Skip to main content

hi folks - ran into a strange problem.

recently simplified my drum recording setup (down to 2 dynamics snare and kick, 2 condensers on 2 toms and one large condenser for the room, but focused on the ride).

i wasn't getting enough hi-hat so i stuck a 57 over there (i like less sizzle from hats than a condenser provides).

because of a lack of inputs on my MOTU ultralite, i used the cable from my vocal mic.

i'm getting static when the hats are being played (seems to build up after a few seconds) but don't get any when i plug the strip back into the vocal mic (which is a condenser).

i tried a diff mic on the hats, changed the cable - no difference. also turned off the phantom power when going to the 57.

the channel strip is mic -> fmr rnp (with the matching fmr compressor inserted) -> dbx eq -> MOTU -> macbook running Ableton live.

any ideas? thanks for any help.

Topic Tags

Comments

nmrecording Sun, 03/06/2011 - 21:01

my guess is the gain is too high or with the additional of the highhat, theres too much of a certain treble frequency thats clipping the sound as whole.

Try eq'ing the highhat down at 10k (ish) range down a tad and see if it clears up. try looking at a spectrum analyzer to see if ur peaking a certain frequency

you might want to eq down the treble of some of bass n mid range drums to clean up the cymbol highs.

remember to accentuate the sweet spot of each instrumen/drum piece to blend and clean up sound

mugtastic Wed, 03/09/2011 - 09:00

thanks for the help. it wasn't clipping or buffer and the problem hasn't happened since that one time.

it really sounded like actual static. the one thing i didn't try was putting the vocal mic (which didn't have static) on the hats to see if it would create the problem.

if it is possible for a static or electric charge to corrupt an input signal, is there a way to eliminate it? like an audio dryer sheet?