These videos really help me a lot! I'm just an enthusiastic, with no professional knowledge, I work with my own experience and with the stuff that I learn thanks to videos like this. There were some points in EQ and noise isolation that I've never thought about. This is a really useful and understandable video. I liked the way you explained all stuff, step by step. Thank you so much!
Great videos, I'm just getting into sound recording and they're really helping me out. Just a quick question though, I see you using a Presonus firepod FP-10 in these vids. Would you recommend it ? Because I read some reviews where people said they were having issues with it not syncing on random occasions, and then syncing back randomly. How is it working out for you, because I am thinking of purchasing it to record my drums.
1 quick question, I am using the recording software Audacity, is it possible to put each microphone into different tracks so I can noise gate them, if so how do I put a noise gate on each drum? (Besides the snare and overheads) Thanks
The diagrams are nice man, you explain things well, and I think you should be a sound production teacher somewhere. The drums sound good man, can you post a video on how to tune drums for recording? or is there already one you've posted
I personally would have made the overheads a tad louder. Otherwise, sounded good! Your tutorials are very creative and informative. Greetings from close to home! (I'm in Jax Beach)
a fair coment and thank you for your reply.i managed to get a profesional sound man to come over to the rehersal room and he set the gates to whot he thought would be ok.on the gig night i just had to turn down the threshold to stop bleed to other mikes and i was amazed at the differance the gates made.it tightend the kit and stopped all the after undesirable boing if you get my drift.thanks again and ceep up the brill work you are putting in to help others.cheers jez
Thanks! I'm really glad you found these helpful....I like the way you described the effect (tightened the kit); it fits very well. I can't imagine recording without them now that I use them!
I considered this, but I really think it will vary so much depending on the mics, interface, gain settings, software, etc that you use that my settings likely wouldn't be anywhere close to what you'd end up using - EQ is different, so I tried to give ballpark settings for those, but I think it's best to just do trial and error with noise gates.
Great sounding drums and great job with explanations! Thanks so much! I would like to know if you could tell me your EQ setting details (frequencies and gains) for toms, bass, snare and overheads, as well as noise gate settings!! Im having sooo much difficulty with it and just love the sound of your drums!! Thanks so much again and great job explaining :))
Hi - I've just watched your 6 parts on drum recording and want to say thanks. I found it really useful. I record my own drums and am now going to try some of your techniques to improve my recordings. I appreciate the effort you have put into making really good videos, which are engaging and explain things really clearly . Rock on. Greetings from the UK. Stuart.
duuude like no homo bt i luv honestly yur explanations r jus so good like u honestly dnt know how much u helped thank you so much dude thank you so much
Thanks so much for these videos! My band is a bit limited by the equipment we have, but your tutorials gave me A LOT of valuable info I can use when we record some demos next week.
yea but when the gate opens you get all those bleeding stuff that u "crossed out" in the draw... thats why i hate gates coz u hear bleedings while the tom or whatever hits that time..
Sure, stuff bleeds in - but the sound of the tom (or whatever) generally overpowers that, plus overhead mics capture everything together and help balance all the sound out. With the right balance of everything with trial and error, noise gates really help clean everything up and you can't hear other stuff kicking in once it's all pu together.
@SnareSpectre pretty good videos tho i enjoyed em all and u explain well :P but sometimes i think,its good to let the bliddings sound becoz they fatten the overhead-overall sound cuz u get frequencies from different places,don't u think? ? so id prefer better a noise gate that doesnt eliminate everything bellow the threshold but drops to half volume :)
I know it's possible because I've heard it before, but I honestly do not know how to reproduce the sound live. I'm sure there's some way to put the sound through your computer, and then have the computer's "out" be what projects to a live audience (so all the effects are applied in real-time and then sent to the speakers), but since I've hardly ever played live with any bands and never used mics in a live situation, I would just be shooting in the dark on how to help you with that!
I have been looking for hours on the computer for a great tutorial on drum micing. This was by far one of the best tutorials on here. I have learned more information than out of every book I read or guide I watched on the computer. Yes, I have questions though. I have an AW16G Audio Work Station that is NOT connected to my computer. I also have a very old Mixer, Peavy Unity Series 2000. Could you possibly do a shorter tutorial (Does not have to be fancy) on recording without a computer?
Glad to hear they helped you out! I can't do a tutorial on just using the mixer right now because I'm at school and away from the drums, but I can try my best to help you out - I'll send you a PM, so check your inbox if you haven't already.
Hello again and thanks for taking the time to reply.
I think you commented in one of your other videos that the software you use is Cubase? I wonder if you might consider doing another couple of tutorials in Cubase showing how you apply/configure each part of the process?
Not only am I just getting my head around mics / processing etc - I am also just finding my feet inside Cubase as well so [for me] it would be very helpful to see how you reach the final [impressive] drum sound.
Hi there - watched all your videos regarding drum micing and recording. Thank you very much! Learned more from you in the last half hour than all the tutorials I have watched put together.
May I ask - when post processing, do you put noise gates on each tom separately or do you have them in a group and applu gate to just that? Same question for reverbs and compressors too?
Incidentally - you have excellent technique too. Excellent playing.
