I use Superior Drummer and like the sound of "some" of the snare bleeding into the Overheads and Room mics. When trying to process my snare it is almost all for naught because the sound doesn't change much, unless I reduce the bleed to the OH's and Room a good degree, which is what I usually do. I just want to get a good smack going with a transient shaper (Trans-x) or compressor. .............................................................................................What do you guys do? I haven't tried using the transient shaper on the OH's and Room yet, just reducing the bleed until there isn't much snare left in them.

I typically will have my snare mic up pretty loud when I mix so it's above the OH anyway. The OH bleed only adds a little extra to it but as it's mixed quieter, it doesn't really become and issue. I'll typically HP my OH and use it primarily for cymbal sound. So for the way I process and the sound I want, it isn't really a big issue for me..

If you just want a good snap, you might get some of the body from the OH, and then compress, gate or transient shape the snare mic (or maybe just do this to the top and use the bottom for more body) and add the amount of snap to your drum mix to taste.

Are you doing this whilst all other tracks are playing? If I cut my snare mics from a complete song, the bleed from OH's alone is never near enough to cut into my mix at all. I need some substantial snare mic in there too.

But isn't that the whole point of overheads and rooms :-) It's not really bleed when the whole point of them is to pick up the whole kit to begin with.

@Matt: I'm using the Nashville kit on the song I'm working on now. I want less of the rattle and a little more smack. I could switch to a different kit but this one fits well overall. I was mildly surprised how much of the snare is coming through the OH's and room mics. I've turned down the bleed controls and also used a transient shaper (PX-64) that has helped in combination. And yes the snare soloed is snappy. There was still a lot of rattle with the other tracks when the kit is played in it's entirety. Thanks for chiming in.

True, bleed wouldn't be the appropriate term.

I guess it depends though on if you want them to act like true overheads (whole kit) or as simply cymbal type mics (so no individual cymbal mics - which I tend to hate - except sometimes maybe hats). Set-up could vary with that decision.

I think of the overheads as a great compliment to the primary snare mic sound. Though some styles of music treat the primary snare as a compliment to the drum sound of the overheads. Any approach can work, you just need to decide on the VISION!

Jimbo21


@Matt: I'm using the Nashville kit on the song I'm working on now. I want less of the rattle and a little more smack. I could switch to a different kit but this one fits well overall. I was mildly surprised how much of the snare is coming through the OH's and room mics. I've turned down the bleed controls and also used a transient shaper (PX-64) that has helped in combination. And yes the snare soloed is snappy. There was still a lot of rattle with the other tracks when the kit is played in it's entirety. Thanks for chiming in.

So you're happy now with the end result after tuning your sampler?

@Dean: Yeah, You got me on that one! I guess bleed might not be the right term I should be using. The room mics especially add a lot to the sound. Just a little too much rattle in them on this song.

Pretty much. I was as much curious to learn of what other people do in an instance like this. There can be and almost always is something I'm overlooking.

I don't use Superior but in Addictive Drums, you can control the amount of bleed within Addictive's mixer. Check out Superior's mixer. You may have the same control.

Yes, it does and that's what I did. I was just surprised how much the OH and Room tracks contributed to the snare sound overall at the default setting. Thanks for commenting Gustabo.