Sounds good!

something i tend to be doing alot of on modern sounding pop/rock is, on the tom tracks, is editing out any of the bleed sounds on the tom tracks and just leaving the hits. i don't do it every time, for every project, and i leave it for some stuff, but some projects don't need what they are offering. the pop/rock sound that people are hearing today is obviously highly processed, and far from that gorgeous magic that happens when a band is in a good room playing together (which is my favorite way to record, and be recorded, if the necessary circumstances are met, good room/mics/band). so this may not be 'natural' or 'organic' or even realistic, or necessary, but i do do it sometimes and on a case by case basis, and even if the result is a slightly more focused sound, it's sometimes worth the 5-10 min a song to do so. i'm sure not everyone would agree w/ doing this, but that's why recording/mixing is cool. how boring would it be if there was only one way to make a record.? i certainly wouldn't be here at 3 a.m on Christmas eve bs-ing about it :)

i think it's kind of interesting that back before samples were in vogue, if you sucked, they just replaced your playing w/ a session musician. i was talking to my friend the other day and he was saying that the guys who made up the band Toto, were like a first call session band thru out that era. i think that alot of 'classic' songs, would be considered sloppy both production wise, and even performance, (listen to Zep's black dog, you can hear the stick clicks in between the pauses), but that was state of the art for then. black sabbath never had particularly stellar production, or even particularly good production. i certainly wouldn't try to make a recording sound like that using modern ways like grids, this and that, cuz to me it seems like the long way to the end, why take something like a programmed midi drum track and spend hours and hours trying to make it sound natural performance wise, and try to bring it back to the sonic tendencies of the 70's? in the same right if someone said geez i really like Tori Amos's production, i'm not gonna have a whole band cut it like w/ minimal micing in the same room, and then spend hours and hours cleaning it up. that's why sound recording is fun for me, the challenge of getting not the 'best' sound per se, but the 'right sound'. so when a jazz band comes in it'd be totally different train of thought for the production process, than if the next nickelback came in. i think being aware of what different music sounds like and what is regarded (in general) as good, is soo important. like look at how stripped down Gun's and Roses appetite album was. it sounds like a rock band that's playing in a room, because they were in fact a band that played in bar rooms.

this last thing to me seems to be something i'm learning to be true, that no matter what if the client is not happy, then they will not likely come back. if your a waiter, whether of not your serving customers some fried chicken, of a 5 star meal cooked from scratch by a master chef, the patron probably won't care about the hows and whys of how their food came to fruition, just that they know they like it. and as the waiter as long as they are happy, why would you be unhappy? Whether or not i agree/or disagree w/ sound choices, and mix decisions, it is my job (i feel) as an engineer and mixer, to fulfill the vision that the client has in they're head, and hopefully do it better than they thought possible. if they are not smart enough to trust the people they hired when they people they hired say, look this really should change, or this isn't working, then they have nobody to blame but themselves. i barely make enough money to pay my bills, i cannot afford to turn down potential clients, or turn off current ones by burning excessive time getting sounds, or badgering them w/ a my way or the high way. IF i were working for a label, or hired as a producer to do such things then that is a different story, and set of expectations, than my position as a staff engineer at a professional studio that services mainly bands than are from New England, and are either self funded, or on an indie. to me this is a service work type job, and my service to to deliver a product, that the customer wants and likes, and hopefully has a good time doing.

okay its becoming a bit of a rant, but nirvana didn't like the final mixes on Nevermind, they liked the roughs mixes which were too raw for the record companies taste, boo hoo it sold millions. was that because of which version of the mix was selected? i dunno who can say, but as soon as they were rich and had to make another record, they went completely in the opposite direction and recorded w/ steve albini, and did it in like 2 weeks. and that sold millions. so while it could be argued that they would never had this opportunity if they hadn't been forced by the label about certain creative things, they certainly didn't call butch vig and andy wallace back when it was time for the next album.

happy holidays, and make sure you post the recording of this up when you do it!

best wishes everyone!
-kyle

p.s- amy whinehouse's back to black album, 1 OH on the kit. 1 track for the drums, and the rest of the band was in the same room. the mixer (tom elmheirst) obviously did some mix magic which probably included triggering a kick sound, but he received 1 track for the drums, on a big budget, platinum album. damn are the dap kings tight. (they were the backup band for the record)

My drum editing these days consists of a live track with drums, bass, and scratch of some other instrument done to a click. the kick is then gridded and aligned to the tempo of the click. Kik only. The toms are edited for strike only with no open mics between hits thus no bleed. Overheads are sample timed to the grid and thats that.

