[DirkB]

Well,

Of course the drum and the player are a big part, but with the snare drum in particular, mixing is a big, big part IMHO. With the snare, I normally have at least one mult, I use compression to get snap, shape transients, use reverb to add tail, use quite some EQ if necessary.

It's really about shaping the sound and see how it blends with the overhead / room mics.

During tracking, if the drummer really hits a decent rimshot, the most important thing is how we tension the snaredrum. I tend to like a very high tension. It's easier to get some meat and body back in the sound that make it crisp if the sound was deeper to start with. New coated ambassador every 10-15 takes or so (depending on drummer) and one single SM57 into a chandler TG2 is all I normally need.

Of course, YMMV.

Greetings,
Dirk