Скачать или смотреть How to Make an Absolutely HUGE Rock Snare Drum Sound WITHOUT DRUM SAMPLES! Part 1

Using Glyn Johns overhead setup and a few new room mic configurations with Harley DeWinter at Skylit Sound for a MASSIVE rock snare sound with NO SAMPLES!

I'll be a doing a walkthrough of my actual mix session in Part 2, so I'll just go over a few key points on the engineering side of things here.

#:1 Get it Right at the Source

This means everything from the drummer (who need to be hitting the snare very consistently to avoid timbre changes between hits, as well as hitting the shells harder than the cymbals) to making sure the shells are well tuned and kit sounds great in the room, to picking the right mics and mic placements.

Taking the time to get it right from the beginning means you won't be trying to roll a turd in glitter during the mix phase: don't rush a drummer into the studio before they're prepared to truly perform, and don't rush your own kit setup on the day of the session.

#2: Room Mics are Your Friends

The best way to get the kind of depth and explosive ambience we hear on commercial records, from a live drum kit without drum samples, is from well placed room mics.

Get to know the room you're working in: that's the best way to know what mics to choose, and where to put them in the room, for the sound you're looking for.

For this particular session I used a pair of ribbon mics behind gobos in the far corners of the room, a single LDC placed mid distance, and a dynamic knee mic aimed at the snare shell.

#3: Minimize Cymbal Bleed

Too much cymbal bleed in your snare top mic can ruin a great drum mix, or force you to use sample reinforcement/replacement to minimize it.

Using a Hypercardioid or Supercardioid mic as your snare top mic, and placing it correctly, is a great way to reduce the amount of cymbal wash that the mic picks up while recording: this is also why it's important for the drummer to be hitting the shells (kick, snare, toms) harder than they're hitting the cymbals.

Stay tuned for an in-depth walkthrough of the mix session in Part 2!

The recorded arrangement is from "High Again" on Teenage Wrist's album "Earth is a Black Hole": check those guys out, they rip!

Engineered @ Skylit Sound by Matthew Denis

Mixed @ Skylit Sound by Matthew Denis

Drums: Harley DeWinter