Plastic / Rubber Cymbals

Plastic / Rubber Cymbals

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My drummer came up with an idea to try on our next session. We want to use a technique used with bands like Queens Of The Stone Age and Midnight Oil.

Recording with rubber/plastic cymbals during initial tracking of the drums, and then over dubbing cymbals. I didn't make this up; so don't get mad at ME. I just want to try it.

There are some plastic ones I found at Musicians Friend, and then there are also some rubber covers you can put on real cymbals. The plastic ones didn't seem to be reviewed very well.

I was wondering if anyone has used either or has sources for better, quieter ones?

Thanks!

Yeah, my concern is the overheads and rooms too.  I just don't see how those wouldn't get picked up.  I CAN see how it would work with a RUBBER type of surface, and that is another option that Musicians's Friend sells. I may try and get some sort of material like that first and run experiments.  I do close mic all of the drums, but also do run overheads and room mics.
 
OF course, with this technique, I would be using a parallel set of overheads in the recording, and I'm thinking that crashes and high hats would be much louder than any sticks hits picked up by the ones in the first recording.  But you never know until you try right?  

I really don't want to use samples. I love technology, but I am really going old school right now with my recording.  I have fantastic mics, and I just wanted to try an experimental technique, rather than go the easy route of using samples.  I feel like I'll never get better as a recordist if I don't try to obtain the best recordings I can at all times - and sampling isn't recording.
 
I'm not passing judgement on those that do here, please understand.  Again, I love technology, and I"m quite sure there are going to be occasions when I break out Drumagog or something to use sampled sounds on my drum recordings, but I don't want to rely on it.

Right on.
 
Well, my drummer came up with the idea, and if it was anyone else, I would have second thoughts.  But this kid is a RAIN MAN of drums; he came in with another band and I have never seen anyone play on a click so tight.  Ever.  And I own a recording studio.  So if he just starts the track playing on a click, he will pretty much be lined up perfectly anyway, and then he can overdub the cymbals.  He seems to be confident about it, so who am I to argue! :)  If I know him, he'll rehearse it until he's comfortable before we record.

This is most likely only something I'll do with him to start (since our time is our own), and then if the results come out really well, I can sell it to other bands.  Of course, they will have to pay for the extra time to do it. 

I hear you.  If somebody put a gun to my head and told me to play 4 on the floor, I would ask for a last meal.

spindlebox
Plastic / Rubber Cymbals

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My drummer came up with an idea to try on our next session. We want to use a technique used with bands like Queens Of The Stone Age and Midnight Oil.

Recording with rubber/plastic cymbals during initial tracking of the drums, and then over dubbing cymbals. I didn't make this up; so don't get mad at ME. I just want to try it.

There are some plastic ones I found at Musicians Friend, and then there are also some rubber covers you can put on real cymbals. The plastic ones didn't seem to be reviewed very well.

I was wondering if anyone has used either or has sources for better, quieter ones?

Thanks!

This sounds like way more work to me and it was when we did it in the 80's. I hated this procedure, but it was even worse for us because we didn't use ANY cymbals. The older I get, the more I'm finding perfection = stagnant in certain scenarios.
 
I'm going to start recording my next album in March most likely. We just finished the pre-production for 19 songs. One thing I notice is....some of the pre-pro is us in the studio playing like we would live. Other times, when we had the time, we did it like we'd do an album...tracking drums, then rough instruments so the drums could be tracked etc. What I have noticed.....some of those all in one sessions blew away the more pinpoint accuracy sessions.
 
We picked up a spontaneous edge that I can't explain. The more we try to write parts and hone in on them, the more uniformed we sounded which in turn takes away the good dirt you get under your nails...if you know what I mean.
 
One of the things I love about cymbals in real time is how the mics you use on them affect the rest of the kit. You really get a nice bleed if you know what you're doing there. If you do decide to go after this, make sure you run over-heads where your plastic/rubber cymbals would be this way you catch the drums in the overheads.
 
The way technology is now, I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone would want to do this now unless some sort of incredible special effect were to be happening. The last thing I'd want to do is possibly punch in cymbals if you made a mistake due to how they sustain and how you will never hit them the exact same way. Therefore, a punch can be rather "swirly" sounding depending on how/where you may need to punch in. I personally think it's more trouble than it's worth, but hey....everything is worth a try. :)
 
-Danny