You get the natural feel of the live tracking still since in most cases the groove between the drummer and bass player to the click is going to be pretty close to the grid. Aligning the kick and all its bleed still gives the 'real' live feel but tightens the attack of the song. The overheads have everything in them so all the tom hits on the close mics emphasize the HIT but the overs keep the natural decay of the kit and the toms. If the overs are really high above the kit a little time bump might be needed but not usually.

The better the control of the room the better this will sound.

Cleaning up the kit without resorting to replacement makes for a powerful and defined drum sound. One you can manipulate if needed as far as eq and compression. But I find that a two-bus compressor usually is all thats needed when you sub the drums to stereo. Without a lot of the bleed off of the close mics on top (the toms) you can add room verbs to taste and not get things banging around and mucking up the sound.

I also find that this frees up space for bass guitar or really any low-end since the drums are under control. The drum sound is so complex that it doesnt take much to mask something else.

A recent demo for a rock-a-billy band I have recorded had a basic drum micing set up. One tube LD overhead (ADK TT), two medium d condensers (Kel HM3)...one in the snare area and one looking across the floor tom, and a kick drum dynamic (ATM25) . The four mics went through the Toft ATB console with some eq engaged on the snare side mic and the kick.

Davedog, post: 409199 wrote: The toms are edited for strike only with no open mics between hits thus no bleed.

Or, the bleed varies with the edits. Say you have a cymbal ringing above the tom. When the tom mic turns on (at the "in" edit point) the bleed turns on and at the "out" point the bleed turns off. If it's enough to matter between tom hits it can be enough to change the sound of the cymbals with every edited tom hit.

kmetal, post: 409188 wrote: p.s- amy whinehouse's back to black album, 1 OH on the kit. 1 track for the drums, and the rest of the band was in the same room. the mixer (tom elmheirst) obviously did some mix magic which probably included triggering a kick sound, but he received 1 track for the drums, on a big budget, platinum album. damn are the dap kings tight. (they were the backup band for the record)

DAP KINGS RULE! Gabe Roth is a hero of mine. 1 " 8 track AMPEX ... some of his stuff is a 1" 16 tascam .... and a Trident 65. rock on Gabe!

bouldersound, post: 409201 wrote: Or, the bleed varies with the edits. Say you have a cymbal ringing above the tom. When the tom mic turns on (at the "in" edit point) the bleed turns on and at the "out" point the bleed turns off. If it's enough to matter between tom hits it can be enough to change the sound of the cymbals with every edited tom hit.

I agree that this 'can' happen. I find, however, with most of the types of music I record, most drummers are not hitting the cymbals in time with a tom strike. Also, I tend to pay strict attention to the null of a close mic when placed in proximity of another instrument.

Another point about this is its unlikely that the level of the cymbal, even one still ringing, is going to be anywhere near the level of the initial tom strike and thus isnt going to be a factor as long as the track is open for the duration of the toms natural ring time. Usually short but always tail the hits with the edit. Also, the cymbals are generally above the close mics and dont have a lot of input to them. I dont do this with the overheads which are generally full of the entire kit and performance. THESE I want to be able to eq going in to set a general overall tone for the kit. Sometimes I'll take the overheads out of the sub-group mix and send them to their own 2-bus. You have to be diligent in selecting plugs and outboard in this case that doesnt conflict with what you are putting on the other parts of the kit.

Again, I'm not saying that what you describe doesn't or can't occur. I just haven't found it to be an issue. Taking out the open mics when they aren't being used IS an issue under some circumstances and this is when I use this technique. Again, it all depends on the song.

bouldersound, post: 409201 wrote: Or, the bleed varies with the edits. Say you have a cymbal ringing above the tom. When the tom mic turns on (at the "in" edit point) the bleed turns on and at the "out" point the bleed turns off. If it's enough to matter between tom hits it can be enough to change the sound of the cymbals with every edited tom hit.

and this is a reason why drummers should learn to play their drums set up in a way that accommodates the recording process. look to guys like Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro. Toms flat not angled back and cymbals up as high as possible ... hi hat away from the snare. there is "proper form" for playing any instrument and no reason this should not apply to drummers just to suit their own personal needs / comfort. but try telling that to a drummer. :rolleyes:

and this is a reason why drummers should learn to play their drums set up in a way that accommodates the recording process. look to guys like Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro. Toms flat not angled back and cymbals up as high as possible ... hi hat away from the snare. there is "proper form" for playing any instrument and no reason this should not apply to drummers just to suit their own personal needs / comfort. but try telling that to a drummer.

