Is there any way to save this snare without replacement?

[drew_drummer]

Hey chaps,

Is there anyway I can save this snare without replacing it completely, or am I just going to be better of re-recording drums?

These are just for rough 'band internal' demos. But I really fucked up on the mic positioning of the top mic, and we were really pushed for time, so I did not realise.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/630473/RawDrums.mp3
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/630473/SnareTopSolo.mp3

Here is a little Reaper project if anyone feels like playing around with it. I'm really just after some advice here; not expecting anyone to do my leg-work for me

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/630473/SnareProject.zip

(if it 404's it's because it's still uploading!)

 

[Morgan C]

It sounds great in the OHs! What's wrong with some sample replacement or augmentation? Maybe play around with the mic position on the actual drum, take samples and replace with them, if you're after consistency and naturalness.

 

[drew_drummer]

Heya Morgan

It does sound pretty good in the overheads. Hmm. I'm wondering if I can duplicate the OH tracks, and key an expander on each track with the snare top or bottom mic, and try to isolate the snare from the cymbals and such.

Replacement isn't working too well, at least with Trigger. There are some subtleties that are getting lost because of the lack of dynamic range between the snare signal, and the bleed. Hmmm.... chin stroke moment.

 

[Morgan C]

If you mean the ghost notes, yeah they'd be hard to trigger. If the snare sounds good and loud in the OHs, just let the ghost notes come from there IMO. Have sample replacement only on the harder hits. If you still can't hear them, maybe mix the original snare track in. You could even duck on the hard hits (opposite of a gate, my gate has this function, not sure about others) if you don't want the weird ring interfering with the hard hits.

 

[drew_drummer]

Hmmm... I think I've saved it.

I'm relying more on the overheads and the bottom snare mic. Top is adding a bit of attack to the signal is all. I added Flux Bitter Sweet, Nomad Factory Tape-Warmer plugin, and T-Racks Opto compressor to just tame it a bit. Don't need to trigger now either.

These are just demos like I said. I'll be taking my time with the album when we record it.