Recording drums w/ one mic -- snare issues

[carterisgod41]

hey there,

I've placed my mic in many different positions, but centered inbetween the toms and the snare seems to work best. however, i'm getting clipping during the snare hits, yet the snare hits seem to be getting washed out by all the low end stuff when i'm just listening to it. is there a way i can bring the snare out more while somehow reducing the clipping? Thanks!

[bashville]

Is the mic set to omni? I had a great experience recently with one mic just above the upper lip of the kick, in the position you describe. Seems like it's all about subtle distance adjustment and whether you can afford to bring the top of the mic just above the snare level without it getting in the drummer's way.

[ondruspat]

Maybe try catching the drummer's perspective and float the mic a little above and behind the drummer's head.

[carterisgod41]

Hey, I really appreciate all the help!!! :) I'll keep it in mind for next time. Got any advice for what I can do in the mixing process, lol. I'm not re-recording these drum parts. Thanks again!

[jbasil]

As bashville is saying, a wide pattern is probably going to give you what you want. Some mics are better suited for single micing a kit. Some are so directional (cardioid, hyper cardioid) that even though they may be great mics they won't give you what you want for this no matter where you put them. What mic is it? Maybe there's another being used for something else that would be a better choice.

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by carterisgod41

Hey, I really appreciate all the help!!! :) I'll keep it in mind for next time. Got any advice for what I can do in the mixing process, lol. I'm not re-recording these drum parts. Thanks again!

If you're looking to isolate, separate, the snare to be able to control it in the mix, there are ways to do it.

You could of course duplicate the track and manually cut out all hits except the snare, EQ it and blend it with the original. It takes some work, but is sometimes the way to do it.

Another way is gating and sidechaining which accomplishes the same but with plugins and routing. You could: make one duplicate of the track and put a gate on it. Make another duplicate to act as the "controller" or sidechain, that you link to the first duplicates gate and tells it when to open. On this last track you can then use a bandpass filter to find a frequency that is unique to the snare. Easy peas.


(There might also be plugins that can make it easier but I can't think of any.)

[Park Seward]

In this picture, you can see an early method of recording Ringo's drums. The mic in front of him is unidirectional and you can see the kick mic close to the head. That mic is figure 8.

http://thebeatles.com/#/images/09_1964_3

And this later shot showing the towels over the drums.

http://thebeatles.com/#/images/11_02_1968_1/

And early with only two mics. The top mic is a ribbon.

http://thebeatles.com/#/images/01_07_1963_3/

[carterisgod41]

I'm a little confused, Ben Jenssen. It sounds like a great plan, but I am a beginner, and am unfamiliar with gates and sidechaining. I understand what a gate does. I just don't get what creating all those duplicate tracks will do to help. Thanks!

(As you can see, I also didn't figure out how to quote somebody before i posted either.)

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by carterisgod41

I'm a little confused, Ben Jenssen. It sounds like a great plan, but I am a beginner, and am unfamiliar with gates and sidechaining. I understand what a gate does. I just don't get what creating all those duplicate tracks will do to help.)

OK. I also wrote: "You could of course duplicate the track and manually cut out all hits except the snare, EQ it and blend it with the original. It takes some work, but is sometimes the way to do it."

That's an easy prosess to understand: A duplicate track where all other drum sounds are cut from the audio region in edit window, mixed in with the untouched track. Try it with just a little part first. That will let you manipulate the snare (at least to some degree) without affecting the rest of the set.
IHTH

[GregV]

I realize that this would be going completely against the aesthetic of one-mic recording... but you could also use software like BFD (or any sample playback) to "drop in" an extra snare sample on top of your recorded track.
I've had some good results getting "bigger" drum sounds while keeping the live feel (and live cymbals) with this technique.