How do you treat snare top and snare bottom ?

[462studio]

I hate the bottom of snares. I usually don't even bother miking it at all. I'd rather sample replace a duplicate track of the snare top with a sample that has a lot of body and snare side in it and mix it in just enough to give the snare the depth it needs in a mix.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Little question:

Since you usually need to flip the phase of one of the snares - 1: does it really matter if you flip snare top or snare bottom? (I can't tell a difference)

and 2: having the 2 soundwaves slightly off-time from each other, would this create a fatter sound compared to duplicating the top snare and blending a sample? would you align both transients exactly or have one slightly off?

sorry, guess that was about 3 little questions.

 

[KHE]

Little question:

Since you usually need to flip the phase of one of the snares - 1: does it really matter if you flip snare top or snare bottom? (I can't tell a difference)

compare your snare-tracks to the overheads, then you will see which one needs a flipped phase. during my last drum-tracking, it was the snare-top-mic which was out-of-phase compared to the overheads / bottom-mic.
I think it depends a lot on the placement of the overheads.

but just do whatever sounds ok

regards, khe

 

[darthjujuu]

Little question:

Since you usually need to flip the phase of one of the snares - 1: does it really matter if you flip snare top or snare bottom? (I can't tell a difference)

.

depends on the phase of the rest of the kit! USUALLY the top and bottoms phase are opposing (not always), so as long as they're set opposite should be all that matters. depends on how the overheads/everything else are phasing up with the snare top.

so i guess...

mute the bottom mic, test top mic to see if it phases better with the overheads flipped or not. then un-mute the bottom, again check flipped and unflipped.

in good practice you'd do this during sound check so you can go move the mics around if shit gets frustrating.

 

[drew_drummer]

I've gotten into the habit of flipping the phase of any microphone that points up towards the cymbals - sometimes that includes the kick too.

 

[colonel kurtz]

You really think you can get away with that?? SPIT IT!!

yes i do!

considering that my small body of work is peanuts compared to what people on this board have achieved, i doubt anyone will give a shit what EQ i use on snare anyways!

also, in response to the question about polarity of the mics, it's like everything else where there's no 100% steadfast rule, but i was taught to try flipping the polarity of all your top mics 1st - reason being that if you were to graph the initial transient of a top mic on a snare or tom, it's going to have a "negative" value - i.e. when the head hits the skin, the skin is pushed downwards, and so the mic's initial response is that of air moving away from the capsule. flip the shit that points down, while leaving kick and bottom mics alone, and sometimes you'll end up getting some meaner/more percussive drums.

 

[RobRokken]

Sometimes I use the snare bottom to trigger some white noise bursts. Sometimes I throw the snare bottom right through some "wood room" verb, or add some saturation too it before hand. hmm and sometimes I delay it by just a touch, add some "wood room"...

Snare top, eh, samples

~Rob.

 

[Emdprodukt]

hmm and sometimes I delay it by just a touch, add some "wood room"...

Snare top, eh, samples

~Rob.

Bricasti. Wooden Room impulse is gold.

 

[LeSedna]

Do you have any good room impulses ? I never use convolution reverbs but maybe I should.

 

[Emdprodukt]

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/old-new-product-alerts-moved-out-into-main-forums/391486-free-bricasti-m7-impulses-acousticas.html

 

[Williamn]

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/old-new-product-alerts-moved-out-into-main-forums/391486-free-bricasti-m7-impulses-acousticas.html

Im also using it, great stuff .
Any goto impulses from the pack you can recommend ?

 

[Emdprodukt]

large/small wooden, snare plate, medium hall for vocals... those get used most!