I do not highpass drums when I record. Live sound is a different issue.

So does lo-cut = highpass????

:?

A highpass filter "passes the high's and filters the lows"
A lowpass filter "passes the lows, and filters the highs"
Personally, I almost always leave the lowcut (HPF) on when mixing anything live and many times in the studio. In most cases there are too many artifacts that I don't need in the signal path that are that low. Mic stand rumble, stage resonances, slapped-by-a-stick drum mics,
windblasts, etc., that do not contribute positively to the end signal are FILTERED, baby! Now that I am over 50, everything below "50" must go!
(Well, except for some kick drums!)

I use the high=pass filter on just about as much as I can. I definitely use it for mic'ing guitar cabs (without it the mic distorts and sounds muddy)... I've never tried on drums, but I would imagine the same applies... unless you are mic'ing an instrument that has a useful range that dips below the rolloff point of the high-pass filter, might as well leave it turned on to get rid of the junk that might come in with the good signal.

Ok, cool, I think I am doing it right...

Do what sounds right.

I do not high pass, just in case I want to use the bleed from the other drums for an effect.

I also do not highpass, but will sometimes use a keyed gate to filter out the mush, keying the gate with the kick, so that some of tha ambient room noise leaks in.

There is no right or wrong way. There is the creative and right way to your ear.

when recording most times it is better to leave the hi-pass off, but you can save yourself some mixing time later if you have a good idea of how you want it to sound beforehand by hipassing. When i'm recording pop, I will hi pass the hi-hat mic every time, because I know i'm not going to use it for low freq content. Same with guitars. In every mix of a pop band i do, i end up using a HP filter on the guitars, so i'll HP going in. I think sometimes DAWs are a crutch and projects can take a lot longer to mix because engineers are afraid to make decisions during tracking. We make decisions that make a far more profound effect on the sound when we pick a mic, placement, and pre-amp, but i've had people tell me i'm wrong to mildly compress a bass guitar going in to keep from distorting inputs on my interface. I say get it to sound exactly how you imagine it in the control room while tracking, and if that includes hi-pass filtering, then so be it.

k

Cool, thanks everyone.

:D