Snare management in overheads

[Damien TremblayParticipant]

Hi,

I have a small home studio with a drum kit and quite low ceiling (approx 7.5 feet) . When recording drums I get quite a lot of snare in my OH up to the point that I practically don't need the snare mike. It has always been a struggle for me to get the snare at the right level without sacrificing the cymbals by turning down the OH . I'm sure some of you had to manage this issue

[JJ WrightParticipant]

You could try a compressor on the overheads sidechained to the snare track, so whenever the snare hits it briefly ducks the overhead track.

[Magnus EmilssonParticipant]

Hey!

A few ideas:

• You can experiment with moving the overheads a bit more in front of the drum set which would increase the relative distance to the snare compared to the cymbals, just make sure to keep the snare at the same distance from each mic if you want to keep the snare phase coherent.
• Instead of doing spaced pair for the overheads (most common) you can do an x/y above and slightly in front of the kick with cardiod mics that you rotate so they reject the snare more than the rest, this will also increase the relative distance to the snare from the hi-hat/crash/ride.
• A drumbrella can work wonders, or in other words, a thick duvet or some acoustic panels above the drums to reduce top end reflections. This will damp all of it a bit but make it easier to manage in the mix since it will likely be more "focused"...
• Record hihats/cymbals as overdubs. It's hard to do, takes its drummer but it opens up for getting huge drum sounds since you can really squash the overhead with the toms/snare/kick in. Eric Valentine is known for doing this on a lot of the records he has produced.

/Magnus

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Magnus Emilsson.

[Damien TremblayParticipant]

thanks will give it a try

[ALBERT P BATCHELOR JRParticipant]

BEST THING I'VE FOUND TO EASILY CONTROL THE SNARE IN THE OVERHEAD BUS, IS TO PUT A WAVES L2 LIMITER ON THERE.  IT WILL PUSH THE SNARE DOWN WITHOUT AFFECTING THE CYMBALS.  IT CAN BRING THE SNARE DOWN QUITE A BIT WITHOUT EFFECTING CYMBALS.  IF YOU HAVE TO USE TO MUCH L2 TO CONTROL THE SNARE IT WILL START TO AFFECT THE CYMBALS..  IT ALSO MEANS THE SNARE IS WAY TO LOUD IN THE OVERHEADS AND SHOULD BE RECORDED AGAIN WITH A BETTER BALANCE.  HOPE THIS HELPS

[Damien TremblayParticipant]

thanks Albert will give it a try.  I tried a few things Since I posted this question and moving the mikes away from the snare to point more at the edge of the cymbals in front of the kit made a difference .

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