Awesome, glad you like the videos! All of the effects are applied individually to each mic, including noise gates, reverb, and compression. I generally find a sound that I like, then apply the same settings for all of the toms - but each and every mic still has its separate settings. Occasionally I've had to put different noise gates on different toms (like if one has a nearby crash cymbal cutting in a lot more than the others do), but for the most part it's the same.
I second what tpriceQ1 said. These were SO helpful, and you are tremendously talented. Do you have a band? lol If you do, I seriously want to check it out. Thanks so much for doing this and God bless!
man im studying as a sound engineer for nearly 2 years now and your videos on EQ, Reverb, Compression and Gating are far better explained then the notes ive taken in classes and explanations from teachers that i have gone through.
Very interesting on your tom sound! By the way is outstanding! I think your toms have the sound and tone most drummer would die for! Like I always thought, it was a DW thing! LOL I always thought it was DW's shells with matched notes they stamp on the inside of the shells. My question here on the noise gate is. If I have a mikes to my mixer,sound processors feed through the mixer,to my amp with eq,out to speakers. Where does a noise gate go?
Thanks for the kind words! The noise gates are applied in post-processing, through the computer. All the tracks are recorded into the computer, then all my effects (EQ/reverb/compression/noise gates) are applied to those raw tracks after the fact. With the setup you're talking about, you can't use noise gates unless the mixer is capable of it or you put some other piece of equipment in the chain, and I don't know anything about those, really. I have no clue how to do this live :)
All the mics, cables, and audio interface = ~$800 + I already had the computer
I've been putting money into it for the last 10 years, so for everything, it's pretty inexpensive considering the enjoyment I've gotten out of all this over that period of time :)
do you have noise gate settings, cuz while i understand the compnents of the noise gate i still keep getting other sounds in my mics other then the intended drum or the sound gets cut off short, so yeah if you could give me some general settings for each drum id appreciate it, all of your other videos have helped me tremendously thank you
Ok, thanks. By the way how to you get such a good sound on your toms?
I have Evens double coated heads and it seems thay have more of a "plat" plastic sound rather than a good worm tone. I was wondering if single ply coated heads would give me a wormer tone? more of a dooom rather than a plaaat. I do have them tuned correctly. thanks again
If you go back and watch the "EQ" part of this, you'll see that my drums have a really rough sound before applying the EQ. In my opinion, EQ is the most important part of getting any of the drums to sound like you want them - more so than compression, noise gates, reverb, or any other effect.
I would recommend starting with the EQ settings I put in that section of the tutorial (it won't be perfect!) and then tweaking to your liking. Generally, the nasty tom sound comes from the mids in the EQ.
@blakdimon Well, on your tom's, Evans G2 Coated heads will give you a big boom, but you have to have them tuned differently then the normal tuning. To get a lot of low end out of your toms, take the bottom head and crank it up nice and tight, to get all of the resonance you're going to need to project, then with your top heads, finger tighten them, then only give them about a half a turn past that of tension. This will give you a nice fat wet sound from your toms.
blakdimon, everything rhythmkeeper009 said here is more or less how I look at it, too. I'm using Clear Emperors, but from what I understand they're the Remo version of the Evans G2. If the bottom head is tighter than the top, it will give you a nice controllable sound that doesn't ring to eternity. Also, remember that a lot of the sound you hear is because I took out a LOT of mids, so you're only hearing the good low sustain and high attack...none of the mids, or the "plaaat."
hi, im geting a 4 cab pro mics for my 5 pieac drum kit so my rack toms with have to share a mic. The stepup im going to have will have all the mics going to to a mac labtop witch i will use garage band there to mix it but its all going to be one channel. so my questions are will this set up sound adleas (ok) and will those mics pick up the cymbals if i dont use noise gate?? plz let me know what u think!!??
ok, so i have the CAD pro-7 tour pack and a cheap alesis 8 usb mixer..im using Acoustica Mixcraft 5 to record my music, is there any way to add compression and noise gates through mixcraft??? or do i need to use a whole different program to record my music / vocals????
What a tutorial. First I was looking for a budget set of mics when I found the Cad pro 7 and heard some sets on youtube that had them i thought ehhh good enough. THen i got a deal on the Cad Pro 7. (I actually got a 7 and a 4). I then looked up Cad pro 7 to find out how to use them and i found your video. Holy cow! If I can get my drums to sound like yours, then I don't know why anyone would want to spend money on super expensive mics.
I was wondering if you have seperate noise gates for each drum? and do they have xlr inputs for the mics or quater inch input jacks? Any suggestions on decent noisegates for the buck? Do they make rack mounts with several noise gates built into one rack for micing drums? thanks for your reply
Yes, I put separate noise gates on each drum, but all the toms have roughly the same noise gate settings, both the snares have the same, and the bass drum has its own...so it wasn't something that took years to do. :)
All the mics are XLR - no quarter inch at all.
I just use the noise gates that come with Cubase LE, and it's all done on the computer, so I don't use a rack or anything like that...if you watch the "Equipment" part, it goes into more detail.
Hello! This series was an amazing tutorial and really helped me understand not only how to record my drums better, but also general recording. I have one question though. What are the mics you are using or do you recommend for drums?
