Uneven Snare Performance

[Badchi]

Can anyone suggest some compressor settings to even out an inconsistent snare track? In the past, I've always used automation but I'm looking for a quicker way to do this.

 

[AlexW]

What system are you using? Assuming you have a software plugin, the best advice is just to play around with parameters (threshold, attack, release, gain reduction, makeup gain) until you get a sound you like. Typical settings may not work with the recorded track you've got. If you have a plug-in compressor, you can start with a preset to get you going and then just tweak the settings and listen.

 

[AvoidTheClap]

i'm having the same problem. except, i got the snare compressed ok. it's just that the snare is so loud & got picked up really really well by the overheads. & i'm not going to compress my overhead mic's. so you can still tell the volume for the snare is uneven, & sounds like it needs compression.

i'm not really sure what to do.

 

[DGWBW]

Uneven Snare

Something that really helped me with that problem was normalizing the drum track. I don't if that would help in your situation or not.

 

[4-Man Takedown]

You could possibly try limiting the overhead tracks so that it only acts when the snare is at it's loudest. Since the snare is probably the loudest thing in the overheads it would only effect that. I'm not sure if it will work or not, but may be at least worth a shot.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Instead of compressing the individual tracks, you could try making a submix of your drum tracks, compress the hell out of that, then blend with the original tracks

 

[HangDawg]

Something that really helped me with that problem was normalizing the drum track. I don't if that would help in your situation or not.

You just think it helped. You apparently have no idea what normalising does. It would not help smooth out the dynamics of a snare track.

 

[chessrock]

You just think it helped. You apparently have no idea what normalising does. It would not help smooth out the dynamics of a snare track.

Harsh.

 

[Farview]

EQ the snare out of the overheads. Find the dominant frequency(s) and with a narrow Q dial it down drasticly.

 

[DGWBW]

My Bad

You just think it helped. You apparently have no idea what normalising does. It would not help smooth out the dynamics of a snare track.

Sorry, not trying to give bad advice. I read somewhere that normalizing can help with an uneven performance, so I tried it and it did "Seem" to help. So tell me, what does normalizing do? I am a newbie and I'm here to learn whatever I can.

 

[Farview]

Sorry, not trying to give bad advice. I read somewhere that normalizing can help with an uneven performance, so I tried it and it did "Seem" to help. So tell me, what does normalizing do? I am a newbie and I'm here to learn whatever I can.

Normalization finds the loudest peak in a file. It figures the difference between the loudest peak and 0dbfs and turns up the volume of the entire file by that amount. The dynamics of the file are the same, just louder. You can get the same effect by turning up the fader by the same amount.

 

[masteringhouse]

Farview's definition of normalizing is what I consider to be the correct one. However some types of software use the term normalization but what they are actually doing is a form of compression and/or limiting. The Finalizer and Sound Forge come to mind.

Normalization (e.g. compression/limiting) from these versions of software/hardware can help if this is what your software is actually doing.

For compressing snare start by trying a ratio of approx 4:1, approx 3 db of reduction, fairly quick attack that doesn't turn the transients to mush, and fast release time.

If the drummer is really spastic, up the ratio or trigger a sample.