Need help with acoustic drum recording

When listening to the snare (top) track - quite frankly it sounds as if the snare isn't engaged . You can damp the over ring a bit with small pads on the head. I think there is something amiss with either the mic itself or the placement is way off ( in my opinion ) . Maybe it was placed to close to the head? I like to pull the top snare mic back 4 - 5 inches if possible. You should get some sense of a balanced frequency response. Almost sounds as if it was miked on the null side of a cardioid.

I would probably dampen the snare as already stated by Rbh.  Moongel from the music store works well or sometimes just a small piece of duct tape is enough.   Usually placed on the top head near the rim. The closer it is placed to the center of the head, the more ring it will remove. Also the head is tuned a bit to the loose side but that may work for some situations.  One critical thing not to overlook is to not judge the snare sound by the top snare mic. only.   I usually get more of the actual high end of the snare sound through the overheads.  If you use a bottom snare mic. I would just ad a small amount while listening to the final mix.  Also : CHECK FOR PHASING ISSUES.

You might want to get some "moon gel" (Google it) to cut down on your snare or other drum ringing. I thought the overall drum mix sounded decent. For me, it's easier judging the sound of drums when I hear it with the other instruments that are in the mix.

HighestOlive: I'll give you my take for what it's worth. Personally, it sounds like a good drum kit to me. I can sit here and tell you 100 things to do differently but that would make the kit materialize into something *I* would like.

What you have here in my opinion, is a good classic rock drum sound circa 60's and 70's. A sort of Ringo from The Beatles sounding kit to where whoever was playing them, didn't really hit them with any conviction. This means this particular kit wouldn't be too great for anything hard rock. LOL! But for light rock, country etc, I see no blatant errors in this sound other than I would like to hear a little more tom panning and a little less cymbal separation. Meaning, your toms don't seem to pan much (or at all) and your cymbals are everywhere due to your room mics or over-heads.

Now the other thing I'd like to address. It is near impossible to tell you "you need to do this that this this and that" with a naked drum kit. It is best to always listen to it while being mixed in with a song. We can come up with the greatest sounding instruments known to man by themselves....that doesn't mean they will work in a mix of other instruments.

In closing, I would say that you have the makings of a good sounding drum kit here. I wouldn't change a thing other than working on the panning and then see how it sounds on a song with a little compression and processing etc. Nicely done....good luck to you.

-Danny

Danny Danzi


<snip> to where whoever was playing them, didn't really hit them with any conviction. This means this particular kit wouldn't be too great for anything hard rock.

-Danny

That was the first and biggest thing that struck me. I've seen people pet dogs harder than he/she was playing that kit. Therefore it makes it hard to give any real suggestions. Although it's a worn out cliche, it's even more fitting regarding drums/drummers, 50 % of the  tone is in the hands and feet of the person sitting on the throne..


I record lots of drummers and can only tell you of the joy that comes from recording those who really know how to strike the kit, bringing the tone/life out of the drums.


For the others I use Drum Tracker...


*On Edit - Did you compress/limit the latest sample you posted?

I'm in agreement with Danny.  You don't have to have a "perfect" sounding kit for it to sound good in a song.  I didn't think there was anything wrong with the snare ring.  In the right song a ringing snare can sound pretty cool.  Take for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARiiO_41Id8

I think it's more important that through experimentation, you learn what it takes to get various sounds.  Then depending on what the song needs, you'll know how to get it.

Echoing others saying you need to punish those drums a little more :D

You won't get the tone and character out of a drum unless you hit it hard enough to get the shells to resonate, otherwise you are just hearing the skin ring.

Going on 30 years drumming with students often a little leery of laying into the things, that's what I hear, the timid sound has nothing to do with compression, and it's not just me being a hard rock/metal drummer, drums really need to be hit with a certain force to get them to open up no matter what style.

Try another recording, this time hit them hard and you'll hear the sound open up and get the character of the kit out.

Also, you can get rid off a lot of snare seiding resonance by experimenting with tuning your toms if you have problems with sympathetic resonance, much better than killing the snare with muffling. Get a tune-bot and experiment with tuning.