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Hey, I was wondering if anyone can help me with something. (Besides tuning the drum [I already have, well] ) What is a good way to achieve that metalcore/hardcore sound on the bass drum? A good example of this is Jordan Mancino's drums on As I Lay Dying's last two albums. I love how they sound and work in the songs. What would I have to do to get a sound like that? Any special EQ'ing, Compressing, Limiting, anything like that?

I have the drum mic plugged into a pre (so that should help). Also I have Cubase SX and Cakewalk Sonar Producer 4.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Comments

anonymous Mon, 08/15/2005 - 06:45

eq and compression will be your bet....
suck out the mids, boost the highs as you want/need
if you want to hear the kick a lot, lower the bass frequencies or it will overpower the mix
find the funamental and cut what's under...it will only muddy the track
btw i much prefer the Shadows are security kick sound than the one on Frail Words Collapse where there has to be some reverb on the high frequencies

KurtFoster Mon, 08/15/2005 - 11:32

I love these "that sound" questions. Usually we discover that the equipment and methods used are completely different ...

Start from the top ...
What kind of drums is Jordan Mancino using and how are they tuned ... ?

What was the room that they were in recorded in like ?

What mics were used ?

What pres were used ?

What Eqs (if any) and what comps (again if any) were used ?

What was the record recorded with ? PT ? 2" analog ?

What was the record mixed on ? A Neve ? SSL ? DAW ?

After you learn all that ... you could try to replicate the set up but you will still most likely find the sound isn't the same because it changes with every drummer .... the same kick will sound different with 2 different drummers because no one has exactly the same technique. Some guys leave the batter against the had after it strikes, some pull off immediately ... there's a lot that goes into it.

Instead of trying to duplicate a sound (most likely with much less expensive gear) try just being creative and dialing up something that sounds as good as you can make it.

anonymous Mon, 08/15/2005 - 12:06

The As I Lay Dying album was all triggered. It also sounds as though the engineer quantized everything. It's a completely un-natural sound but it really does work for that kind of music. Your cheapest bet might just be to purchase Drummagog and use a 57 (or anything else for that matter) to trigger with.

anonymous Mon, 08/15/2005 - 13:31

If you have recorded a well tuned kick drum, tuned to achieve what you want, with a relatively good drummer, with a relatively good mic, in a relatively good position *LOL* but are not getting the sound you want, i would say that you need to look at eqing firstly to remove freqs that you don't want, rather than adding what you want. After doing this you might find that you only need to tweak a little here and there to get your desired sound. Probably places to look at would be around 200hz and 6khz. Remove and add, in and around those freqs to get the desired sound. But i also suggest to experiment with the whole spectrum.... :? 2am... :-?

anonymous Mon, 08/15/2005 - 17:45

agree with well tuned drum...

I recently got a fantastic kick sound using an Audix D6 inside kick drum and a D3 outside. I'm not a fan of excessive drum miking but that combo really did sound bombastic. Slappy, punchy, and still had a deep tight thud that was not boomy.

If you can afford to get a "kick drum mic" like the D6, it will save you some time with EQs since it has a freq response slope very well suited for kick drums. I generally don't like things that have gear with something already "done for you", but in this case it really delivers.

anonymous Tue, 08/16/2005 - 02:37

i have worked at the studio that both albums were recorded at (Big Fish Studio in Encinitas), and I happen to be friends with Evan White who played guitar in AILD on their last album (frail words collapse). I asked him a bunch of questions about the recording when they made the last record.

kick drum was triggered. they tried to get the sound without triggering, but with that style, it has to be triggered. however i've seen them live a dozen times or so, and jordan is a badass drummer, and he hits HARD. the dude plays double bass drums in effing steel toe boots. i can give you a list of mics at the studio, but i don't think that will help. i don't know if they used protools or not, the studio doesn't own a protools rig, they have to rent one when doing the digital thing.

anyway, i've recorded my share of metal drums, and all i can say is...soundreplacer. the closest sound i have gotten naturally is using 3 mics on kick. fet47 on the shell, ns10 speaker about 6" out, and a sm57 inside the kick. i mixed them until it sounded metal enough.

also, i do know that big fish studio has a large API console and some REALLY nice mics. the room has one of the best drum sounds i've ever heard.

cheers,

steve

therecordingart Wed, 08/17/2005 - 06:54

Triggers are the key in metal! Most, if not all modern rock/metal bands are either triggering exclusively or blending their recorded drums with triggers. The good thing is that a decent module for triggers can be had for about $300!

I don't want to sound rude, but, should there he a thread covering modern drum mic'ing/mixing technique? I know that is a huge thing to cover, but it can just brush the surface of trigger use, phase correction, and a few ways to get "that sound" (i.e. reverb before a gate so you can slam reverb on the track without killing the whole tune).