Tracking drums with a click

[Rumble]

Here's my problem. The drummer can't hear the click track over the cymbals and drumkit.

The weird thing is, the click track is so loud, I can hear it across the room and it bleeds into the overheads like a motherfucker. Any ideas?

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

Yep, get better, more shielded headphones.

 

[EtherForBreakfast]

 

[fabz]

Here's my problem. The drummer can't hear the click track over the cymbals and drumkit.

The weird thing is, the click track is so loud, I can hear it across the room and it bleeds into the overheads like a motherfucker. Any ideas?

It's always the same with the drummers... They are def, def, def....

The only thing you can do is to use quality headphones (closed) like this:

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_vic_firth_sih1_gehoerschutz_prodinfo.html

Never use el cheapo headphones for drummers.




Or tell the drummer to play not so loud so he can hear the click.

 

[Death Is Certain]

We used a pair of those headphones when recording drums on a demo and a full length CD, blocks out a lot of outside noise, plus doesn't let anything escape. Worked great.

 

[James Murphy]

>

by 4db.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Maybe if he doesn't hear it it's because he's right on it, which would be a good thing.
Or maybe he does hear it but pretends he cannot to make up for his lack of timing
Either way, don't put it so loud it would alter his hearing...

James, do you mean the Direct Sound has a better isolation than the Vic Firth or is it the contrary ?

 

[James Murphy]

Maybe if he doesn't hear it it's because he's right on it, which would be a good thing.
Or maybe he does hear it but pretends he cannot to make up for his lack of timing
Either way, don't put it so loud it would alter his hearing...

James, do you mean the Direct Sound has a better isolation than the Vic Firth or is it the contrary ?

the VF's reduce 24db.. the DS's reduce 28 db

 

[SPLASTiK]

Sennheiser HD280 Pro's attenuate up to 32dB
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Recording/Monitors/Headphones?sku=242411

 

[~BURNY~]

They do not specify the frequency... It coud be 32db @ 10khz... and 3db @1khz... "up to..." doesn't mean anything...

 

[SPLASTiK]

They do not specify the frequency... It coud be 32db @ 10khz... and 3db @1khz... "up to..." doesn't mean anything...

They all say "up to" though and none of them give any measurements.

 

[~BURNY~]

Well they should...

 

[unsilpauly]

fwiw, i am a deaf drummer and i prefer the vic firths over everything mentioned. sure they dont sound great, but they rule for tracking. they just work for some reason really well. i think they isolate way better than the sennheiser actually and the other iso james mentioned are also good but they cost way more than the vic firths and arent any better imho. the vic firths are 50 bucks at musicians friend. cant go wrong there.

 

[Niels]

What does the click track sound like? Just CLICK, click,...?

Maybe you could change the click track...

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

Slightly off topic: Great example of how dumb drummers can be - I tracked some demos with my drummer using a cowbell for the click (it was the default), and it worked fine... when it came to recording our E.P, he'd added a cowbell to his kit, and suddenly the click track confused him.

Steve

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Has he practiced with it? It's a hell of a lot harder to hear it if you're not used to it.

 

[J the TyranT]

Yeah, I bought VF's also cuz I got em for like $30 at GC from the drum dept manager who's a buddy of mine. Those extreme iso's are like $120 or so... didnt have it then.... still dont =)

J

 

[James Murphy]

Sennheiser HD280 Pro's attenuate up to 32dB
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Recording/Monitors/Headphones?sku=242411

sorry, not to throw a turd in your punchbowl. but i own the Direct Sound's and a set of HD280Pros.. .the Direct Sound's attenuate and isolate better, and they are light and comfortable on the head.

 

[SPLASTiK]

sorry, not to throw a turd in your punchbowl. but i own the Direct Sound's and a set of HD280Pros.. .the Direct Sound's attenuate and isolate better, and they are light and comfortable on the head.

No worries, I used to own a pair of HD280's (someone stole them though...) they worked fine for me and sound pretty good but I haven't used the others so I can't really compare.

But I'd definately imagine those DS's are more comfortable, I got used to it so it didn't bother me but those things are like a C-Clamp on your head at first, at least they were for me.

Have you tried the Vic Firth's out of curiousity? If they're in the same ballpark as the DS, they sound like a bargain for the price some have been picking them up. I have some music store friends who can give me discounts and I've been thinking about getting something a little more isolating for the drummers than the Beyerdynamics I let them use.

 

[James Murphy]

i am a deaf drummer

that's why you can't tell the difference.

you do get about 4 more db of isolation with the DS's, and you can tell. i can anyway, and i should hope most all of you here, drummers excepted, could as well.