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Hi! Im new around here.

Im from Argentina and I'm working on the recording of a pop punk band. Ive been listening a lot of records and i noticed that the sound of drumms is very "plastic" and "upfront" or "in-your-face", i dont know how you call it,(everything sounds this way, guitars, vocals and bass) but ive been watching recording diarys and they record real drumms, doesnt sample it(i think). I wondering how they get that particular sound. if someone can help me I would appreciate it too much. tanx!

some exaples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC_jS01Klhg&feature=related

http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Saosin - Voices (Alternate Version)[/]="http://www.youtube…"]YouTube - Saosin - Voices (Alternate Version)[/]

i know that it has low cuality but I'm asking for the particular sound not for the general cuality.
sorry my english.

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McLaughlin Mon, 07/05/2010 - 16:52

I'm at work so I'm unable to listen to specifically what you're looking for, but.

You could try a lot of hi-pass/low-pass roll of filters and heavy notch EQ'ing (by subtractive EQ mostly). Really carve out exactly the distinct frequencies of each particular instrument, or in the case of drums, each individual mic'ed piece (close mic to cut down on room reverb). Really try to isolate everything as much as you can to free up as much space in the frequency spectrum so every piece has its only individual space. Especially cut the mud out of the guitars (around 200-400hz). If you have any harmonies or any "layered" instrument, I've found that each additional layer really builds up the "mud" in that same range.

anonymous Tue, 07/06/2010 - 11:11

First of all, thenx Dallas for your answer!

Here in Argentina nobody can help me, this kind of music is not too much popular and i cant find someone that can talls me how to get this sounds. Recording drumms is to much complicated, no one can get the sound I want and too many other musicans want. I tierd to looking for some engineer or producer who can gets this sound in drums (and guitars, voice and so on...) here is no a culture in recording, mixing or mastering this pop punk (indie, metal core, emo...) sutff.

There´s somthing you could tell me about the drumms tunning? some advice or exaple, I dont know, it will be realy useful.
Ive reading about and watching videos and i read something about mix a sample with the reals drumm sound. Do you know somthing about it? Is used this technique on this kind of recordings? do you know which is the best way to do it?

Thenx again for your answers, i realy appreciate it, and sorry for taking you time!

McLaughlin Wed, 07/07/2010 - 18:46

Well, I honestly am not a guru on drum tuning, I have seen engineers who spend a TON of time during pre-production banging a mallet on skinless drums (listening to the timbre and pitch), and matching each piece. Drummers will also know how to tune their own drum kit, which should be done before each session. I don't have a lot of experience with it personally.

As for mixing samples and drums, I'd recommend SoundReplacer for Pro Tools. It's a pretty sweet plugin that analyzes the recorded drums (each track separate). You can then set trigger levels (in dB) and which sample you want it to play for each given dB level. So you could have a Soft Kick sample, Medium, and Hard. The plugin will analyze the audio and determine which one should play and when.

You can also do this by hand if you don't have the plugin, it's just a lot more tedious and time consuming.