That was just their own positioning, Kurt. I could name many great drummers who did angle toms and have their cymbals lower....

... and [="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meJ55HPJ3xs"]Neil Peart[/]="http://www.youtube…"]Neil Peart[/]. I found it easier to setup with a flat type setup, back when I did play, rather than a tilted type setup which seems to really be more for show, or rather WAS for show. People do not still tilt the toms do they?

[[url=http://="http://www.youtube…"]Buddy Rich AND Gene Krupa[/]="http://www.youtube…"]Buddy Rich AND Gene Krupa[/] who could have done anything they wanted, but both played with a flat type setup. There are a lot of us older guys who learned something from these two.

Space, post: 409209 wrote: ... and [="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meJ55HPJ3xs"]Neil Peart[/]="http://www.youtube…"]Neil Peart[/]. I found it easier to setup with a flat type setup, back when I did play, rather than a tilted type setup which seems to really be more for show, or rather WAS for show. People do not still tilt the toms do they?

[[url=http://="http://www.youtube…"]Buddy Rich AND Gene Krupa[/]="http://www.youtube…"]Buddy Rich AND Gene Krupa[/] who could have done anything they wanted, but both played with a flat type setup. There are a lot of us older guys who learned something from these two.

Hal Blaine too!

could you imagine Hal in the studio saying, "Gee Phil, I'm not comfortable with the hi hat that far from the snare." ? LOL!

Kurt Foster, post: 409206 wrote: and this is a reason why drummers should learn to play their drums set up in a way that accommodates the recording process. look to guys like Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro. Toms flat not angled back and cymbals up as high as possible ... hi hat away from the snare. there is "proper form" for playing any instrument and no reason this should not apply to drummers just to suit their own personal needs / comfort. but try telling that to a drummer. :rolleyes:

These 'guys' did so many sessions. I'm sure that their choice of positioning had a LOT to do with what they learned being under the microscope of close-micing and headphone feeds followed up by listening back with 'producers' who hired and fired for a wrong note.

Not saying drummers shouldn't be comfortable with a setup they can actually play, but the rules are a different set in the studio.

So, what's the best way to set the drums up for the studio?

JohnTodd, post: 409215 wrote: So, what's the best way to set the drums up for the studio?

John you know how subjective "best" can get. I'll give you effective....howzat?

1. Never put up drums, cymbals, monkey skulls, cowbells, assorted things to whack if you're not going to hit them in the song.

2. Try and get as much physical separation as possible from the pieces of the kit. Things bouncing into other things makes a sound that mics will not ignore. Try eq'ing out a clack or a thud......can't be done.

3. On the same thought.....get the cymbals up as high as you can away from the kit.

4. Speaking of cymbals, try not to use cymbals meant to cut through a din of Twin Reverbs , Vox AC100's, Highwatt 100's , or Marshall Plexi's on a stage set in a corner with a low ceiling. Cymbals are meant to enhance a recorded beat and great drummers use them as action points, or basic punctuation. So there doesnt need to be a crash at the end of four everytime. Listen to your inner Ringo for guidance. This also speaks to the NUMBER of cymbals that need to be present at any time during a recording. If they aren't needed on a particular song, pull em off. The sympathetic ringing will be easier to control. Yes, there isnt any sympathetic ringing in Drum-a-gog. Cymbal "weight" is a very important factor in getting a clean drum recording.

5. Tune the drums in a musical way. Try and get ANY sympathetic reaction from one to the other out of the equation. Newer heads allow for a better tuning. Better quality drums with a higher count of lugs helps. Better quality shells help.

6. Listen for squeaks, rubs, clicks and clacks occuring while the kit is being played. You'd think that the overall volume of the kit would mask a squeaky kick pedal.........no. Really.

