View unanswered posts | View active topics It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 8:16 am



Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded. 
Author Message
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Invidia rough mix

It's just drums to the scratch track, which is just a single mic recording of singing and acoustic strumming to a click. I have no idea what the real arrangement is going to be instrumentation-wise, but there's some dynamics happening here. We'll see. Indie/alt/power pop record I am producing for a friend.

I did kind of a crappy job muting the toms when they weren't being played and missed a few spots where they're not being reinforced by the close mics, but that's easy to fix. This was just a quick rough mix so I could send it to the parties involved so they could hear what we were getting drum-wise.

Reverb is the room.

EDIT: just the ending, naked drums, no backing track: Invidia drums end test

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Tue Nov 08, 2016 11:09 am
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Drier drums

3dB or so of expansion on the OHs, no room mic.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:00 pm
Profile
Winston Wolf
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:32 pm
Posts: 11362
Location: ruining everything.
Yes/No: No
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Cool man! I would have preferred the scratch a bit louder to see how the drums sit against something, but putting both files into reaper and reversing the phase on one more or or less allowed that. It also brings out something interesting with snare edits or something? Are you reinforcing the snare in those spots or did you move something?

That roomverb is quite pleasant.

What was the recording setup all about?

_________________
STOP FIXING ROCK RECORDS.

START YOUR OWN RELIGION TODAY.


Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:11 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Hrmm... I'm not sure what you mean re: the snare thing. He's hitting softer in parts- we were originally going to put t-shirts over the snare and toms for part of the song- but the only editing is my poor job of muting the toms. Nothing got moved, at least intentionally. Maybe it's snare bleed into the tom mics? There's certainly no samples involved. The room mic's far enough away to act almost as a slapback, so that might be it?

Mics were as follows:

Kick in: SM7B, right in the hole, aimed at the beater. A couple t-shirts duct taped together sitting against the front head.
Homebrew subkick
Snare top: Blue Baby Bottle, padded down a whole bunch with an in-line attenuator
Snare bottom: Rode NT5 duct taped to the underside of the stand, phase reversed
Rack toms: Sennheiser 421s, probably about 6 inches back
Floor tom: AKG D112, same sorta placement, padded
OHs: AKG C3000s in cardioid, Glyn Johns placement, 40 inches, measured. Internal 10dB pad engaged.
Hats: SM57
Room: Rode NT5, 'bout 40 feet back (it's a bigass room), centered on the kit
Ass mic: Sennheiser MD21 into Sansamp bass DI, sitting on a shelf behind the kit

Everything ran into my '70s Yamaha console, 'cept the ass mic, which went into one of the Warm preamps. Interface was a MOTU 828 with an old ADAT used as an extra 8 channels of converters. The drums were EQed a bit on the console going in.

Kit was a birch Premier (wood hoops on the kick, too) with Zildjian As and Sabian Fast Hats, and a wood Spaun snare. We tried a Ludwig Acrolite, but that wasn't working at all. The Spaun was closer to the sound of his reference material anyhow.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:24 pm
Profile
Winston Wolf
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:32 pm
Posts: 11362
Location: ruining everything.
Yes/No: No
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Aye, snare bleed in (one of the) tom mics is what it most sounds like, given those options.

What does it sound like if you don't mute the toms at all? Personally, unless i get fuss from the kick or snare, phasewise, i always prefer the whole mic track on toms to be part of the mix, just sounds better to me, like 99% of the time. I have found that, at least for my own setup here, whenever i have been unable to allow the tracks to remain unmuted when no toms are being struck, i have later on decided that i had been doing too much to those tom mics, compression and/or EQ-wise.

Your mileage will certainly vary, as i can already tell you have a much nicer space to record in than i and so much of what i have run into will not functionally transfer over to your stuff. But if possible i always like to leave my mics open.

Sort of in the same way that i have been steadily moving away from reverb and EQ, i have definitely been moving away from volume automation in any form, particularly gates, which i have kind of started to really dislike in all of their forms.

That, is a whole (unrelated) tangent though...

I like what you have going on here so far. :huzzah:

_________________
STOP FIXING ROCK RECORDS.

START YOUR OWN RELIGION TODAY.


Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:38 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Here's the drums wide open, all mics going: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5zem59ebyywh1an/drums_wideopen.mp3?dl=0

I don't always mute the toms, but I generally do as I usually have the tom mics very, very high- often higher than anything else in the mix, given the usual use of toms for fills. I also tend to brutalize close mics on toms, often with audible distortion if you soloed the tracks. Hence the muting. I am trying to get a little more minimal in re: micing- or, at least, what actually gets used in the mix- than I have been in the past, so it's often just kick/snare/OHs, room as needed, unless something else is going on, as far as my drum tracks are concerned.

