stood next to it and you'd probably cringe if you heard it solo'd, but in the mix it sounds great.

Just a little .02 to add.
 
mattr said:
The overheads always add something to the tone of the snare
Click to expand...

While you're correct, I'd almost word that backwards: "The snare will add something to the tone of your overheads".

What I mean is, the major part of your snare sound SHOULD come from the overheads. The overheads are the most important part of a kit's sound. The snare should sound great in the overheads and have ALMOST enough volume to not need the snare mic at all.
 
Yes, overheads are probably 80% of the kit sound. I know about and use both of the above suggestions. I have to say that my overhead sound is almost there in terms of the last quote about almost enough volume to not need the snare mic. It still needs some work with the mic positioning. After I get 5 posts, I will give you the myspace url to check out and give me your opinions. Any feedback is appreciated, as you guys will listen on different speakers and have different ears. The info is greatly appreciated, since I can compare my techniques to others' and learn and hopefully share also.
Also thanx for the tip on the boxy sounding snare. I always pointed the mic straight down, half off the drum and half on, and I got pretty good results. Our current drummer comes in and angles it towards the center of the head, so I have to EQ the boxy sound out, which I think may be the problem with the thin sound on smaller speakers.
www.myspace.com/bogushippie Here's the link to my songs. Any feedback is appreciated-good, bad or otherwise.
 
I listened to your myspace.
I am not sure what you had to do to get the sound to that point.

One thing I noticed is the snare is pretty low pitched, which may be exactly what you want, but does make it harder to punch through if that is what you are after.
Higher pitched drums punch through a dense mix better, but it has to be the sound you are after, otherwise it is a moot point.

I don't point mic mic straight down (Although I have at times). I point it across the head on the same plane as the head. Pointing it straight down choked the sound for me, pointing it across the head looking toward the floor tom opened up the sound of my snare.

Another culprit for killing the snap could be the compressor.
Try tracking without it and see if it works better. Pointing the mic across the head will allow the tonality of the stick hit and head ring without as much of the direct decibel jump like the way the diaphram responds to the direct energy pointed straight at it. It may be enough of a dynamic control in itself to eliminate the compressor.

I also have to say, I bought 3 of those 266xls and hated them, literally giving them away.
I in no way mean to say they are total crap, but I found they killed the sound I was looking for no matter how light or heavy I used them.
 
Thanx. I will try your technique of pointing it straight across the head and see if I like the sound. I can try tuning the pitch up and see if it sounds better.
I will have to try recording without the compressors and see if it helps.
This subject is so subjective that it could go on forever, but any different approaches can help.
 
The sound of the snare when you are standing in front of the kit is what you should be getting in your overheads. The close mic is what you use to fill that in.
 
Did you checked that your snare is in phase with your overheads?
 
Yes, I checked phase. No problems. It's not a real expensive snare either. I'm going to go back to the SM57 and see how that sounds.
 
I would also reccomend revisiting the bottom + top micing technique. The key here is to swap the phase on the bottom mic, as the heads will be inherently out of phase with each other. If you do that, you will find you get a very full sound.
 
If I've reiterated on a previous response, I apologize....


First things first, what kind of mic are you using?
 
if the kit is ok, you can get a nice sound using 4 mics. I never mic the snare top, only the bottom which i add to the overhead sound which by itself should sound nice already. The bottom snare mic just makes it a little more crisp, but if you solo it, it sounds horrible!
 
I've never liked the sound of a single 57 on the snare. To me it always sounds muffled and pingy. I usually put another dynamic or condensor underneath (with the polarity reversed) to get a bit more snap. But the most important thing apart from the tuning is the room. Most of the smack will come from the room sound on the OH's and/or room mic. The close mic is more for midrange body and definition.
 
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