7. If you are close micing, find out what the null on the close mics is like and use it for your benefit. An example would be the close mic on a floor tom with the main ride cymbal being in close proximity. Aim it at the tom in a way that the null of the mic is directly in line with the contact point of the stick on the cymbal.

8. There will be bleed. Decide before you start exactly what kind of drum kit sound you want for the tracks. Especially in this case as I understand the music is already tracked, so you should have some idea what you're looking for. In making this decision, you allow yourself to enhance or control certain parameters of the process. Example: Big over-the-top rock drums can stand the bleed as long as the drums are in tune with each other in a musical way. I've recorded kits that I left completely open at mix simply because they sounded exactly like they were supposed to from the getgo. Percussive precise drums need a little more space between the hits and therefore all you can do to make physical separation at the beginning make your edit job much easier.

9. Record dry. Make sure the drummer....especially since this is a replacement deal...ala adding the drums last......make sure the drummer can hear all the articulations in the prerecorded tracks. This will involve a set of isolation style phones and a monitor system capable of really dialing what hes going to vibe with in his head.

10. If you have access to gobos by all means use them even if the drummer is doing his thing alone. Isolation from a room...decoupling from comb filtering and standing waves in an untreated area etc etc....the things you've heard us all talk about for eons are now going to show you what they really are at tracking. Yee Ha.

These thing wont make things perfect but will make things easier. Here's something to ponder. when you read about this engineer or that engineer using a particular chain for recording a particular instrument or part of the kit, it usually means they are in a room with enough control to actually HEAR the difference between an API pre and a Neve pre. In a loud reflective room with no control it wont matter if you are running everything through a B-word live mixer except when you run out of headroom for setting your levels.

Shoot I forgot something very important.....so
11. When selecting spots for room mics and over heads be sure you actually listen to kit being played through open mics placed in those spots selected. You can just throw-em up and go but you might be missing out on some MAGICAL positioning that makes it all dial up.

If space over the kit is limited using PZMs taped to the ceiling might be better than SDCs.

Awesome guys!

You got me thinking I might pull this off now. Can't wait to play it for you. Stupid NDA has me bound for now!

Once again, Da Dawg confirms one of my first posts to this thread... with this point being IMHO, the most important;

11. When selecting spots for room mics and over heads be sure you actually listen to kit being played through open mics placed in those spots selected. You can just throw-em up and go but you might be missing out on some MAGICAL positioning that makes it all dial up.

You MUST use those two big floppy things on the sides of that coconut that sits on the shoulders.

DON'T linger too long making decisions as that just serves to degrade your decisions. DO linger on finding where mic's sound good. If you think something sounds thin, then it probably is... move quickly to find if you're in the optimal mic position. Find it and move on. You'll find tht your levels may or may not be peaked out. Don't necessarily pay attention to the meters OVER the sound of what is coming through the mic. But do pay attention to the meter levels.

so I have my first recording gig soon, I come back here after years away, and this is the first thread I see.
Flippin magical.
I have no practical experience recording anything but vocals in my comfortable, well treated room. Eveything else is theory from listening to you all for years.

I'm recording an entire band, but first things first: drum kit in a basement which is a giant concrete box.
I cringed when I saw it. I cried when I heard him play in it...lol. Everything vibrates!

Couple things I want to ask about,

Back on page one, Kurt talks about a "3 to one rule." Can you elaborate on what that is about?
I'm going to be using 3 57's and a beta 52, so 4 mics. I only have 4 preamps, so that works out.

I read what everyone (in this thread anyway ;) has to say about placement. I have also read that the simplest way to avoid phase issues is to have all your mics pointing in the same direction, and along the same plane. What are your thoughts on this? Once I set the kick mic and snare mic to sound good together, is tilting the head going to throw my efforts into disarray, or am I overthinking this? A kit naturally travels in an arc around the drummer, so it's natural to want to have the 2 overheads, or left/right whatever, slightly "aroudn the corner", yes?. I'm sure this will resolve itself between my ears and the walls, but I like to be prepared, so can we discuss placement?

