Members frosty55 Posted June 21, 2010 Members Share Posted June 21, 2010 Having recorded the drumkit on our recent demo recording, on mixdown I notice that the Crash cymbal is louder than the other cymbals. Can I smooth out the overheads with compression?The only compressor at my disposal is the Alesis Nanoverb, cheap, I know.Its an anologue recording and the overheads are recorded onto one track.What settings on the nanoverb would be a start?Hard Knee, Soft Knee, RMS, Ratio?....Any advice appreciated thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 It's been so long since I've even seen a NanoCompressor (and I'm assuming that's what you meant - IIRC, there's no "compression" on a NanoVerb) that I don't even recall what features that little box has. Does it have peak AND RMS settings on it? Separate attack, release, ratio and threshold controls? I'd try it set as a limiter with a fairly high threshold - high enough to let the other cymbals and drums pass through without any gain reduction, but low enough to "grab" that hot crash cymbal. Fast attack / medium to fast release.. too fast and it's going to "pump" on you though. Any chance you can retrack the drums? In your situation, I'd consider that first if at all possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted June 22, 2010 Members Share Posted June 22, 2010 Phil collins did alot of recordings using overheads with compression. It was quite accidental how it happened. They had a compressor on the talkback mic and liked the sound so much they used it in the recordings. Thus started a new drum sound he was noted for that lasted for quite a while in the 80s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted June 23, 2010 Members Share Posted June 23, 2010 I don't know anything about your compressor, but I think a multiband compressor would be ideal. You could zero in on the crash cymbal and leave the rest of the drums more or less alone. If that's out of the question maybe you could scoop out a little with a parametric eq. If this is a true "demo", you can probably get away with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted June 23, 2010 Members Share Posted June 23, 2010 The problem with trying to change the balance of cymbals in the overhead tracks is that the overheads are not supposed to be cymbal mics. They're supposed to capture a representation of an entire kit. Getting a decent snare sound absolutely depends on the overheads IMO. If you mess with the overheads too much, you're going to create repercussions for the rest of the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 23, 2010 Members Share Posted June 23, 2010 Try applying a de-esser on your overheads, zero it in on the offending cymbal(s), and see where that gets you. That and a little volume automation usually works. If it doesn't, try moving the offending part of the drum track to another track and EQing it separately will almost assuredly help, especially in conjunction with the aforementioned de-esser and/or volume automation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 23, 2010 Members Share Posted June 23, 2010 This de-esser idea is not terribly unlike Hulston Pickle's idea of multi-band compression. No, of course de-essing is not multi-band compression, but it comes from a related idea. Good luck, and hope it all works out. If you don't have access to either of these, try drawing in volume automation, as I mentioned above...or the idea that follows that. One or a combination of de-essing, volume automation, and separate EQing almost always works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TBush Posted June 23, 2010 Members Share Posted June 23, 2010 If you don't have access to either of these, try drawing in volume automation, as I mentioned above...or the idea that follows that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Guys - one major consideration that I think some of you missed from the original post is that it is an ANALOG recording and the Alesis is the "only compressor at (their) disposal" - unless the OP wants to transfer it into a computer DAW program (and it would be presumptive to assume s/he even has one...) things like multi-band compression, de-essers and volume automation are pretty much out of he question... although definitely good suggestions otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted June 23, 2010 Members Share Posted June 23, 2010 Guys - one major consideration that I think some of you missed from the original post is that it is an ANALOG recording and the Alesis is the "only compressor at (their) disposal" - unless the OP wants to transfer it into a computer DAW program (and it would be presumptive to assume s/he even has one...) things like multi-band compression, de-essers and volume automation are pretty much out of he question... although definitely good suggestions otherwise. Whooops, missed that. In that case, I revise my answer to "no." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted June 23, 2010 Members Share Posted June 23, 2010 In that case, grabbing the board, if you have one, and ducking it with a little volume and EQ as the offending thing comes by, or turning the compressor into a de-esser or frequency-dependent compressor by tying it to an EQ, if this is possible, might be the best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TBush Posted June 25, 2010 Members Share Posted June 25, 2010 Guys - one major consideration that I think some of you missed from the original post is that it is an ANALOG recording... Can you draw automation right on the tape? Yeah, I missed that part... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members offramp Posted July 7, 2010 Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Phil collins did alot of recordings using overheads with compression. It was quite accidental how it happened. They had a compressor on the talkback mic and liked the sound so much they used it in the recordings. Thus started a new drum sound he was noted for that lasted for quite a while in the 80s And it's now available as a free plug-in from SSL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted July 8, 2010 Moderators Share Posted July 8, 2010 It's always a compromise playing "fix-its". Ultimately you want it tracked like you want it, right? So you stuck with what you don't want... You need to determine if the "fix" is going to be something you like. It won't turn it into that balanced overhead capture you dream of, but it might get you to a place where you like the artifacts you've imposed on it and see them as style, and you get the benefits of some that pesky crash getting toned down. So yes, I'd try slamming the compressor and seeing if the vibe works for you and lessons the pain of the csshhhh. I'd sweep the eq and find the pain notch and take it out and see if you like it. I might distort the overheads even and roll of some highs going for a lo-fi approach and see if you like it. In other words, sometimes experiments like this can take you places that are cool. But you need to pay attention and see if you like it. This requires thinking like an engineer and an artist. And next time try to expand your awareness during tracking to listen for this very thing. Use this experience to make you more seasoned at getting what you want out on the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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