Hihat is the enemy!

[Freddie Flame]

Anyone having any smart tips on how to keep that evil hihat out of the snare mic?

[Bassline]

1. Better drummer that understands there is no need to bash the cymbals so hard they swallow the whole kit

2. Change the location of the hats, moving them up or over even a little bit can make a huge difference

3. Mic placement - be sure the hats are in the null of your snare mic, try micing the the side of the snare on the shell rather than the top, ect....

[nandoanalog]

What about using less close mics, and more room\overhead mics?..

I hit the drums as hard as it gets and never had a problem with bleeds...

If the drummer knows how to hit the drums (hard or soft, it doesnt matter), room mics or overheads+bass drum, should be enough to get a decent sound by themselfs.

[Bassline]

I guess I should clarify what I mean when I say cymbal bashers. I don't mind drummers that hit the cymbals hard as long as they are playing hard on the rest of the kit and it sounds balanced. I view cymbal bashers as the guys who are playing along at a moderate level, and as soon as it is time to hit a cymbal they think they need to bring out the Hammer of Thor to really "accentuate" that hit. No matter whether you close mic or not, those are the guys I was talking about that their cymbals swallow the kit. The best drum tracks are always laid by drummers that understand dynamics and present you with a balanced picture of the kit

[Musiclab]

First thing to do is make a mult of that track and gate it to within an inch of its life,
then compress it and then mix that in with the kit or
try to get some samples of him hitting the snare the way you want and retrigger and mix that in.

[bobwarren]

Try different size hats, also. A lot of guys are using heavier cymbals that are tough to record. I heard a band in a concert hall and thought to myself the cymals were really loud. The sound guy told me after the concert, he didn't even mic the overheads!!!

[daryllh]

you can try bumping the hat hotter in the drummer's can mix. This doesn't really work with drummers who are unable to change their technique but if the guy is decent, he'll usually lay back a bit (if the hat is hotter in the headphones)

I can't believe how many drummers are oblivious to their hi hat selection and technique. For most, that's the crutch for keeping tempo. Drummers that have played live a lot (and haven't recorded a lot) tend to not notice it. I know from experience that it's hard to go from a 14-13 hat right before you start cutting drum tracks. Some cats can do it, some can't.

I've also found that drummers that have their hats higher tend to get heavy on them. I'm often suggesting having the drummer lower the hats a couple inches. Yes, it's closer to the snare mic but sometimes it forces the drummer to not use the shoulder of the stick as much.

[Nu-tra]

i don't mind Zildjian A customs. I crank the hihat track into the drummers headphones and tell him I can't turn it down and that it's because he is bashing it too hard. e


Also a dbx 263x de esser is great for getting rid of hihat bleed out of the snare.

[John Suitcase]

A piece of paper in teh hihat does some good. take a 8x11 sheet and tear it about halfway through on the long side. Then, slide it in, so the slot you've torn goes around the post. Takes a lot of the 'sss' out, if that makes sense.

A set of keys in the hat can help, too, if you want something a little trashier.

Mic'ing the side or bottom of the snare can be helpful, you can eq the top mic to get a lot of punch, but add in some bottom/shell for snap.

[Grasshopper]

I use two mics on the top of the snare. In phase, right next to each other.

[thenoiseflower]

if its that bad, or the drummer cannot compensate

try an e609 on the snare.


its cheap and it has remarkable rear rejection.

aim the rear at the hat, press record.

[lord_bunny]

There was that great Bruce Sweiden tip where you actually place a baffle mounted on a stand between the hats/snare.

Otherwise I try to encourage an inexperienced drummer to use the ride... or let them listen to how awful the playback is. Most drummers are open to change, but sometimes they just aren't capable of making the adjustment needed.

oh well.

[toolskid]

Originally Posted by Freddie Flame

Anyone having any smart tips on how to keep that evil hihat out of the snare mic?

better player
great cymbals
e22s
or
pop shield with ski mask over it over the snare mic...

[Jonboy79]

I've tried all kinds of tricks and I've found the best really is mic placement. Get the mic in just the right spot and you can really crank the snare without getting all the nastieness of the hihat.

[scking]

1. Make a copy of the hi-hat track, EQ it to roughly the same tone as the off-axis hat sound in the snare mic, then flip it out of phase. Bounce the two tracks down and use the resulting track as your snare track.

2. Use a hypercardiod instead of a cardiod on the snare (Beta 57 instead of SM57).

3. Make a copy of the snare track, strip silence on it so all you hear is the snare, bring the level down on the original snare track.

4. Make a copy of the snare track, strip silence on it so all you hear is the snare, use the track as a trigger for Drumagog.

5. Use a de-esser.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. You might even have to use a couple of these together to get what you want; just experiment and find what works on your track.

[octatonic]

All good suggestions so far.

My approach is to strip silence and sample augment.

Attached are a couple of screen grabs of the process.
1st one You can see I have the top and bottom snare hits with cross fades and below I have the two snares samples that are lined up manually, hit by hit.
2nd one shows the whole drum arrangement with all the slices and fades.

Yes, it takes a while - but then I can eq out most of the hihat on the top snare and still retain the snap of the snare (although from the samples.)
Doing it manually is far more accurate than using drumagog or sample replacer.

[james.ca]

Originally Posted by Freddie Flame

Anyone having any smart tips on how to keep that evil hihat out of the snare mic?

Try a super cardiod mic has a bit more of a norrwer field than a normal cardiod also mic placement might help as well last gate the bitch with a noise gate
james

[MrHope]

Originally Posted by Bassline

I guess I should clarify what I mean when I say cymbal bashers. I don't mind drummers that hit the cymbals hard as long as they are playing hard on the rest of the kit and it sounds balanced. I view cymbal bashers as the guys who are playing along at a moderate level, and as soon as it is time to hit a cymbal they think they need to bring out the Hammer of Thor to really "accentuate" that hit. No matter whether you close mic or not, those are the guys I was talking about that their cymbals swallow the kit. The best drum tracks are always laid by drummers that understand dynamics and present you with a balanced picture of the kit

This is an old thread, but I strongly agree with this. Cymbals are some tricky ish.

[BLUElightCory]

Originally Posted by Bassline

1. Better drummer that understands there is no need to bash the cymbals so hard they swallow the whole kit

This is KEY.

Darker/thinner/larger diameter hats (15") also work wonders.