Lastly, why the bloody hell does the snare make tom 1 and 4's heads ring out, and tom 2 makes tom 4 and the snares heads ring out.... etc and so forth. What is happening and is it normal? I hate it.
The snare ringing I don't mind, a little bit of white noise gives a snare a nice distortion source to give it some fiery breathe, but not the toms. Toms in my mind should sound like Motley Crue circa "shout at the devil"

The snares and toms ring out together because of sympathetic vibration. That is, sound waves from one instrument are vibrating another. It is normal, in fact, it's part of physics.

To remedy this, musicians have tried everything: pillows, blankets, tea towels, tape, muffle rings, etc. It's normal, but also annoying at times.

As for the rest of your post, I'm handing that off the the experts. ;)

"Back on page one, Kurt talks about a "3 to one rule." Can you elaborate on what that is about?"

The 3 to 1 rule stipulates that when using two or more mics, that Microphone B is three times the distance away from microphone A, as Mic A is from the source it is miking. This prevents phase issues, including cancellation.

Let's say that you are recording an acoustic guitar and you want to use 2 mics ... you have 1 mic (mic A) pointed at the sound hole, it's 8 inches away. The 3-1 Rule stipulates that the second mic (Mic B) needs to be 3 times the distance away from Mic A's distance from it's source.
So, if Mic A is 8 inches away from the guitar, the 3 -1 application says that you want Mic B to be at least 24 inches away from Mic A.

You can check for phase issues by listening in mono. If you hear things disappear, or sound otherwise wizzly, you'll know you have a mic placement problem.

Now, there are exceptions, allowances, and they involve the use of various stereo mic arrays, like X-Y, ORTF and M-S.

These mics are very close to each other, but because of their positioning, using the null points inherent in the mic's pickup pattern, ( and in the case of M-S, also flipping the phase) it allows you to use two mics in close proximity to each other without running into phase problems.
It also allows you to record in stereo, which opens up a lot of nice options in terms of depth and space.

Note that more than a few engineers have intentionally broken this rule over the years in order to achieve different sonic results... but also know that they were aware of the rule before they broke it. LOL

Here are a few links that explain the various stereo techniques:

(dead link removed)

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/feb97/stereomiking.html

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/mar97/stereomictechs2.html

I didn't mean why in the physical sense, you made me laugh though, so :) thx.

I guess I'm wanting someone to say "hey, something isn't strapped down right, that shouldn't be happening so badly, so do "X" to keep that to a minmum." perhaps a small offering to zeus to keep the bolts tight? ;)

edit:
one bit of clarification on that 3 to 1.
so the kick mic is mic 1, and it's 6 inches away from the beater. I want mic two (snare mic) to be 18" away from mic 1 to start with. Like there is a 3X bubble surrounding mic 1 for me to play with?

The 3:1 rule does figure into drum miking, Josh. Especially - but not limited to - overheads.

You're already recording in what you consider to be less than ideal conditions, why add more problems? If you want some nasty phasing or even cancellation to occur, then place your 2 overhead mics that are 3 feet above the drum kit parallel to each other at a distance of a foot. ;)

Have you worked with any of the stereo mic techniques for overheads? if not, you should. You'll open up a brand new depth and space to the kit.

Or, I can just shut up. :)

NOOO.
keep talking!

Please describe your xy setup method. I have never recorded anything other than vocals in my studio. I only know what I read here and in Tape Op.

I made you laugh? :)

If something isn't strapped down right, it's still sympathetic vibration causing sound to appear.

Always give the drumset a good "going over" prior to tracking. All squeaks, unwanted vibrations, buzzes, etc., must be neutralized. This really applies to any instrument, though. Just takes time and maybe new drum heads. An offering to the gods may be helpful in some situations.

In a live concert, those little noises might not be heard, but studio mics can pick up about anything. All these decades later we can still hear Ringo's kick drum pedal squeak on "All I've Got To Do".

I supposed caulking is out of the question ;)

Josh Conley, post: 412696, member: 47953 wrote: Back on page one, Kurt talks about a "3 to one rule." Can you elaborate on what that is about?

Try to arrange it so each mic picks up its own source substantially stronger than other sources to minimize bleed and mitigate phase interactions. The 3:1 ratio applies to source-to-mic distances, not mic-to-mic distances. That is, the distance from source 2 to mic 1 should be at least 3 times the distance from source 1 to mic 1 (source 1 being the target of mic 1).