Awesome videos man! i was looking for a video with a good explanation of compression and reverb and ended knowing about noise gates! pretty nice what you are doing on helping drummers of all levels in their recording
BTW whats the name of the song on this vid?
im almost sure the song is from Liquid Tension Experiment but i dont know what song it is
hey, i'm starting to get into audio stuff with my friends cos we have a band. So we've bought pro tools and are slowly saving up for our own equipment to record songs. Your video has definitely enlightened me to see what there is and what can be done and your explanation is so clear and easy to understand. Cheers and good luck with your work =D Dann from Australia
I wouldn't use noise gates on room mics at all - the purpose of room mics, in my opinion, is to record EVERYTHING, so it keeps the drums from sounding like pre-recorded loops and to tie the rest of the mics together.
Yes. Any video I posted before the Rascal Flatts video has no noise gates and no overheads...it can still work and sound okay if you only have 4 mics - you just have to put in more work to get it there.
Hey, I've seen your videos. You Explain it well, and in a way, were most people can understand you, even if they're english is not that good... I'm a sound guy, i work with it a lot, and work in a music store selling drums and PA solutions rangeing from beginners to pros, and even I can use some of what youve said, for live sound and studio sound.
Great! I'm really glad you think the videos are helpful! That's exactly what I was shooting for, since a lot of beginners have been asking me about how I record stuff in private messages.
More importantly, I'm glad you also like Tama/Zildjian :) Someday when I have enough money, I'd like to get a set of Starclassic Maples, but for now I'm happy playing on my Swingstars, lol.
The room needs to have at least decent acoustics - I'm not all that knowledgeable on room selection since I've only ever miced drums in the one room you're seeing in the video.
The mics definitely DO pick up natural reverb from the room - if you want a good example of how this works, search for "Scott Prian" and check out his videos called "garage drumming" and "bathroom drumming." The only reverb that is augmenting his drum sound is the natural room space he's in.
Ideally, the mic should pick up the sound you're hearing acoustically, so if you're looking to get rid of ring, I think it would be best to change the tuning. I don't like to use muffling, but a good way to get the sound a lot shorter is to make the resonant head significantly tighter than the batter head...to your ear, it will sound somewhat dead, but when you record it, you can increase the lows and take out the mids with EQ, and it'll bring out a nice tone that you can't really hear live.
Yes, the computer did the noise gates along with all the other effects. The firewire interface just brings in the sound un-altered, and all the extra stuff is applied with the computer after the sound is recorded.
Thank you! This tutorial is really helpful and i admire the all hard work you put into this guide! It really clears out the meaning of all the necessary pre/post-processing tools/settings needed to get a really nice sound out of my drums! I surely will come and check out this tutorial from time to time to memorize all the things you went through. In the meantime you can go and check out my channel and leave your comment on the newest video, where i have my settings implemented on the drum sound.
Glad it could help! I'll definitely approve the video response - great job on Biaxident. Ironic, too, since that's a song I actually recorded to put together as a cover on here, but never got around to it, since I had other stuff in mind. Since then, the drums have sounded a ton better, so it seems counter-intuitive to put something on YouTube that sounds terrible compared to how it sounds now :)
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Glad they helped! Before you go buy a Firepod, make sure you research other options, too...I would recommend them, but I wouldn't want you to buy one just on my opinion. The firewire cable should be included.
The overhead mics plug in to the Firepod (or other audio interface) like the others, which means they use also XLR cables; you just have to supply phantom power for them to work. The Firepod has that little button on the side that does it, but most AI's will have an easy way to turn it on.
@SnareSpectre before I continue with all my questions, I wanna tell you that I really appreciate your replies I admire how much you care about everyone that comes to you with questions and how you answer them all, thanks allot, you really seem like a great guy.
I appreciate the kind words! I'm going to send you a private message so I can fit everything in there instead of chunking everything into separate, 500-character, hard-to-read comments.
@SnareSpectreok what is the difference between the PreSonus FP10 10x10 FireWire Interface (Firepod) and the Focusrite Saffire PRO 26 I/O 8-Channel FireWire Interface, which one do you recommend if im gonna get the CAD PRO-7 7-Piece Drum Microphone Pack for my drum set, and also if im gonna need that phantom power for my over heads. and if I get the firepod can I plug all the drum mics to that piece of equipment? and what other ways can I supply the overhead mics with phantom power
u should make a video of how u get it all together in your computer, of how u hook up your mixer to your computer and work your magic with the software. very good vids, i was thinking of buying these mics and you convinced me. keep up the great workk
great tutorial, this may just be the sound on youtube, but even with your finished product some of the symbols sounds very quite and died away quickly. you might try playing with your overheads a bit more so you can get that perfect sound
@SnareSpectre no problem. ive definatly decided to get these mics to. you might wanna invest in a better kick mic aswell. the way you have it sounds good but i think you of all people can get a great sound out of a better mic
The bass drum in these videos sounds horrible because of how YouTube processed the sound...for some reason all the low frequencies are really mushy (they used to even be worse than they are now) Soon I'll have all the videos uploaded to Vimeo, as well, so you can hear what the drums are supposed to sound like. I do think the bass mic is the weak link in the set, but when I started using two to pick up different frequencies, the result turned out infinitely better than I could have hoped for.
Excellent tutorial series! I could tell you put so much effort into shooting/editing/planning this and it shows in these videos. I love the background music used too, because they all happen to be my favorite songs. Thank you.
