What do you guys normally do. Treat it fairly the same or try to get more low end from bottom snare or something else?
How different you treat bottom and top snare?
- Thread starter Carlxapm
- Start date
Well the bottom your getting mostly the snare string noise stuff, So I imagine you want more high end frequencys from this and the top snare you want that bottom/mids
Yeah i guess so. I was just wondering are people here were treating it. I always just mic top snare but i wanna try and mic bottom this week end.
brianhood
No Care Ever
I process the bottom snr mic completely different than the top. Basically the bottom just has a bit of compression(based on how long you want the sizzle to last). There isn't much body in the bottom snare mic compared to the top, and i usually have it a few db(or more) lower in the mix, depending on how you want your "sizzle to body" ratio. I also do a small amount of eq, mainly to the high end, but it's nothing major and it can vary quite a bit from snare to snare. Just make sure your bottom mic is in phase with the top mic. Easiest way to tell is to just zoom in really close to the wave, and see if the waves in the two mics are going up and down together. If one is going up while the other is going down, then they are out of phase, and you'll either need to scoot the bottom mic wave to the left/right, or (most likely) just need to "invert" the entire wave.
This is how i process when i'm making snare samples though, so i can do as much processing as i want without worrying about cymbal bleed.
I'm not sure about you guys, but the bottom mic does't seem all that important in the overall sound to me. The room and overheads seem to have the biggest impact.
This is how i process when i'm making snare samples though, so i can do as much processing as i want without worrying about cymbal bleed.
I'm not sure about you guys, but the bottom mic does't seem all that important in the overall sound to me. The room and overheads seem to have the biggest impact.
ahjteam
Anssi Tenhunen
I think it is; the bottom mic gives a nice amount of domestic violence factor to the drummers hits.
slashvanyoung
Dopefish lives!
That's basically what I do too. I bring the bottom mic way down, level the top mic and then bring the bottom mic slowly up until I like the overall character.
The amount of processing varies from virtually none (or just drum buss) to sometimes more heavy EQ'ing.
Good to keep in mind. I think I've never added more reverb to the bottom than the top.
For me, since I started mic'ing the bottom snare every time, I cannot go back to just a top mic any more. The bottom mic does so much for the snare sound. Generally I'm bussing the top and bottom mic together to a mono bus and adding compression and EQ, limiting and verb there. I'll have the bottom mic about -2dB quieter than the top mic usually, sometimes the same volume (depends on the wires), and only occasionally will I need to EQ top and bottom separate, depends if the wires are overly bright and annoying.
I usually high pass the bottom mic higher than I normally would a top mic. I gate it and add a little compression but not as much as the top mic. Sometimes depending on the type of sound I might add some saturation or distortion to it too.
Like some of the other guys said, I usually bring up the fader till I like the character it adds. I find it usually helps the snare cut through in a busy mix too.
Like some of the other guys said, I usually bring up the fader till I like the character it adds. I find it usually helps the snare cut through in a busy mix too.
"Like some of the other guys said, I usually bring up the fader till I like the character it adds. I find it usually helps the snare cut through in a busy mix too."
+1
also, if the kick is interfering with the snare wires in an annoying way, try a gate sidechained from the top mic on the bottom track. this will get rid of all the annoying splash/rattle stuff and makes it easier to do some clean HF boosts (if necessary).
i think the biggest pitfall is cranking the bottom mic too much. you'll only get a papery sounding snare....when in doubt, stay on the low side. other than that, bottom mics are really an immense asset when mixing snare, with not a whole lot of stuff to go wrong. i'll NEVER again track with only a top mic.
+1
also, if the kick is interfering with the snare wires in an annoying way, try a gate sidechained from the top mic on the bottom track. this will get rid of all the annoying splash/rattle stuff and makes it easier to do some clean HF boosts (if necessary).
i think the biggest pitfall is cranking the bottom mic too much. you'll only get a papery sounding snare....when in doubt, stay on the low side. other than that, bottom mics are really an immense asset when mixing snare, with not a whole lot of stuff to go wrong. i'll NEVER again track with only a top mic.
Hey guys, thanks for all that info. I will be tracking drums for our new album this week end and i've never mic the bottom of a snare.
I have rent some good mics and just bought TRIGGER from slate ( which i still need to received my Ilok key). Can't wait to track.
so SM 57 on bottom will do?
I have rent some good mics and just bought TRIGGER from slate ( which i still need to received my Ilok key). Can't wait to track.
so SM 57 on bottom will do?
ahjteam
Anssi Tenhunen
ahjteam
Anssi Tenhunen
to get rid of the floor reflections
edit: and if you look at the bottom of the picture in this post, what do you see?
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/548822-streaming-exodus-studio-3.html#post9231794
edit: and if you look at the bottom of the picture in this post, what do you see?
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/548822-streaming-exodus-studio-3.html#post9231794
+1 more to treating the 2 tracks totally differently
the last couple projects i tracked/mixed, i ended up high passing the bottom mic pretty high...probably about 300hz, compressed the fuck out of it(might have even limited?) with a fast attack, and i think i put a bit of a high shelf on there also
this goes in comparison to the top mic, which gets rolled off at around 125-150hz, EQ'd here and there, and then pretty lightly compressed with an attack around 30ms
then i gate both tracks individually, send to a buss with gclip on it, and aux the buss out to the reverb
the last couple projects i tracked/mixed, i ended up high passing the bottom mic pretty high...probably about 300hz, compressed the fuck out of it(might have even limited?) with a fast attack, and i think i put a bit of a high shelf on there also
this goes in comparison to the top mic, which gets rolled off at around 125-150hz, EQ'd here and there, and then pretty lightly compressed with an attack around 30ms
then i gate both tracks individually, send to a buss with gclip on it, and aux the buss out to the reverb
Wisheraser
Member
That's with hardwood floors though. I remember reading (can't remember where) that if you have carpet flooring, it's preferable to have some plywood under the drums.
