Please can I have some advice on snare drums. I currently use a chad
smith Pearl metal snare drum. I like this but when I record I find it
difficult to get a good sound with it as it rings like hell. I use an
o ring to try and reduce the noise and often put dampners on when
recording. I record Rock music and would like a little more warmth to
my snare sound. Also, are there any snare drums that don't make a
racket when not being played ? I am talking about when the bass is
booming and the underneath of the snare rattles away. I have been
drumming for years but never purchased or sampled other equipment. Now
is the time for a new snare , I was thinking of maple or brass ....?
All help appreciated.

Thanks

granners wrote:
Please can I have some advice on snare drums. I currently use a chad
smith Pearl metal snare drum. I like this but when I record I find it
difficult to get a good sound with it as it rings like hell. I use an
o ring to try and reduce the noise and often put dampners on when
recording.

There's no single "do-this-and-it'll-work" answer here.

Firstly metal shelled snares tend to have more projection and volume and
less resonance and warmth, compared to wooden shelled snares.

What heads are you using? Double or single ply on the batter side?
What thickness head do you have on the reso side? What tension are you
using on the reso side compared to the batter side...

I record Rock music and would like a little more warmth to
my snare sound.

By warmth, people usually mean a more resonant sound. Metal shelled
snares (I am generalising somewhat here) tend not to fall into the "warm
and resonant" category.

Also mic choice dramatically alters the recorded timbre. E.G. A Shure
Beta 98 on a metal shelled drum sounds thin and rather weak. Put a
Shure Beta 56 on the same drum, and the sound is immediately fattened up.

Also, try splitting the snare channel out of your desk, through a
compressor, and back into the desk on a separate channel. Now mix the
direct and compressed signals together. This should give more body to
the snare sound. (AKA the New York snare trick)

Also, are there any snare drums that don't make a
racket when not being played ? I am talking about when the bass is
booming and the underneath of the snare rattles away.

This is simply a tuning issue. If all your drums are tuned to exact
harmonic intervals, then sympathetic resonance will be inevitable.

Go to http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml - It will tell you
everything you ever wanted to know about drum tuning.

I have been drumming for years but never purchased or sampled other equipment.

So have I. 19, to be exact.

Now is the time for a new snare , I was thinking of maple or brass ....?

If you want warmth and resonance, check out the wooden shelled snares.
If you want volume and projection, check out the metal shelled snares.

A wooden, stave shelled snare will typically give you a really warm
sound, but they ain't cheap...

If you want a top quality snare, then check out http://www.dunnett.com,
http://www.ayottedrums.com or http://www.spaundrums.com

Chris W

--
The voice of ignorance speaks loud and long,
but the words of the wise are quiet and few.
--

I love metal snares, but if you really want warmth and like pearl snares,
get a MRX or BRX snare drum

Dave
"Chris Whealy" wrote in message
...
granners wrote:
Please can I have some advice on snare drums. I currently use a chad
smith Pearl metal snare drum. I like this but when I record I find it
difficult to get a good sound with it as it rings like hell. I use an
o ring to try and reduce the noise and often put dampners on when
recording.

There's no single "do-this-and-it'll-work" answer here.

Firstly metal shelled snares tend to have more projection and volume and
less resonance and warmth, compared to wooden shelled snares.

What heads are you using? Double or single ply on the batter side?
What thickness head do you have on the reso side? What tension are you
using on the reso side compared to the batter side...

I record Rock music and would like a little more warmth to
my snare sound.

By warmth, people usually mean a more resonant sound. Metal shelled
snares (I am generalising somewhat here) tend not to fall into the "warm
and resonant" category.

Also mic choice dramatically alters the recorded timbre. E.G. A Shure
Beta 98 on a metal shelled drum sounds thin and rather weak. Put a
Shure Beta 56 on the same drum, and the sound is immediately fattened up.

Also, try splitting the snare channel out of your desk, through a
compressor, and back into the desk on a separate channel. Now mix the
direct and compressed signals together. This should give more body to
the snare sound. (AKA the New York snare trick)

Also, are there any snare drums that don't make a
racket when not being played ? I am talking about when the bass is
booming and the underneath of the snare rattles away.

This is simply a tuning issue. If all your drums are tuned to exact
harmonic intervals, then sympathetic resonance will be inevitable.

Go to http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml - It will tell you
everything you ever wanted to know about drum tuning.

I have been drumming for years but never purchased or sampled other
equipment.

So have I. 19, to be exact.

Now is the time for a new snare , I was thinking of maple or brass ....?

If you want warmth and resonance, check out the wooden shelled snares.
If you want volume and projection, check out the metal shelled snares.

A wooden, stave shelled snare will typically give you a really warm
sound, but they ain't cheap...

If you want a top quality snare, then check out http://www.dunnett.com,
http://www.ayottedrums.com or http://www.spaundrums.com

Chris W

--
The voice of ignorance speaks loud and long,
but the words of the wise are quiet and few.
--

(granners) wrote in
m:

Please can I have some advice on snare drums. I currently use a chad
smith Pearl metal snare drum. I like this but when I record I find it
difficult to get a good sound with it as it rings like hell. I use an
o ring to try and reduce the noise and often put dampners on when
recording. I record Rock music and would like a little more warmth to
my snare sound. Also, are there any snare drums that don't make a
racket when not being played ? I am talking about when the bass is
booming and the underneath of the snare rattles away. I have been
drumming for years but never purchased or sampled other equipment. Now
is the time for a new snare , I was thinking of maple or brass ....?
All help appreciated.

