Could I get some drummers to critique this drumsound for me?,

[The*Ataris]

Hey, anyone want to tell me if this hi-hat in these songs is WAY too obnoxious? I'm trying to record some stuff for some friends so they can get some out of town shows and whatnot and I'm trying to do them justice...

 

Or just give a critique in general:

 

Link to Purevolume.com site (no signups whatsoever!)

 

"Fall Away" and "Bed of Lies" are the songs in question. "Fall away" was pretty much band practice with vocals overdubbed and "Bed of Lies" I actually tried to make the drums sound even. I don't know if I've suceeded or not--I've heard it too many times.

 

I'd really appreciate a drummer's opinion if anyone could spare some time...

 

Thank you

[Thexder]

I'll give my impression as a listener's outside perspective regardless of any drumming experience

 

I didn't notice anything stand out to me about the hats throughout the song in Fall away but there's something about the crashing going on in the opening, and the snare....it's like the snare is either tuned or miked or mixed strangely, as if maybe it's more loud than it is cutting? And in comparison there feels to be something lesser present about the toms. And as the song comes near an end while I write this, I forgot to think about the kick. I don't think I can hear one!

 

And who is the vocalist, nickelback or Bush?

 

Ok let's hear bed of lies...it does sound more even, and I can hear the kick now. The snare presence has averaged out, the toms seem brought more upfront, but once again I feel the snare isn't cutting, and I wouldn't know how to suggest improving it. The cymbals, the only thing strange about them is it sounds like they're piped through a worn out 80's tape that's going tinny and thin and losing grip, you know that feeling you get where "Why dosen't someone hurry up and invent the CD so I don't keep having this issue after playing so many times".

[ulank]

 

Originally posted by Thexder I'll give my impression as a listener's outside perspective regardless of any drumming experience I didn't notice anything stand out to me about the hats throughout the song in Fall away but there's something about the crashing going on in the opening, and the snare....it's like the snare is either tuned or miked or mixed strangely, as if maybe it's more loud than it is cutting? And in comparison there feels to be something lesser present about the toms. And as the song comes near an end while I write this, I forgot to think about the kick. I don't think I can hear one! And who is the vocalist, nickelback or Bush? Ok let's hear bed of lies...it does sound more even, and I can hear the kick now. The snare presence has averaged out, the toms seem brought more upfront, but once again I feel the snare isn't cutting, and I wouldn't know how to suggest improving it. The cymbals, the only thing strange about them is it sounds like they're piped through a worn out 80's tape that's going tinny and thin and losing grip, you know that feeling you get where "Why dosen't someone hurry up and invent the CD so I don't keep having this issue after playing so many times".

 

 

Yah, I listened only to Bed of Lies and can't tell if it's the file compression or the compression on the recording, but there's definitely some pumping and breathing going on giving that "ole worn out tape" sound.

 

Listening to Fall Away, yah, the kick is lost quite a bit, but I actually like the top end/cymbals a lot better on this one. I think it's all much clearer. The hats are touch loud, but nothing outrageous. If anything, I think the drums are a tad too present in this mix, so you might be able to get by with having the guitars and bass a tad louder. Just make sure that snare doesn't disappear and bring up that kick. But I really think a lot of the cymbal issues will go away with hotter guitars.

[drummer_jay]

Hmm..

 

"Bed of lies"

Honestly overall I think it sounds pretty damn good. The toms might be a tiny tiny tiny bit to quite. The hi-hat is slightly out of control sometimes, but I can't tell if thats a EQ problem or bad hi-hats. When closed they sound great, but when they're opened up.. they do get really sloppy. I've found that turing down the "highs" in any overhead mics is a must to cut down on that "tin" sound.

 

Over all, I think it sounds pretty good... pretty damn good...

 

What kind of equipment are you using? Mics, recording device?

 

--Jason

[drummer_jay]

Just got another question... How did you get that muffled vocal sound in "fall away" at the end??

[The*Ataris]

Hey, thank you everyone...

 

Here's the catch...

 

"fall away" was recorded using three mics, no kick...I didn't record the base tracks for this song. I just did the overdubs and mix.

 

"bed of lies" was more traditionally miked...

 

Everything was plugged into a Mackie or Behringer mixer and recorded into stereo inputs of my laptop. I don't own a multichannel interface anymore so everything was set on input...it was pretty hard. I would have turned the kick drum up a bit in retrospect. I kranked the highs on the overheads on "bed of lies"...not a good thing I guess? It was a different mic...switched over to an MXL603 from an AT3035.

 

Those hihats are so hard though...I've gotten them out of the snare mic as much as I can; they're just in the overheads too much. The cymbals themselves are just friggin' loud. The guy doesn't beat the hell out of them.

 

They're 13" Zildjian (Sp?) K dark/heavy I think...something along those lines. Definitely more of a jazz style hihat. Cuts through really well live but is just impossible for this application (I don't have any outboard compression to work with). Oh well, I can live with "a touch loud" or "not too obnoxious" here....just trying to get some demos done...

 

Are the drums too loud? Man, since when does a guitar player do that?

 

 

The telephone-style vocals at the end are just some tricky EQ. When you cuts highs and lows and leave ugly upper midrange. I think it's between 750hz and 1.5khz--somewhere in there...that whole thing was an accident actually. I still don't know how it happened...

 

Nickelback? Oh man... That hurts!

 

Just a 19 year old who smokes too much I guess...he sounds more country to me than anything