Josh Conley, post: 412696, member: 47953 wrote: I read what everyone (in this thread anyway ;) has to say about placement. I have also read that the simplest way to avoid phase issues is to have all your mics pointing in the same direction, and along the same plane. What are your thoughts on this?

Complete nonsense. Phase is caused by different arrival times of one sound in two mics.

"I have also read what everyone (in this thread anyway ;) has to say about placement. I have also read that the simplest way to avoid phase issues is to have all your mics pointing in the same direction, and along the same plane. What are your thoughts on this?"

I have no idea where you read this, but might I suggest that you delete the shortcut to that particular website...

Josh Conley, post: 412696, member: 47953 wrote:
Back on page one, Kurt talks about a "3 to one rule." Can you elaborate on what that is about?
I'm going to be using 3 57's and a beta 52, so 4 mics. I only have 4 preamps, so that works out.

if a mic is one foot from it's source, any other mic (on a different source) should be at least 3 feet away from the first mic.

Josh Conley, post: 412696, member: 47953 wrote:
Lastly, why the bloody hell does the snare make tom 1 and 4's heads ring out, and tom 2 makes tom 4 and the snares heads ring out.... etc and so forth. What is happening and is it normal? I hate it.
The snare ringing I don't mind, a little bit of white noise gives a snare a nice distortion source to give it some fiery breathe, but not the toms. Toms in my mind should sound like Motley Crue circa "shout at the devil"

MOON GEL for the snare and toms and Dead Ringers for the kick drum.

"but not the toms. Toms in my mind should sound like Motley Crue circa "shout at the devil"

It should sound like Motley Crue if you are recording tracks in the same vein and style.

But I certainly don't want that sound if I'm recording something similar in style to to Steely Dan, or Verticle Horizon, or Fleetwood Mac, or Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, or Led Zeppelin, or...

The thing is, every style is different. If you want that Crue/Metal-Rock sound, then tune, dampen and adjust accordingly. But there are many styles, both classic and modern, where over-ring on the toms isn't the deal -breaker you think it is.

"Lastly, why the bloody hell does the snare make tom 1 and 4's heads ring out, and tom 2 makes tom 4 and the snares heads ring out.... etc and so forth. What is happening and is it normal? I hate it..."

It's called sympathetic vibration. It's normal and it happens, and not just with drums. It's also easily taken care of by mic placement, EQ, and if you like, with expanders.

If your bag is that harder-edged stuff, then of course, you should go for that sound if that's what you personally dig.. But your preferred drum sound isn't one that is preferred by everyone.

Personally, I don't limit my recording projects, or let myself be influenced by just one singular sound or style. ;)

Kurt Foster, post: 412794, member: 7836 wrote: if a mic is one foot from it's source, any other mic (on a different source) should be at least 3 feet away from the first mic.

The 3:1 ratio should be applied to the source-to-mic distances. The mic-to-mic distances are incidental.

but if a drum set is basically a dozen "sources/instruments" all clustered rather closely together... how is the rule then applied?
I mean, all these different timbres coming from all different directions... a drum kit is a flipping mess you guys!
Mathematically speaking, a 3 to 1 rule on something as complex as a drum kit falls apart.

The snare usually seems to be the main concern in forum discussions, as well as the focal point of most of the 4 mic setup videos I watched. Is it because it's usually the loudest with the most snap, played the most, etc...

is this why led zeppelin always had a phaser on the cymbals?
its a mess anyway, lets make it worse ;)

edit:
were there pedals for that then?
how would *you* pull that sound off without one?
i would overdub a second overhead track and offset it until it falls apart :)

Phasers have been around a long time; tape based, rack mount, stand alone and in pedal form.

Josh Conley, post: 413113, member: 47953 wrote: but if a drum set is basically a dozen "sources/instruments" all clustered rather closely together... how is the rule then applied?

You either treat them as one big source (overheads) or a many individual sources (close mics), or do both and try to reconcile them as best as you can. If a mic is three inches off a drum head and nine inches from the nearest other drum you've got a good start isolating the close mics. Add to that the advantage of mic polar patterns and you increase the isolation even more.

And here's why I like a coincident pair on overheads: I can time align the close mics to match their images in the overheads. I delay the close mics about 3-4ms to compensate for the different arrival times in the overheads. The only thing out of alignment is the bleed between close mics, which you can't hear because I've optimized the isolation with placement.

