Fat snare sounding

[guppy]

Hello!
I'm always in trouble when I mix some acoustic snares from my band because they don't have the sound I search.
I love the sound of some heavy metal snares, big and fat, and mine are so small, and I don't know what to do about.
This is an example of the snare my drummer use by now, without clear sound directly from samplitude (just a very smal reverb from samplitude).

and this is the kind of snare i'd like to have:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnP3PA-_ ... ults_video



Must I search for another snare, beat the one I got with a dead rabbit, or try to make my subsistance from growing sugar beet directly...
Or are there some solutions with the big sound from scope devices or mixing mysterious knowledge that i've never learned...

I realize I've the same kind kind of problem with the hihat, which is always shiny and clean, and i'd like them to be "warm".
How could I do ?

[hubird]

you could try a gated reverb, plus extra eq on the lower end of the snare sound.
It also depends on the snaredrum involved.
A picolo snare won't do it

[Eanna]

Maybe some multiband/parallel distortion?

[dante]

ToonTracks is pretty good.

[guppy]

ToonTracks is pretty good.

I need my real drummer !!

[garyb]

a fat sounding snare is usually a combination of things.

1. the drum.
2. the room.
3. the mic choice and where the mic is placed.
4. compression and eq AFTER the recording.
5. reverb.
6. the way the drum is struck.

[the19thbear]

The right drum and the rigth mic placement I tried for years to get a certain sound and got pretty close and by accident found the right snare and I almost nailed the sound I wanted. Do some research and find out what your favorite drummers are using. The. Find a photo from a live or in te studio picture and see what mic they are using. I doesn't really matter what eq/comp you use after that (of course some will work better than others) as long as you are after a pretty straight forward sound (which you are). My guess is this: a great drummer with a great sounding drum with a sm57 on it. Don't play too hard. You'll be surprised how much more you will get of a drum by hitting it lightly. It will actually sound more punchy the softer you play ( mileage may vary) when being picked up by a close miced microphone.
Also be aware that MANY live concerts are not live ( at least not when they are up on YouTube/cd etc. many of the instruments are rerecorded and drum replacement is used constantly. (Probably also on the "live" track you are listening to:).

[ehasting]

Not without any knowledge about recording drums or snares i must say that in the youtube example the snare drum seems to have a rather heavy compressor on it. it had this even 'snap' in the sound. however this is not my field

However all the other parameters mentioned are probably more important for the "sound"

[Eanna]

To help with snap, have you tried a transient shaper, like the free TR1D from DAS for example? Bootsy from varietyofsound has a free VST transient shaper too (tessla I think).
The youtube vid doesn't sound anything like a heavily-compressed 1176 "all buttons in" job, but the attack sure sounds fast.
The vid sounds mid-scooped too, so try a smile eq shape after your processors, with a low-cut around the 'muddy' zone.

Your MP3 sounds like your mic setup is mostly finding the mids, so you'd need pretty drastic EQ with that recording. (It's not all dynamics that's the problem).
And you don't appear to be picking up the rattling of the snare wires, which you won't be able to EQ in after the recording. Sounds more like a high tom than a snare to me. You may need to move the mic more 'under' the drum. Or loosen the tension on the the snare bed so that the snares have more room to travel and make that rattle.
It might be possible to simulate the rattle of the snares, with a bit of parallel processing. Split the audio, process the main signal with the above (eq, compressor, transient shaper, eq), and in the parallel bus, use a slow gate after distortion and hi-eq-shelf, to simulate the 'ring out' of the snares. Or maybe multiband compression.
(Funny thing is, most recording sessions seem to struggle with reducing snare rattle spillover to other mics! You seem to have the opposite problem...).

Another thing to try is a Frequency Analyser over time to A/B your snare and one you want to emulate. Get a picture of the 'good' snare sound over time in your head. Leave the frequency analyser on when you're setting up the mic, and when you're tracking..

I'd agree, there's every chance that some drum replacement is being used to treat the live sound too.

I've never had to record drums, so I'm definitely in "guess" mode.
I'd be very interested to hear if I'm in any way right. I love being wrong! Means I'm learning...

[guppy]

I've tried the transient designer, but as i'm not working correctly on the good frequencies, it was bad.
Maybe I can try to separate high and low wih a crossover, and work with the 2 signals.

Ok, i'm working on it, low mid, and try a multiband compressor.

Gary is right that the best thing is to have the good snare and work with eq and room. My drummer must look to the snare to adjust the sound and try to make it sound louder.
I use Audix I5 mic from an audix dp7 kit, but we tried with a sm58 and the sound was warm, maybe warmer than the I5, but with less definition.
I must try with a mic under and another over the snare.
But I got the snare in the overheads too, that it sounds brighter.
This example is the complete drum.

The video on youtube has been deleted, i've took another one, but less signifiant maybe.

[garyb]

that's not bad.
more compression and some reverb(maybe gated) on the snare mic might work wonders.
if you put a mic on top and bottom, beware of the mics being out of phase.

[wayne]

tune the drum, grab a 57, rock the f%$#er

[dawman]

Most eloquently said.....
Frank Zappa use to sit quietly amongst engineers/producers, then would get up and say gimme a 57...