Acoustic Pop/Rock Drums

[cloy26]

I am recording a friends pop/rock band and really am trying to use all acoustic drum sounds and no replacement, maybe except blending on the snare. I need some tips on the current sound. All that was used was some eq on everything. I am happy the way the bass drum came out, but the snare is just a little... weak. I am currently attempting to phase out my amp sims and my 100% triggering and sample replacement as I think it's my biggest crutch, and probably won't move forward until I start doing it the real way. :Smug: Anyways, here yah go: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2376100/Hope For Heroes - Song One Drum Take.mp3

Sorry there are no guitars for reference, but we had a TERRIBLE scratch laid down, and I won't ruin this drum mix with it. lol

Comments are always appreciated.

All tracked in my square ass room.

Kick: Beta 52a
Snare Top: SM57
Rack and Floor Toms: SM57s
Overheads: MXL 990 and 991 (I know, not matched )

 

[pipaguapique]

i heard some weird editing...specially in the OH's at the end of the clip...

snare is weak...you said you already eq everything right?? a boost around 200K - 250K will give it more balls

yeah the kick sounds good...but you will have to hear bass, guitars, and all to see how it fits in the mix

 

[cloy26]

Yah, the editing needs to be fixed. I did half of it with 10 ms fades, and then remembered I needed to set up my reaper preferences again to 5. And thanks for the tips, man.

 

[dcb]

everything sounds very dull and overly middy. look for resonances in all your signals. notch out every mid frequency that annoys your ears. youll get way cleaner, more focused drumsound.
start with a locut on the ohs @ about 300 - 400 hz and listen to how the mud of the room dissapears. next try to emphasize some of the highs.
next up is kick. attenuate 100-300 Hz area, boost 60hz, boost 10 K. snare -> again notch out most annoying mid frequencies.

also : check phase coherency. turn up ohs, then turn up kick. flip phase reverse on and off. see if what it does to the lowend.
if the lowend is bigger with phase shift on, leave it like this. next is snare. first top, the bottom mic.

if you like, post the individual tracks, i can try to help you mix that stuff, maybe give you more ideas on mixing.

but : my raw drumtracks sound the same as yours so your on a good way. i think mixing drums is as important as great tracking.

 

[cloy26]

Thanks man, I appreciate the in depth response. I am going to post them on here when I get a chance, but, is it bad to notch out so much? there was just a thread on this with a snare track.

 

[dcb]

it totally depends onthe style your going for. in rock its more common to not notch too much, also esp. in rock room is wayym more important than metal (where your going for a dryer sound).
of course its always desirable to have your tracks sound great going to tape/hd but i had to remove / notch lots of resonances even when mixing drums recorded at places where the sound
is said to be second to none... so i guess it really depends onwhat your going for. a crowded mix will force you to remove everything (really everything) that is not necessarry. sometimes making
instruments sound like shit on their own...