Thanks

Try a 8" deep wooden ludwig snare. I also have a wooden picolo that's as
thick as a conga drum -- also very fat sounding for being so small. Drum
heads and tuning of course also affect tone and ring. Loosening one
tuning lug can help shape a sound with experimentation, also, try some
gaffer tape and cotton, also there is some new sticky stuff you put on
like silly putty -- these are all less deadoning than the o-ring. You can
try loosening the top snare head to almost completely dead (ala AC/DC).
All in all the snare can have many diffent sounds hidden within it. Try
to get something you like then put a mic to it

Best,

Dave

I like this but when I record I find it
difficult to get a good sound with it as it rings like hell. I use an
o ring to try and reduce the noise and often put dampners on when
recording.


You might try putting an extra head upside down on top...I had some really
amazing results recently with this, although he was using brushes...might
not work with sticks. Splitting the signal and compressing one before
mixing will also warm it up. Also try micing the bottom as well as the top.

best of luck,
Brian

Brian Standefer wrote:
You might try putting an extra head upside down on top...

How does this work then? An extra batter head mounted the wrong way up?
Won't that destroy the rim of the skin?

Double ply or single ply?

Chris

--
The voice of ignorance speaks loud and long,
but the words of the wise are quiet and few.
--

"granners" wrote in message
m
Please can I have some advice on snare drums. I currently use a chad
smith Pearl metal snare drum. I like this but when I record I find it
difficult to get a good sound with it as it rings like hell.

If your editing software has an spectral analysis function like Audition or
SoundForge, you just highlight the ringing part of a drum hit, and see where
the ringing lies in the frequency domain. Last time I did this for a drum
(Tom) I found dual hi-Q resonance's at 85 and 170 Hz. A little quiet
communion with a parametric equalizer and that was pretty well that. The
rhythm still came through, and I could have as much or as little ringing as
I wanted.

Now if you're talking about the rattling of the snares, that's a different
story.

I had this problem with a drummer I recorded a few months ago. His
snare had a big, ugly ring, and as I was monitoring on headphones,
suddenly it went away and the snare sounded GREAT.

I asked the drummer if what he'd done... he'd put his wallet on the
top head of the snare, next to the lower rim. We recorded all his
drum tracks that way.

(granners) wrote in message om...
Please can I have some advice on snare drums. I currently use a chad
smith Pearl metal snare drum. I like this but when I record I find it
difficult to get a good sound with it as it rings like hell. I use an
o ring to try and reduce the noise and often put dampners on when
recording. I record Rock music and would like a little more warmth to
my snare sound. Also, are there any snare drums that don't make a
racket when not being played ? I am talking about when the bass is
booming and the underneath of the snare rattles away. I have been
drumming for years but never purchased or sampled other equipment. Now
is the time for a new snare , I was thinking of maple or brass ....?
All help appreciated.

Thanks

In article ,
(eric) writes:

I had this problem with a drummer I recorded a few months ago. His
snare had a big, ugly ring, and as I was monitoring on headphones,
suddenly it went away and the snare sounded GREAT.

I asked the drummer if what he'd done... he'd put his wallet on the
top head of the snare, next to the lower rim. We recorded all his
drum tracks that way.

Welcome to snare muffling 101. Next we'll discuss duct tape, then moon gel and
next semester we'll get into drum tuning.

Garth~


"I think the fact that music can come up a wire is a miracle."
Ed Cherney

In article ,
(Garthrr) wrote:

In article ,
(eric) writes:

I had this problem with a drummer I recorded a few months ago. His
snare had a big, ugly ring, and as I was monitoring on headphones,
suddenly it went away and the snare sounded GREAT.

I asked the drummer if what he'd done... he'd put his wallet on the
top head of the snare, next to the lower rim. We recorded all his
drum tracks that way.

Welcome to snare muffling 101. Next we'll discuss duct tape, then moon gel and
next semester we'll get into drum tuning.

Garth~


"I think the fact that music can come up a wire is a miracle."
Ed Cherney

I can remember, in a pinch, having to use those thick tampons

Steve

It looks like everyone's already answered most of your questions
regarding a warmer sound. I can't really add anything there as I'd
suggest a nice wooden shell drum. But, for the snare noise...you can
always try another type of snare wire on the bottom. I've been using
these wires made by Grover and they're not as springy as the cheap,
chrome plated crap that most drums come with. You might look into
something like this. Here's a link to the Grover site....
http://www.groverpro.com/perftext.htm
The snares are a little bit down the page. They come in a variety of
different configurations with descriptions like "dark jazz" or "bright
stadium". They're pretty cool though. I got lucky and found a bunch
at the last guitar center blowout sell last summer....got about 6
pairs for $5ea. I've got them on everything from my old Luddy Supras
to vintage wooden Rogers, Slings and a few others. I haven't found a
drum they sound bad on.
Later,
m

If you visit the rec.music.makers.percussion group, you'll get an even
bigger earful of suggestions.

--
Jedd Haas - Artist
http://www.gallerytungsten.com
http://www.antijazz.com
http://www.epsno.com

Jedd Haas wrote:
If you visit the rec.music.makers.percussion group, you'll get an even
bigger earful of suggestions.


Ah yes, RMMP. That's a zoo if there ever was an NG!

I've posted there for several years, and learned alot. There are lots
of very experienced people there with good advice to offer. There are
also lots of people there who should be ignored - no matter how
inflamatory or offensive their replies are.

Its important in any NG, but doubly so in RMMP - don't feed the trolls.

Chris

--
The voice of ignorance speaks loud and long,
but the words of the wise are quiet and few.
--

Thank you very much for all your posts, it has been most helpful.
thanks
john