DonnyThompson
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2012
- Location
- Akron/Cleveland, OH
So for years now, at least since DAWs have given us the ability to move audio files around by infinitesimal amounts within a time line, I've both read and talked to other engineers about time aligning the overhead drum mics to the Snare and Kick...
I know there's also software available that can apparently time align those mics/tracks, although I've never used it.
On a recent song/mix I was working on, I thought I'd experiment with doing this alignment manually; that is, moving the overhead tracks to align with the Snare. I chose the Snare simply because of the physics of it, in that the Snare mic is so close to the head that it presents the least amount of time delay on the kit. Even the kick - at least the way I mic it with the mic outside the front head port - has a little more time delay than the Snare mic does.
So, I saved the project I was working on, then saved a copy with the title "Time Align Test". I then zoomed into the Snare track so that I was actually down to the individual sample- accurate level; I dropped the cursor there, scrolled down a bit to the overheads, and pulled them forward to match the Snare hit on the overheads to the direct Snare track. I then aligned the kick and toms in the same ways. I really had no expectations either way, this was a true test that I wanted to be able to A/B myself with the project that wasn't time aligned.
And here's what I heard:
The drums instantly sounded "tighter", more defined, they had more clarity, more punch, and there was a pesky 300hz thing that had been happening in the previous version of the project that was now gone.
At first I wondered if this was a "power of suggestion" thing. Did it really sound better, or did I just think it sounded better because of what I had done?
I A/B'd both mixes several times. There was no doubt that the time aligned version sounded better to my ears... more clarity, more definition. Less "mud" and "saggy" sound in the low end.
I'm curious to see what my colleagues here think, if they have ever worked with time alignment, and if so, what their perceptions were... did you find it helped? Hurt? No difference?
Just curious...
-D.
I know there's also software available that can apparently time align those mics/tracks, although I've never used it.
On a recent song/mix I was working on, I thought I'd experiment with doing this alignment manually; that is, moving the overhead tracks to align with the Snare. I chose the Snare simply because of the physics of it, in that the Snare mic is so close to the head that it presents the least amount of time delay on the kit. Even the kick - at least the way I mic it with the mic outside the front head port - has a little more time delay than the Snare mic does.
So, I saved the project I was working on, then saved a copy with the title "Time Align Test". I then zoomed into the Snare track so that I was actually down to the individual sample- accurate level; I dropped the cursor there, scrolled down a bit to the overheads, and pulled them forward to match the Snare hit on the overheads to the direct Snare track. I then aligned the kick and toms in the same ways. I really had no expectations either way, this was a true test that I wanted to be able to A/B myself with the project that wasn't time aligned.
And here's what I heard:
The drums instantly sounded "tighter", more defined, they had more clarity, more punch, and there was a pesky 300hz thing that had been happening in the previous version of the project that was now gone.
At first I wondered if this was a "power of suggestion" thing. Did it really sound better, or did I just think it sounded better because of what I had done?
I A/B'd both mixes several times. There was no doubt that the time aligned version sounded better to my ears... more clarity, more definition. Less "mud" and "saggy" sound in the low end.
I'm curious to see what my colleagues here think, if they have ever worked with time alignment, and if so, what their perceptions were... did you find it helped? Hurt? No difference?
Just curious...
-D.