GREAT series of vids man!!! But what I would of liked to of seen is how u brought the video and the sound together!!! Maybe peeps have all this equipment but they don't know how to bring the vid and the audio together. Do u use windows movie maker? I REALLY would love to see a vid of that man. Show us how u match up the audio and the vid together :)
These videos really help me a lot! I'm just an enthusiastic, with no professional knowledge, I work with my own experience and with the stuff that I learn thanks to videos like this. There were some points in EQ and noise isolation that I've never thought about. This is a really useful and understandable video. I liked the way you explained all stuff, step by step. Thank you so much!
unnombremuydificil2 2 weeks ago
Great videos, I'm just getting into sound recording and they're really helping me out. Just a quick question though, I see you using a Presonus firepod FP-10 in these vids. Would you recommend it ? Because I read some reviews where people said they were having issues with it not syncing on random occasions, and then syncing back randomly. How is it working out for you, because I am thinking of purchasing it to record my drums.
SustainableChaosDrum 3 weeks ago
This has been flagged as spam show
1 quick question, I am using the recording software Audacity, is it possible to put each microphone into different tracks so I can noise gate them, if so how do I put a noise gate on each drum? (Besides the snare and overheads) Thanks
- Alex
thepeacedrummer 3 weeks ago
Comment removed
thepeacedrummer 3 weeks ago
gates r AWESOME!!!!!
jice9395 3 weeks ago
fantastic set of videos thx. on a side note; that's a cheeky dmt in the tags of the video
oN1NJ4o 4 weeks ago
thanks
VanDahh 1 month ago
I saw all of your drum recording tutorial videos, amazing videos man, you did an awesome job, esepcially with the drawings, keept it up!
gusarmstrong 1 month ago
Wow! You make me understand!
semiLivedj 1 month ago
The diagrams are nice man, you explain things well, and I think you should be a sound production teacher somewhere. The drums sound good man, can you post a video on how to tune drums for recording? or is there already one you've posted
JKnighticus 1 month ago
This is very useful to me. I am just beginning to learn home recording. I play drums & percussion. Thanks
shakeandrattle 1 month ago
I personally would have made the overheads a tad louder. Otherwise, sounded good! Your tutorials are very creative and informative. Greetings from close to home! (I'm in Jax Beach)
NerfLad 1 month ago
Are the effects you using (EQ, compression etc.) straight from the software you are using or did you get them separately?
Skullclone 1 month ago
Very comprehensive and helpful. Thanks for posting.
Markisflippinsweet 2 months ago
Thank you for these videos
edjorthebeast 2 months ago 10
@edjorthebeast
No problem, glad I could help out!
SnareSpectre 2 months ago
What kind of speakers or headphones do you use when you're post-processing? Thanks.
RedCl0ud22 2 months ago
a fair coment and thank you for your reply.i managed to get a profesional sound man to come over to the rehersal room and he set the gates to whot he thought would be ok.on the gig night i just had to turn down the threshold to stop bleed to other mikes and i was amazed at the differance the gates made.it tightend the kit and stopped all the after undesirable boing if you get my drift.thanks again and ceep up the brill work you are putting in to help others.cheers jez
camojez 3 months ago
@camojez
Thanks! I'm really glad you found these helpful....I like the way you described the effect (tightened the kit); it fits very well. I can't imagine recording without them now that I use them!
SnareSpectre 3 months ago
once again a fantastic tutorial.it would be great if you can put up a ball park vidio showing the settings you use for say toms and kik drum.
camojez 3 months ago
@camojez
I considered this, but I really think it will vary so much depending on the mics, interface, gain settings, software, etc that you use that my settings likely wouldn't be anywhere close to what you'd end up using - EQ is different, so I tried to give ballpark settings for those, but I think it's best to just do trial and error with noise gates.
Thank you for the kind words!
SnareSpectre 3 months ago
hi.brill vid.ceep it up pleas
camojez 3 months ago
GREAT stuff here. Thank you
McDardens08 3 months ago in playlist More videos from SnareSpectre
I love the sound of ur drums u have such great tips. Great job and thank you plz make more vids
MyCena101 4 months ago
Many digital mixers can do compression and gate,and lots more... and not so expensive,yamaha 01v96 is about 3000$...
sherwoodamp 4 months ago
Hey snarespectre,
Great sounding drums and great job with explanations! Thanks so much! I would like to know if you could tell me your EQ setting details (frequencies and gains) for toms, bass, snare and overheads, as well as noise gate settings!! Im having sooo much difficulty with it and just love the sound of your drums!! Thanks so much again and great job explaining :))
I use cubase 5 LE as well :)
roozbeh60 4 months ago
Hi - I've just watched your 6 parts on drum recording and want to say thanks. I found it really useful. I record my own drums and am now going to try some of your techniques to improve my recordings. I appreciate the effort you have put into making really good videos, which are engaging and explain things really clearly . Rock on. Greetings from the UK. Stuart.
fffunky1201 4 months ago
@fffunky1201
Glad I could help out! Thanks for watching.
SnareSpectre 4 months ago
Awesome video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
piratephil05 4 months ago
Dude, these videos really explain the process of a noise gate, but I still have no idea how to "apply" a "noise gate" please help?
MrCodyMcG 4 months ago
Great Job mate ( Garry King - Jeff Beck , Joe lynn Turner) you know your stuff and well presented
garrygarnoe 5 months ago
@garrygarnoe
Thanks, it means a lot!
