... Yeh ... they're like a homgenous blur of bash.

Today I was pondering why all high frequency drum bells, except the HHs, are oft recorded from 'overhead' with no close mics.

I don't know why, exactly, and speculate the closed hat has a lower tonal frequency ... requiring the close mic to record its color more purely.  I'd better read Bit's latest book.

For a long time I never really miked hats up close. They do slip in rather well not only into the OHeads but also the snare mic too as it is so close. And if you don't attempt to gate the snare or use downward expanders etc the hats come through rather well.

But for the last few years I have been close miking hats and and I think it has been better for it. You can really filter the OHeads anyway if you need and you can do things to the snare track without fear of the hats being lost or mutilated in some way. You also have a lot of control over the hat sound and even at rather low volumes in a mix they just add that close tight ticking sound that contributes so much to the overall feel and rhythm.

Also if the groove just involves kick snare and hats and toms say then you don't always need the OHeads in the picture either and you can automate them down for an even closer drum sound. Some of these new tight convolution reverbs sound killer on close miked drum grooves.

The last time I did not place a hi hat close mic it bit me in the butt... cause the drummer played TWO songs with brushes.

Exactly, just like I said...

I like the results too.

Nice.

best,
mike

Sounds tight enough to me I think you are being hard on yourself a bit there. 

That's cause I quantised it 50% with audiosnap Without it the playing was WAY too sloppy. Didn't match up with the tight kick and snare at all - which I think both should be a bit loser still to fit in better with the slightly lose hats after my quantisation.

Single mono mic in a bedroom and nobody is going to say they sound rubbish which goes to show you don't need a 'Hit Factory' of a room or boutique mics to get the job done.

Yeah this really shocked me that it sounds as good as it does for a 20 minute job!


Thanks for listening, guys!

Jeff Evans


I have found that sometimes when you are sitting there just doing a high hat part with two hands and even if you are a skilled player, the feel may not be quite the same as the way the high hat part feels as part of a total groove being laid down using all four limbs. Your body is swinging or moving in a different way.

I think you need the metronome clear and also if you put the metrnome on the off beat ie and after 1 and after two etc your high hat part will come out a bit different too. Playing grooves to off beat met tracks is just the best. (the reason is that the on beat is clear and the met is not making any sound making what you do a lot clearer)

Doing Kick and snare grooves without hats can be a bit interesting too feel wise. I still like it a lot when it is all going down together. Splitting up drum parts is not so natural maybe.

The whole thread is about compromise isn't it?

Sure I'd bet we'd all like a rhythm ace to take part and track all our songs, but I thought this was how to get a good shot of realism working within that limited context that many of us face in real terms.

As I said on many 'real' performances the actual drums are masked by drum replacement software anyway and this is a great 'try it at home' method as Matt has just conclusively proved.

I don't buy the 'it feels odd' playing parts in isolation, if you've ever tracked a vocal for the first time boy does that feel odd, but you soon get used to it and over the self-conciousness of it. IOW you'll get better at it the more you do it.

Besides many folk here are using electronic kits so why not record real cymbals with a pair of OH's when you do your midi take?

Sure you'll get the clunks from hitting the drum pads so you get a choice of editing them out, no big deal on a 3 minute song, or even using them like a trash mic and mixing them in with your chosen drum sounds, who knows it may even help the finished transient have more punch, whatever it's another weapon of choice.

I'm all for more trying stuff out and less theorizing.