Re: the space, it's basically a fluke- there's a bigass dance studio a floor above my band room, and since I've been in that building for ages, the building manager lets me and whomever I'm working with rent it out for ten bucks an hour, not including setup, breakdown, and lunch- just recording time. The one caveat, of course, being I have to lug my whole studio up there. Which, given a couple large racks and a bigass '70s console, does get a little awkward. The sonics are worth it, though.

And re: the above-mentioned gearlugging, having hardware that at least wouldn't be laughed at in a professional context has made me very skeptical re: plugin compression and EQ. There's only a couple EQs I like, and I prefer me rack gear for all compression tasks. Now, I've gone back to using algorithmic 'verb on occasion, but that's only 'cause I have a neat old Yamaha unit and the Lexicon 'verb plugin suite. Even then, with the last couple drum sessions, I've found I don't need it at all. Similarly I've been using room mics on guitars and finding that preferable as well.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:16 am
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
For the terminally bored, here's the tom mics soloed.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:31 am
Profile
Winston Wolf
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:32 pm
Posts: 11362
Location: ruining everything.
Yes/No: No
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Hmm, yeah, see i like the wide open one. I like particularly what it adds to the snare's snap and edge. Also what i hear as just more of a general sort of natural open-ness and air.

+ That is a nice sounding space.

_________________
STOP FIXING ROCK RECORDS.

START YOUR OWN RELIGION TODAY.


Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:42 am
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
chris_d wrote:
Hmm, yeah, see i like the wide open one. I like particularly what it adds to the snare's snap and edge. Also what i hear as just more of a general sort of open-ness and air.

+ That is a nice sounding space.


Well, I suppose I'll see how things work in the mix with the rest of the instrumentation. Again, I have little to no clue what's actually going to be going on as far as that's concerned, outside of what I've been instructed to add as I am bassing and pianering and Hammonding on this. If it's anything, the reference album for drum sounds was the Old 97s' Too Far to Care.

And thank you re: the space and its soundingness. 'S why I keep using it. That and being much cheaper than any "real" studio that could offer a room like that. :red: BYOG and Engineer It Yerself? Not a problem. :D

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:50 am
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Cam sorta reminded me: I was actually planning on bringing an onion to the drum sessions and affixing it to my belt for photographs, but forgot. :red:

As I am still a dumbphone user, I have no decent shots of the setup at the moment, but will poast them once they are in my possession.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:54 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
The ass mic.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 09, 2016 2:09 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
This song is such an earworm: Blue Collar Hell

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:54 am
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Mon Nov 14, 2016 3:52 pm
Profile
Walrus meat
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:22 pm
Posts: 7769
Location: Cambrodia.
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Fuckin' kickass room. :huzzah:

_________________
President of the Radium Water Gentlemen's League Of Luxury


Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:53 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
It really is. Since I don't believe I've poasted the room on its own: Naked Room Mic.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:23 am
Profile
Walrus meat
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:22 pm
Posts: 7769
Location: Cambrodia.
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Jesus Christ, sounds massive.

_________________
President of the Radium Water Gentlemen's League Of Luxury


Thu Nov 17, 2016 6:21 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Drowned, with sloppy demo bass!

Pardon my shitty playing- I was kinda writing the part at the time. :red:

Tom mics are wide open, incidentally. Drums are probably a keeper take; everything else is just a scratch track. So '90s it hurts. :lol:

I can totally hear a guitar solo in the bridge.

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Sat Nov 19, 2016 10:09 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Now with more sloppy demobass:

Blue Collar Hell
Who Killed Basil Rathbone?

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 23, 2016 10:03 pm
Profile
Winston Wolf
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:32 pm
Posts: 11362
Location: ruining everything.
Yes/No: No
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Just curious, what is the general plan for these tunes as far as instrumentation? Will it remain essentially 3-piece-band-ish as the scratches are now? Or are there more arrangement/elements involved?

_________________
STOP FIXING ROCK RECORDS.

START YOUR OWN RELIGION TODAY.


Wed Nov 23, 2016 10:41 pm
Profile
Simethicone
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:00 pm
Posts: 11625
Location: McMurdo Research Station
Yes/No: Yes
Less/More: More
Post Re: This might be the best drum sound I've ever recorded.
Well, we were planning on fleshing out the arrangements with electrics and such, and there's another guitarist onboard, which would bring the actual number of people playing on every track to at least three. I'm tasked to throw down some keys as necessary- piano and Hammond sort of stuff, where appropriate- and there's two ladyvocalists who will be backing-vocalating on a few bits. Oh, and a fiddle on one of the tracks, though I don't recall which.

So, I suppose it's supposed to sound more-or-less like a "reasonably-but-organically produced real band" rock record, rather than a singer/songwriter drummer, the producer, and some sessionfolks. The plan is to create the illusion of a real band, when it's just some guys I went to high school with and a few people who are paid to be there for a couple hours. :lol:

_________________
Member Of The Radium Water Gentleman's League Of Luxury.


Wed Nov 23, 2016 11:10 pm
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic   [ 23 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group.
Designed by STSoftware.