SnareSpectre 5 months ago
very cool!
619Tobias619 5 months ago
duuude like no homo bt i luv honestly yur explanations r jus so good like u honestly dnt know how much u helped thank you so much dude thank you so much
captivity1061 6 months ago
coool lesson... i like all your drum mic tutorial.. thx a lot..
ajendgreat 6 months ago
Can anybody tell me the name of the song at the beginning (background song) please? i guess it's dream theater but i still need the title, thanks
Poetavater89 7 months ago
@Poetavater89
All the background songs for each one of these videos is mentioned in the description.
SnareSpectre 7 months ago
@Poetavater89 Dream Theater - Stream of Consciousness (off Train of Thought album)
mrshuker 6 months ago
@SnareSpectre i'm so happy with your vids man! Thank you, you helped me alot :)
Shuwiy 7 months ago
Thanks for your lay-man explanations - brilliant!
thehubbucks 8 months ago
Thanks so much for these videos! My band is a bit limited by the equipment we have, but your tutorials gave me A LOT of valuable info I can use when we record some demos next week.
StringsofMartyr 8 months ago
what did you do to set the noise gates?
pearldrummer23456789 8 months ago
yea but when the gate opens you get all those bleeding stuff that u "crossed out" in the draw... thats why i hate gates coz u hear bleedings while the tom or whatever hits that time..
coreyfromtheband 8 months ago
@coreyfromtheband
Sure, stuff bleeds in - but the sound of the tom (or whatever) generally overpowers that, plus overhead mics capture everything together and help balance all the sound out. With the right balance of everything with trial and error, noise gates really help clean everything up and you can't hear other stuff kicking in once it's all pu together.
SnareSpectre 8 months ago
@SnareSpectre pretty good videos tho i enjoyed em all and u explain well :P but sometimes i think,its good to let the bliddings sound becoz they fatten the overhead-overall sound cuz u get frequencies from different places,don't u think? ? so id prefer better a noise gate that doesnt eliminate everything bellow the threshold but drops to half volume :)
coreyfromtheband 8 months ago
@comeon993
I know it's possible because I've heard it before, but I honestly do not know how to reproduce the sound live. I'm sure there's some way to put the sound through your computer, and then have the computer's "out" be what projects to a live audience (so all the effects are applied in real-time and then sent to the speakers), but since I've hardly ever played live with any bands and never used mics in a live situation, I would just be shooting in the dark on how to help you with that!
SnareSpectre 11 months ago
I have been looking for hours on the computer for a great tutorial on drum micing. This was by far one of the best tutorials on here. I have learned more information than out of every book I read or guide I watched on the computer. Yes, I have questions though. I have an AW16G Audio Work Station that is NOT connected to my computer. I also have a very old Mixer, Peavy Unity Series 2000. Could you possibly do a shorter tutorial (Does not have to be fancy) on recording without a computer?
justin22095 11 months ago
@justin22095
Glad to hear they helped you out! I can't do a tutorial on just using the mixer right now because I'm at school and away from the drums, but I can try my best to help you out - I'll send you a PM, so check your inbox if you haven't already.
SnareSpectre 11 months ago
Hello again and thanks for taking the time to reply.
I think you commented in one of your other videos that the software you use is Cubase? I wonder if you might consider doing another couple of tutorials in Cubase showing how you apply/configure each part of the process?
Not only am I just getting my head around mics / processing etc - I am also just finding my feet inside Cubase as well so [for me] it would be very helpful to see how you reach the final [impressive] drum sound.
shootingalbatross 11 months ago
Hi there - watched all your videos regarding drum micing and recording. Thank you very much! Learned more from you in the last half hour than all the tutorials I have watched put together.
May I ask - when post processing, do you put noise gates on each tom separately or do you have them in a group and applu gate to just that? Same question for reverbs and compressors too?
Incidentally - you have excellent technique too. Excellent playing.
shootingalbatross 11 months ago
@shootingalbatross
Awesome, glad you like the videos! All of the effects are applied individually to each mic, including noise gates, reverb, and compression. I generally find a sound that I like, then apply the same settings for all of the toms - but each and every mic still has its separate settings. Occasionally I've had to put different noise gates on different toms (like if one has a nearby crash cymbal cutting in a lot more than the others do), but for the most part it's the same.
SnareSpectre 11 months ago
great tutorial
JTBproject 11 months ago
thanks for the info BTW.. what do u think about the berinhger XR 4400 noise gate?? been trying to find info on it
beardrum1 11 months ago
@beardrum1
I've never dealt with noise gate hardware before, so I honestly wouldn't be able to give you an educated opinion on it.
SnareSpectre 11 months ago
I got some clear answers thank you very much.. Im thinking about purchasing a noise gate?? what do u recomend
beardrum1 11 months ago
@beardrum1
Cubase LE comes with a noise gate plugin - you can also find free VST plugins all over the internet, so I personally wouldn't buy one.
Thanks for watching the video!
SnareSpectre 11 months ago
I second what tpriceQ1 said. These were SO helpful, and you are tremendously talented. Do you have a band? lol If you do, I seriously want to check it out. Thanks so much for doing this and God bless!
