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Thread: When I go to the studio..

  1. #1

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    Default When I go to the studio..

    Hey all,

    The band is heading to the studio some time soon.


    How do I get the best sound out of my bass drum? I really want to be able to hear it in the music. I'm using a Super Kicked 1 on it... any suggestions?

  2. #2

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    Default Re: When I go to the studio..

    Do what the engineer says.

  3. #3

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    Default Re: When I go to the studio..

    Isn't there something called a subkick?
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  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Do what the engineer says.
    ^^Right there. It's the job of the engineer to make it sound right. Just make sure you're tuned up and ready to go.
    Robert

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  5. #5

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    i second lagerhead and NR
    The only way to catch a butterfly is never waiting for the wings.

  6. #6

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    The above advice is very correct. The studio engineer should give you the sound you want. The way mine is setup is with an audix D6 about 1/2" from the batter head with a subkick mic about 1-1.5" from the resonant head. That gives me the concussive force I want with subkick and the attack from the D6 with EQ and compression and the 400hz cut with the EQ), but it is very dependant on you rmusical preference, style of playing and room acoustics matched with the size of the bass drum, the material it is made from and finally how it is dampened. If I were you I would work closely with the studio/mix engineer and discuss the direction you want your sound to go and review your tracks with him/her and ask a ton of questions.

  7. #7

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    yup. Exactly what Lagerhead said. I've never recorded, but I know that's the truth!!
    PHROGGE'S AQUARIAN ARMY
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  8. #8

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    It is a little more then just the kick, it involves all of the lower frequencies, IE kick and bass guitar for the most part.

    The trick is to get the bass drum and the bass guitar to work together scenically. There are tricks but the most common I have heard of and I actually uses is to pick a frequency rang for the kick say 200-600 and pump that up a little while cutting a hole in the bass guitar in the same rang. You can do this anywhere in the lower frequency ranges and get it to work and you can of course do it the exact opposite as well.

    The main thing again is to have an idea of the sound you are after and discuss it in pre-production.

    The more you learn about recording and mixing the more you will appreciate a really good engineer ;-)
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  9. #9

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    Also when your in the studio, dont be afraid of muffling, or even removing your reso head for that big whoomp! You'd be suprised at how many recorded kick drums are resoless with a big pillow in them. So if you dont want gaffer tape on your heads, bring a pack of moon gel with you as well.

    Heres some advice for when you get to the studio
    1. Have your kit in good mechanical shape and SQUEEK FREE!
    2. Have your kit pretuned, but be prepared to tweek it in the studio.
    3. Set up and tear down quickly. Most studios charge by the hour.
    4. Know your parts.
    5. Practice playing to a click.
    6. Listen to the engineer and do what he wants. He knows how to get a good sound out of his studio. Dont get all caught up in the "I dont muffle" mindset.
    7. Dont worry about 1 bad snare hit or kick whatever, they can punch in a good one later. In other words dont stop playing the track unless you really screw up or the producer/engineer tells you to. He may have heard the mistake but can fix it later and doesnt want to loose the rest of the take.
    8. HAVE FUN!

  10. #10

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    We were in the studio on friday just gone, i set my kit up then the engineer spent about 15/20 minutes doing the mics then i went through hitting each tom and my snare for him to get the right levels, We recorded live then put the vocals on top after then he mixed it all together, hardest part was getting used to playing through headphones, It was such a good day and a wicked experience..Have fun.
    Last edited by markthechuck; 06-16-2009 at 07:41 AM.
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  11. #11

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    what bands do you want the kick drum to sound like?
    if you want the kick to cut through the mix you will need the engineer or mixer to crank up the higher frequencies
    keep the low end too but if you crank up 2Khz on the kick EQ it will cut through more
    There' a fine line between getting this clarity and making it sound too 'clicky'
    Last edited by brutal juice; 08-07-2009 at 01:59 AM.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Do what the engineer says.
    Exactly right , once he mics the drums the sound will getted mixed and you may not need to do a thing to them .
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  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Do what the engineer says.
    +1

    if you can just simply play the kit that the studio has, it will solve lots of problems

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by nucjd View Post
    The above advice is very correct. The studio engineer should give you the sound you want. The way mine is setup is with an audix D6 about 1/2" from the batter head with a subkick mic about 1-1.5" from the resonant head. That gives me the concussive force I want with subkick and the attack from the D6 with EQ and compression and the 400hz cut with the EQ), but it is very dependant on you rmusical preference, style of playing and room acoustics matched with the size of the bass drum, the material it is made from and finally how it is dampened. If I were you I would work closely with the studio/mix engineer and discuss the direction you want your sound to go and review your tracks with him/her and ask a ton of questions.
    do you phase reverse the reso or batter mic on the kick?
    I have found in the past running a batter and reso mic pointing in opposite directions makes the drum sound weak unless you reverse phase one of the 2 mics...
    also do you mic up reso heads on other drums in your kit?
    I normally just mic up the batter heads on the toms and snare and mic the reso head on the kick (preferably inserted into a front hole slightly)

