random question to people who record and keep snare tracks

[joeymusicguy]

everytime i've ever recorded a snare with a mic, there's like 100's of frequencies that are annoying and i feel like i have to remove

one time i sat down and decided to just notch out every frequency i didnt like hearing and it actually started to sound good

but its hard for me to believe this is what people do. i mean i was literally sucking at least 6 or 7 different frequencies completely out of the eq.

so is that how it goes or what? whats your experience?

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

everytime i've ever recorded a snare with a mic, there's like 100's of frequencies that are annoying and i feel like i have to remove

one time i sat down and decided to just notch out every frequency i didnt like hearing and it actually started to sound good

but its hard for me to believe this is what people do. i mean i was literally sucking at least 6 or 7 different frequencies completely out of the eq.

so is that how it goes or what? whats your experience?

I'm no Andy Sneap, but I don't do that. I only dig out some annoying frequencies and boost the ones that need it. Here's a clip from a recent session, the snare has about 15% of some sample blended in IIRC:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1809705/outro_drums.mp3

 

[Machinated]

as in frequencies that are ringing that you don't want?

 

[shred101]

at least 6 or 7 different frequencies completely out of the eq

Are you sure its not a room flutter / phase problem?

 

[nwright]

I almost always notch out frequencies I don't like, namely the annoying ringing you hear on a lot of snares (especially metal snares). I usually notch out around 800hz and around 400 hz.

 

[xFkx]

I do that too.. but when I think about the imperfections of my monitors and my room when it comes to frequency resonance, then I wonder if it's the way to go

 

[Skinny Viking]

I've never done that ... for me it usually just a low cut at like 60-70, 24db slope ... maybe a small boost of like 1.5 - 2db at around 125-150 to fatten it up a little and then if I have a big freq buildup maybe a 4 - 6 db notch somewhere between 400 - 700 depending on the snare, adjusting the Q as needed. Sometimes its a wide notch, sometimes not. I guess if there was something really really annoying going on higher I would notch that as well but I can't imagine more than that. I also rarely solo out the snare track when applying EQ. I try to just do my typical setup 1st and see how it sounds while the rest of the kit is playing back

I also never run more than 2 snare tracks but that seems to be just me cause from what I read around here, seems like everyone is using like 3 or more snare tracks

 

[joeymusicguy]

example of what it took to make the real snare track fit in the mix and sound good on the confide record i did:

each of the following is a -18 db reduction with a Q of 100

frequencies:
549
430
663
430 (again, yes)
788
420

i felt really stupid doing it, but at the end of the day its what sounds good and so thats what i went with. it sounds really bad without these subtractions

 

[Mikaël-ange]

I think you have problem with the source...

Just my 2cents

 

[joeymusicguy]

here's clips

http://www.joeysturgis.com/raw_snare_no_eq.wav

http://www.joeysturgis.com/raw_snare_eq.wav

 

[joeymusicguy]

I think you have problem with the source...

Just my 2cents

i dunno
i have good mic's and good pres, and its a snare mic not a room mic

how can 100's of different snares all be this bad?

 

[shred101]

what does 100 give you as a Q in octaves? If it spreads to an octave and a half either side then that would be my equivalent of Q10.00. Its unusual. Are your sure you dont just need a wider Q to calm down the low mids and some boxyness?

 

[drew_drummer]

Do you have to do this with EVERY snare recording, or just the odd one or two every now and then?? It could be the combination of the snare+room... even though you're close micing the snare, the room can still interact if you've got reflections coming back into the mic.

EQ'd version does sound miles better.

 

[Trevoire520]

It's all in the tuning man. If you get it right then you should have little to no ring, or you should have the ring sounding in tune so it won't be horrible sounding.

One or two moon gels can work a treat too, put them close to the edge of the drum so it doesn't end up sounding too dead.

Mic placement obviously comes into it too. I find having the mic at a pretty shallow angle (almost parallel to the top head, about an inch or two above the rim) helps to emphasise crack and reduce ring.

 

[Trevoire520]

Ah we have sound clips now (I started writing my post before they were up)

Yeah, you definitely need to work on the tuning man. Get a good drum tech into the studio for a day to teach you.

 

[joeymusicguy]

Ah we have sound clips now (I started writing my post before they were up)

Yeah, you definitely need to work on the tuning man. Get a good drum tech into the studio for a day to teach you.

i'd be into it
but the last time i did that, the drum tech left to go home and we recorded a song

the whole kit was out of tune after the 2nd or 3rd punch in lol

with my schedule, i barely have time to even edit drums, let alone be tuning them all the time

FUCK

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

i'd be into it
but the last time i did that, the drum tech left to go home and we recorded a song

the whole kit was out of tune after the 2nd or 3rd punch in lol

with my schedule, i barely have time to even edit drums, let alone be tuning them all the time

FUCK

You do pay great attention to guitar tuning, right? It's the same deal with the drums. I can't say I can tune drums for shit, but it's definitely something I have to learn whenever I get the chance. You're probably aware of the Tension Watch already, but have you considered that for saving time?

 

[waltz mastering]

Finding the right snare, head, and tuning combination seems to save a lot of time and frustration down the road.

Being able to pull up the track flat, it should have that thwack, if not it like going to the dentist, pulling teeth etc.

Having a drummer who knows how to hit a consistant solid rim shot is a plus too.

 

[Trevoire520]

i'd be into it
but the last time i did that, the drum tech left to go home and we recorded a song

the whole kit was out of tune after the 2nd or 3rd punch in lol

with my schedule, i barely have time to even edit drums, let alone be tuning them all the time

FUCK

Thats pretty brutal. Sometimes I find that drum heads (particularly remo) need a little touch of playing in to settle down for recording. Just letting the drummer rip on the kit for 10 minutes or so and then re-tuning can really help.

Obviously you have a pretty mental schedule man, as others have said before it might be time to up your rates to filter out some of the lower budget bands and give you a bit more breathing space.

 

[Trevoire520]

What heads are you using btw? I find the genera dry is really good at eliminating ring without too much effort Ambassadors and Controlled sound are also very good though need a bit more work than the genera i my experience. Crank em up tight as fuck, almost like a marching snare head, this should get you a nice cracky attack and you can get your lows/resonance from the bottom head.