JuiceCBean 11 months ago
Got my drums sounding great. Im definatlly redoing the current videos i have because my sound is 10 times better! Thank you so much
ZanePointon 1 year ago
@ZanePointon
Thanks for the kind words! I'm really glad I could help you out!
SnareSpectre 11 months ago
I just watched ALL of your vids, These were VERY helpful and answered so many questions. Totally awesome, thanks
tprice01 1 year ago
man im studying as a sound engineer for nearly 2 years now and your videos on EQ, Reverb, Compression and Gating are far better explained then the notes ive taken in classes and explanations from teachers that i have gone through.
MrTopcat89 1 year ago
this guy is awesome
noodledrummin1 1 year ago
Great tutorials, thanks for posting.
Can you give some settings for setting up the noise gate?
eric000B 1 year ago
great. thanks a lot man. ur the best :)
DoodleTheJumper 1 year ago
Comment removed
northdrummer 1 year ago
Very interesting on your tom sound! By the way is outstanding! I think your toms have the sound and tone most drummer would die for! Like I always thought, it was a DW thing! LOL I always thought it was DW's shells with matched notes they stamp on the inside of the shells. My question here on the noise gate is. If I have a mikes to my mixer,sound processors feed through the mixer,to my amp with eq,out to speakers. Where does a noise gate go?
northdrummer 1 year ago
@northdrummer
Thanks for the kind words! The noise gates are applied in post-processing, through the computer. All the tracks are recorded into the computer, then all my effects (EQ/reverb/compression/noise gates) are applied to those raw tracks after the fact. With the setup you're talking about, you can't use noise gates unless the mixer is capable of it or you put some other piece of equipment in the chain, and I don't know anything about those, really. I have no clue how to do this live :)
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
how much did all of your equipment cost?
71770saddleup 1 year ago
@71770saddleup
All the drums and cymbals = ~$3,000
All the mics, cables, and audio interface = ~$800 + I already had the computer
I've been putting money into it for the last 10 years, so for everything, it's pretty inexpensive considering the enjoyment I've gotten out of all this over that period of time :)
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
Big help man!!
thatwaspoor 1 year ago
What would be an effective technique for gated reverb on the snare?
TheRimeOfIcarus 1 year ago
Have you try out the Sampled drum Sound? like Superior Drummer 2.0, Steven Slate Drums...
blackaries 1 year ago
do you have noise gate settings, cuz while i understand the compnents of the noise gate i still keep getting other sounds in my mics other then the intended drum or the sound gets cut off short, so yeah if you could give me some general settings for each drum id appreciate it, all of your other videos have helped me tremendously thank you
chiodos82 1 year ago
do i put the nois gate plugin in the input before or after recording
chiodos82 1 year ago
Ok, thanks. By the way how to you get such a good sound on your toms?
I have Evens double coated heads and it seems thay have more of a "plat" plastic sound rather than a good worm tone. I was wondering if single ply coated heads would give me a wormer tone? more of a dooom rather than a plaaat. I do have them tuned correctly. thanks again
blakdimon 1 year ago
If you go back and watch the "EQ" part of this, you'll see that my drums have a really rough sound before applying the EQ. In my opinion, EQ is the most important part of getting any of the drums to sound like you want them - more so than compression, noise gates, reverb, or any other effect.
I would recommend starting with the EQ settings I put in that section of the tutorial (it won't be perfect!) and then tweaking to your liking. Generally, the nasty tom sound comes from the mids in the EQ.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
@blakdimon Well, on your tom's, Evans G2 Coated heads will give you a big boom, but you have to have them tuned differently then the normal tuning. To get a lot of low end out of your toms, take the bottom head and crank it up nice and tight, to get all of the resonance you're going to need to project, then with your top heads, finger tighten them, then only give them about a half a turn past that of tension. This will give you a nice fat wet sound from your toms.
rhythmkeeper009 1 year ago
@rhythmkeeper009
blakdimon, everything rhythmkeeper009 said here is more or less how I look at it, too. I'm using Clear Emperors, but from what I understand they're the Remo version of the Evans G2. If the bottom head is tighter than the top, it will give you a nice controllable sound that doesn't ring to eternity. Also, remember that a lot of the sound you hear is because I took out a LOT of mids, so you're only hearing the good low sustain and high attack...none of the mids, or the "plaaat."
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
PLZ REPLAY!! :(
hi, im geting a 4 cab pro mics for my 5 pieac drum kit so my rack toms with have to share a mic. The stepup im going to have will have all the mics going to to a mac labtop witch i will use garage band there to mix it but its all going to be one channel. so my questions are will this set up sound adleas (ok) and will those mics pick up the cymbals if i dont use noise gate?? plz let me know what u think!!??
oapy1111 1 year ago
ok, so i have the CAD pro-7 tour pack and a cheap alesis 8 usb mixer..im using Acoustica Mixcraft 5 to record my music, is there any way to add compression and noise gates through mixcraft??? or do i need to use a whole different program to record my music / vocals????
devyman2007 1 year ago
What a tutorial. First I was looking for a budget set of mics when I found the Cad pro 7 and heard some sets on youtube that had them i thought ehhh good enough. THen i got a deal on the Cad Pro 7. (I actually got a 7 and a 4). I then looked up Cad pro 7 to find out how to use them and i found your video. Holy cow! If I can get my drums to sound like yours, then I don't know why anyone would want to spend money on super expensive mics.
