Room Mic prominence...?

[shreddster]

Is it blasphemy to ask if there's a way to get a solid metalcore mix with a prominent drum room mic?

If not, how would you do it?

 

[DavePiatek]

The prominence of the room mic is entirely dependent on the context. With most speedy metal mixes, a prominent room mic is just going to clutter up your drums, especially the kick drum. When I use room mics for metal, it's usually pretty low, just to even out the overheads / spot cymbal mics. You might have better luck triggering a room mic sample on just the snare if you're after the "bigness". That way, you won't have to deal with the kick getting all cluttered up.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

The prominence of the room mic is entirely dependent on the context. With most speedy metal mixes, a prominent room mic is just going to clutter up your drums, especially the kick drum. When I use room mics for metal, it's usually pretty low, just to even out the overheads / spot cymbal mics. You might have better luck triggering a room mic sample on just the snare if you're after the "bigness". That way, you won't have to deal with the kick getting all cluttered up.

I partially agree and disagree. I think that room mics are required for all drums, as to how much is really dependent on the context of the sources of all tracks (not just the drums) and the style of the band. I feel that if you just have the close mics and overheads the sounds is way to separated and sterile, nothing really glues together. Even for the fastest of tech bands you still need something to glue all the pieces together. If clutter is becoming a problem in certain sections you can side chain the kick, or automate the volume into the room mic(s). I would personally record drums with a room mic just in case, more often than not I always find myself using it, even it is barely noticeable in the mix.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

If the drumming is consistent and the shell/cymbal balance is good, you should have good results. I used a pvc tunnel and some dense blankets to isolate the kick INs and help a bit with the OHs and rooms. The kick was still really loud, but with a few cuts and stuff it helped a ton with depth on the overall image. If the drumming is questionable then I personally would sample the shells alone with rooms first like Dave said. I do both.

 

[JeffTD]

If the drummer is so bad that his feet need severe editing separate from the hands, I don't let him track the kicks (either just on those parts or period, really depends). I want my room mic as loud as possible in the mix; in metal this means a very different thing than in indie or rock, but I still want it up there.

 

[mharwood]

Gotta have it to some extent IMO. Sometimes I'll compress the rooms until they're nothing more than a giant blob of glue in the background, while other times I'll leave them much more natural, but they always get used for something. Even when I'm using samples, I'll generally stick with sample packs that provide separate close, OH, and room samples so I can mix them like "normal" drums.

 

[amarshism]

Try an expander on it and have the snare and toms go to the side chain.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

try keeping the room low in most of the time and then giving it a big push during tom fills

 

[egan.]

It really depends on what the rooms (and also the overheads) sound like. Lately I've started to think that the renewed popularity of room mics over the last decade stems from the fact that we're so often placing our overhead mic actively avoiding the sound of the shells. Anyway, a huge room or far away mics will sit entirely differently than closer mics in a smaller room.