Of course it's never that simple so you have to be prepared to fiddle with it until you get an acceptable outcome.

That was a wonderfully entertaining music video, without a melody. Simply marvelous! Who produced it? Lexicon? Eventide Clockworks? Universal Audio? Who's reverb was that? It wasn't one of those Bruschetta reverbs was it, Chris? Fabulous, simply fabulous! I think it definitely got a point across? That anything fake can seem real, if the picture presents itself? It's called the placebo effect. And it's not a preset ya will find on any piece of equipment or software. You didn't think he was in front of anything other than a chroma green screen did ya?

Ya did? Really? They fooled you. Cool.

This is why God created Lexicon. I mean EMT. I mean Eventide Clockworks. I mean QWANTEC. I mean...

When your gain staging is adjusted right for the microphones on the drum set, the microphone preamps, the phase cancellation between tom-toms and snare drum should not be much of a factor. Particularly since most of the drum set sound is coming from the overheads and not from the highlight MIC's on the drums. Those just add the beef and girth to those drums.

And then, there are folks like myself that use gates. Lots of 'em.

When you gate the drums, you mask the other phase cancellation, you would normally get, from the interaction between the other microphones on the drum set, if you don't gate them. But that phase cancellation should be minimal enough so as to not affect the integrity of the drum mix. Its fullness, it's fat. This comes with experience. I can tell ya how to be a brain surgeon but... to your mother and father ya might seem like a brain surgeon? To a brain surgeon? You're no brain surgeon. And I don't engineer like George Massenburg even though I've known George since I was 15, 43 years ago. I know what equipment he likes. I know the sound he wants to get. He gets it. I get what I want, on different equipment. And I believe in using downward expansion and gates, on most everything.

Gating and downward expansion has been used in the movie industry virtually as long as we've had movies with sound. Yet it seems like most recording engineers are completely clueless about this process? There is so much value to doing this, technically. I figured this out in the late 1970s. And I happen to like the sound of my drums better than that of most others. I marvel at what everybody else gets. We all have our secret recipe. I just shared my recipe with y'all. It works great on rock 'n roll. It works great on reverbs. It works great on everything, in a compromise acoustics situation. Where the phase cancellation will become blatantly obvious, if ya don't. It's simple and it works. It works great at room acoustics modifications. You can make less room for room without the room. And not lose any room. You can do it if ya try. Isn't that what audio engineers are supposed to do? Become proficient with playing with effects? If ya can't get your head around some basic gating? You flunk audio 101 LOL. Remember, even in audio, for every action, you should have an equal and opposite reaction. When the drum is hit, the microphone should be on. And it is. When the drum is not being hit. The microphone remains off. As it should. Then your audio becomes much better, because you did and it is. And that's why God created the KEPEX.

It works particularly good on talking head shows. Which has nothing to do with David Byrne. You just grab the bull by the horns and gate him. Don't take the ring out of his nose. Not smart.

I had to download that Drum video. Yeah baby. That was excellent! I had wondered if it was done by that crazy Norwegian animator that animated himself playing drums, as not a drummer? But I don't think so? It certainly was done every bit as well. Quite stunning visually and audibly. A beautiful fast lesson on environmental sounds and placements. Really puts things into perspective. Like being on LSD LOL.

Okay okay... here's a recording, an impromptu one I made, direct to stereo DAT. The drums are 3 microphones. No gating. Just a pair of AKG 414's and a Crown PZM. It was phase inverted utilizing an XLR barrel phase flipper. There were cheap transformer DI's on the bass guitar and keyboard. 58's on the vocalists and Sax. All mixed live with a pair of API 3124 mixers and a Lexicon PCM 60 through KOSS Pro 4A A, headphones. I don't recommend you try this. No limiters. No compressors. No EQ. No fun. Sounds like crap, right? I don't know? What do you think? The drums don't have any gates... so they can't sounds good. They don't sound good. Or do they? I couldn't tell what I was listening to as my rig was sitting right on top of the bass guitar amplifier rig. Then I was standing behind it, mixing. Riding the vocal by hand. No compression. No limiting. This is as minimalist as I care to get.
[MEDIA=soundcloud]remyrad/susannzzz
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Look at the pretty drum sounds!
Mx. Remy Ann David