NYTROOPA 1 year ago
i have just purchased my new set up.. and thanks to your videos the sound i got with my drums is amazing..
my kit is a 8 piece mapex mars series, full audix mic kit,
so thanks heaps for putting all this info up.. ill make sure i email you a sample when its all done :P
your a legend!
Evilboof1111 1 year ago
I was wondering if you have seperate noise gates for each drum? and do they have xlr inputs for the mics or quater inch input jacks? Any suggestions on decent noisegates for the buck? Do they make rack mounts with several noise gates built into one rack for micing drums? thanks for your reply
blakdimon 1 year ago
Yes, I put separate noise gates on each drum, but all the toms have roughly the same noise gate settings, both the snares have the same, and the bass drum has its own...so it wasn't something that took years to do. :)
All the mics are XLR - no quarter inch at all.
I just use the noise gates that come with Cubase LE, and it's all done on the computer, so I don't use a rack or anything like that...if you watch the "Equipment" part, it goes into more detail.
Thanks for watching!
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
best tutorial on how to record drums properly
i have a question tho
i have a standard cheap mixer i have the same cad pro 7 and pretty great drums
but it still sounds no where near as good as yours
should i buy an audio interface ive been looking at the firepod should i get taht and use cakewalk will that be better than the stupid mixer i have?
will i get sound close ike yours??
JazzNaySean 1 year ago
Hello! This series was an amazing tutorial and really helped me understand not only how to record my drums better, but also general recording. I have one question though. What are the mics you are using or do you recommend for drums?
Nylad21 1 year ago
Awesome videos man! i was looking for a video with a good explanation of compression and reverb and ended knowing about noise gates! pretty nice what you are doing on helping drummers of all levels in their recording
BTW whats the name of the song on this vid?
im almost sure the song is from Liquid Tension Experiment but i dont know what song it is
OutofNothing71 1 year ago
@OutofNothing71 nevermind i just read it in the description sry
OutofNothing71 1 year ago
It's all good - thank you for the kind words!
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
very very good explanation of recording drums, big compliment!
the thing with the noise gate was the most informativ and most impressiv part of your video series!
thanks a lot
rockdrummer1893 1 year ago
hey, i'm starting to get into audio stuff with my friends cos we have a band. So we've bought pro tools and are slowly saving up for our own equipment to record songs. Your video has definitely enlightened me to see what there is and what can be done and your explanation is so clear and easy to understand. Cheers and good luck with your work =D Dann from Australia
soho53785 1 year ago
Awesome, apriciate all the info! Really helped me get a much better sound and fantastic explinations. Thanks again.
TreViceTube 1 year ago
How do you noise gate drums recorded with a room mic?
emmanuellovesanime 1 year ago
I wouldn't use noise gates on room mics at all - the purpose of room mics, in my opinion, is to record EVERYTHING, so it keeps the drums from sounding like pre-recorded loops and to tie the rest of the mics together.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
thanks so much man great video!!
i cant wait to set up my own mini studio and start recording !!
dane248123 1 year ago
Good stuff, nice easy explanation on how to set the gate. Helped heaps!
SHILN 1 year ago
Good stuff, just tryin to work out our new gate, helped out heaps!
SHILN 1 year ago
I have 4 drum mics all for just my drums. if i want to hear my cymbals without overheads should i not put any noise gates on?
enjoime17 1 year ago
Yes. Any video I posted before the Rascal Flatts video has no noise gates and no overheads...it can still work and sound okay if you only have 4 mics - you just have to put in more work to get it there.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
Excellent video's! I've watched them all and really learnt some things that I can use. Thanks!
GodDamage 1 year ago
Hey, I've seen your videos. You Explain it well, and in a way, were most people can understand you, even if they're english is not that good... I'm a sound guy, i work with it a lot, and work in a music store selling drums and PA solutions rangeing from beginners to pros, and even I can use some of what youve said, for live sound and studio sound.
I play Tama and Zildjian as well, love them. haha
Cheers Mikael from Denmark.
mipe18 1 year ago
Great! I'm really glad you think the videos are helpful! That's exactly what I was shooting for, since a lot of beginners have been asking me about how I record stuff in private messages.
More importantly, I'm glad you also like Tama/Zildjian :) Someday when I have enough money, I'd like to get a set of Starclassic Maples, but for now I'm happy playing on my Swingstars, lol.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
say would it sound good with mics even with like the worst acoustics?
i mean do the mics only get the drum sound or the reverb from my walls also?
darkmager340 1 year ago
The room needs to have at least decent acoustics - I'm not all that knowledgeable on room selection since I've only ever miced drums in the one room you're seeing in the video.
The mics definitely DO pick up natural reverb from the room - if you want a good example of how this works, search for "Scott Prian" and check out his videos called "garage drumming" and "bathroom drumming." The only reverb that is augmenting his drum sound is the natural room space he's in.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
@SnareSpectre
sounds pretty good
way better than this
/watch?v=gsIe708AH8g
darkmager340 1 year ago
great tut! thanks for all the hard work you put into this! Very helpful :]
adrenaline211 1 year ago
i have a drum set, and each time i hit then they ring to much, do you think that if i mic them and record them , it will help?