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Do what the engineer says.
    depends how much the engineer knows... not all of them are experts on the sound or style you may want.
    The engineer needs to listen to the band and or producer or whoever is paying them to create the sound they want. How the engineer goes about achieving that sound is their business but they need direction from the drummer about how the drums should sound.
    Remember they are working for you. That said - you obviously don't want to piss them off if you want the recording to go well and their advice is always worth listening to.

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by brutal juice View Post
    depends how much the engineer knows... not all of them are experts on the sound or style you may want.
    .
    Then you are at the wrong studio.

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by brutal juice View Post
    do you phase reverse the reso or batter mic on the kick?
    I have found in the past running a batter and reso mic pointing in opposite directions makes the drum sound weak unless you reverse phase one of the 2 mics...
    also do you mic up reso heads on other drums in your kit?
    I normally just mic up the batter heads on the toms and snare and mic the reso head on the kick (preferably inserted into a front hole slightly)
    yeah, phase is reversed. I love a BIG sound (not loud). My brother ( studio engineer) and myself will play with phase a lot. It is amazing how flat and thin a drum or overhead will sound if phased wrong.

    I also mic my reso on my snare as well as my batter which requires me to reverse the phase o the reso mic. Again I like a BIG snare sound which is deep and cuts. This will do the job. The reso mic needs to be gated or you will hear an awful lot of snare buzz.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by nucjd View Post
    yeah, phase is reversed.
    The reso mic needs to be gated or you will hear an awful lot of snare buzz.
    sweet - depending on your gear you may also get pedal squeaks etc so the gate on the snare reso to cut rattles etc is a great way to go.
    I normally apply gates to tracks after recording just incase i'm not happy with the gate settings after the take; and I have lost any valuble soundz...

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Then you are at the wrong studio.
    I guess the point I'm trying to make is that traditionally its not the engineer's job to decide how your band sounds - that is for the band, producer and to some extent the mixer and masterer to decide.
    If you get the engineer to tune your drum kit you are wasting time and money of your fellow band members who are obviously not expecting the engineer to spend a couple hours tuning their instruments.
    Get your kit sounding how you like it before you hit the studio - that's all based on your own taste. help the engineer by bringing in a couple of CDs of other bands with the drum sound you want.
    That said, Northern Redneck - I would still take any muffling, mic placement advice of the engineer seriously as they know how to get the best results out of the accoustic environment and the mics they are using.
    Following advice from the engineer is important but so is giving the engineer clear directives about what you want.

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by brutal juice View Post
    I guess the point I'm trying to make is that traditionally its not the engineer's job to decide how your band sounds - that is for the band, producer and to some extent the mixer and masterer to decide.
    If you get the engineer to tune your drum kit you are wasting time and money of your fellow band members who are obviously not expecting the engineer to spend a couple hours tuning their instruments.
    Get your kit sounding how you like it before you hit the studio - that's all based on your own taste. help the engineer by bringing in a couple of CDs of other bands with the drum sound you want.
    That said, Northern Redneck - I would still take any muffling, mic placement advice of the engineer seriously as they know how to get the best results out of the accoustic environment and the mics they are using.
    Following advice from the engineer is important but so is giving the engineer clear directives about what you want.

    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Also when your in the studio, dont be afraid of muffling, or even removing your reso head for that big whoomp! You'd be suprised at how many recorded kick drums are resoless with a big pillow in them. So if you dont want gaffer tape on your heads, bring a pack of moon gel with you as well.

    Heres some advice for when you get to the studio
    1. Have your kit in good mechanical shape and SQUEEK FREE!
    2. Have your kit pretuned, but be prepared to tweek it in the studio.
    3. Set up and tear down quickly. Most studios charge by the hour.
    4. Know your parts.
    5. Practice playing to a click.
    6. Listen to the engineer and do what he wants. He knows how to get a good sound out of his studio. Dont get all caught up in the "I dont muffle" mindset.
    7. Dont worry about 1 bad snare hit or kick whatever, they can punch in a good one later. In other words dont stop playing the track unless you really screw up or the producer/engineer tells you to. He may have heard the mistake but can fix it later and doesnt want to loose the rest of the take.
    8. HAVE FUN!
    Last edited by Northern Redneck; 08-11-2009 at 02:09 PM.

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