DjABBlends 1 year ago
Ideally, the mic should pick up the sound you're hearing acoustically, so if you're looking to get rid of ring, I think it would be best to change the tuning. I don't like to use muffling, but a good way to get the sound a lot shorter is to make the resonant head significantly tighter than the batter head...to your ear, it will sound somewhat dead, but when you record it, you can increase the lows and take out the mids with EQ, and it'll bring out a nice tone that you can't really hear live.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
@SnareSpectre oh thanks
im new to this mic drums, i dont know nothing about this
i want to do something like this, but with out a computer,
DjABBlends 1 year ago
the way you do this noise gates? did you use your computer to activate the noise gates feature, or something else?
DjABBlends 1 year ago
Yes, the computer did the noise gates along with all the other effects. The firewire interface just brings in the sound un-altered, and all the extra stuff is applied with the computer after the sound is recorded.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
@SnareSpectre sounds like a lot of work
DjABBlends 1 year ago
Thank you! This tutorial is really helpful and i admire the all hard work you put into this guide! It really clears out the meaning of all the necessary pre/post-processing tools/settings needed to get a really nice sound out of my drums! I surely will come and check out this tutorial from time to time to memorize all the things you went through. In the meantime you can go and check out my channel and leave your comment on the newest video, where i have my settings implemented on the drum sound.
m3nt4l173 1 year ago
Glad it could help! I'll definitely approve the video response - great job on Biaxident. Ironic, too, since that's a song I actually recorded to put together as a cover on here, but never got around to it, since I had other stuff in mind. Since then, the drums have sounded a ton better, so it seems counter-intuitive to put something on YouTube that sounds terrible compared to how it sounds now :)
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Mexicanirishlad 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Mexicanirishlad 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Mexicanirishlad 1 year ago
Thanks alot for this videos, Im satrting to look for derm mic and all the equipment that I need to record and you helped alot, Im just alittle confused on how you explained how to plug the overhead mics and what are the things I need to be aware of, those mics need XLR cables as well right? and I just need one firepod with 8 XLR outlets or imputs (however you wanna call them) right, and a firewire cable. do I need anything else for the phantom energy those couple of mics need?
Mexicanirishlad 1 year ago
Glad they helped! Before you go buy a Firepod, make sure you research other options, too...I would recommend them, but I wouldn't want you to buy one just on my opinion. The firewire cable should be included.
The overhead mics plug in to the Firepod (or other audio interface) like the others, which means they use also XLR cables; you just have to supply phantom power for them to work. The Firepod has that little button on the side that does it, but most AI's will have an easy way to turn it on.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
@SnareSpectre before I continue with all my questions, I wanna tell you that I really appreciate your replies I admire how much you care about everyone that comes to you with questions and how you answer them all, thanks allot, you really seem like a great guy.
Mexicanirishlad 1 year ago
I appreciate the kind words! I'm going to send you a private message so I can fit everything in there instead of chunking everything into separate, 500-character, hard-to-read comments.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
@SnareSpectreok what is the difference between the PreSonus FP10 10x10 FireWire Interface (Firepod) and the Focusrite Saffire PRO 26 I/O 8-Channel FireWire Interface, which one do you recommend if im gonna get the CAD PRO-7 7-Piece Drum Microphone Pack for my drum set, and also if im gonna need that phantom power for my over heads. and if I get the firepod can I plug all the drum mics to that piece of equipment? and what other ways can I supply the overhead mics with phantom power
Mexicanirishlad 1 year ago
u should make a video of how u get it all together in your computer, of how u hook up your mixer to your computer and work your magic with the software. very good vids, i was thinking of buying these mics and you convinced me. keep up the great workk
iguala05 1 year ago
great tutorial, this may just be the sound on youtube, but even with your finished product some of the symbols sounds very quite and died away quickly. you might try playing with your overheads a bit more so you can get that perfect sound
SavingGotham 1 year ago
Yeah the overheads volume needed to be a little more on this...but I do generally like quieter cymbals than most people.
Thanks for the kind words!
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
@SnareSpectre no problem. ive definatly decided to get these mics to. you might wanna invest in a better kick mic aswell. the way you have it sounds good but i think you of all people can get a great sound out of a better mic
SavingGotham 1 year ago
The bass drum in these videos sounds horrible because of how YouTube processed the sound...for some reason all the low frequencies are really mushy (they used to even be worse than they are now) Soon I'll have all the videos uploaded to Vimeo, as well, so you can hear what the drums are supposed to sound like. I do think the bass mic is the weak link in the set, but when I started using two to pick up different frequencies, the result turned out infinitely better than I could have hoped for.
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
Excellent tutorial series! I could tell you put so much effort into shooting/editing/planning this and it shows in these videos. I love the background music used too, because they all happen to be my favorite songs. Thank you.
real1acer 1 year ago
GREAT series of vids man!!! But what I would of liked to of seen is how u brought the video and the sound together!!! Maybe peeps have all this equipment but they don't know how to bring the vid and the audio together. Do u use windows movie maker? I REALLY would love to see a vid of that man. Show us how u match up the audio and the vid together :)
xTimx2002 1 year ago
thank you so much, your drum mic tutorial really helped me, and i have learned alot because i am just getting into recording drums with mics.
xXXExiledXXx 1 year ago
Awesome, that's exactly what I was going for. Glad it helped!
SnareSpectre 1 year ago
1st view, comment and rate!
JonathanShrader 1 year ago