How can I remove ringing from a nasty snare?

[toolskid]

just for kicks I ran it thru the TD4 and a couple of notch eqs just ot give the original poster an idea of what some quick TD4 work does! This is not necessarily what I would do with this snare in a mix however - its all mix dependent!

Hope its of interest:

[Bang]

A ring on a snare is not a frequency like a honkiness in a vocal track. To try to remove a ring on a snare will surely create a compromise. I would either tell them to retrack it or use a sample.

[Sid Viscous]

How about a gate with a short release?

[macleodgrant]

Originally Posted by toolskid

just for kicks I ran it thru the TD4 and a couple of notch eqs just ot give the original poster an idea of what some quick TD4 work does! This is not necessarily what I would do with this snare in a mix however - its all mix dependent!

Hope its of interest:

that version sounds cool. i actually like the ring but could do with a bit more fatness! it really depends on the track though. multiband compression can work to tame those frequencies

[GuitarRuss]

It sounds like it's too late for this but this is a great trick before the track is recorded. Some of the Motown drummers used this sound, I've heard it referred to as the "Fatback" sound. Bob Ohllson would know more...

You take a nice fat wallet and put it on the snare. It helps if you tune the thing well too, but some snares, especially cheaper ones are really ringy. This trick is just the ticket in those situations.

I'm a pretty crap drummer, so I always get far better drummers than me to do the playing, but I've learned to tune drums really well and I've tuned the drums for a lot of sessions because a lot of drummers either don't have good tuning technique or have a very bad ear for pitch. I always keep a drum key with my guitar because you can't always rely on a drummer to have a drum key.

I learned a lot about drum tuning my first recording date. The drummer came in with these huge Slingerland shells - very big and boomy. The engineer asked the drummer if he really liked the drum tuning or if he thought it could be improved. The engineer proceeded to make the set sound so much better, tighter and focused, and did it pretty quickly - he also wasn't a drummer and gave me a few tricks while doing it.

That was the best money spent, got a good sound and it got me on track with being involved in the sound of the drums. I believe this will largely define the sound of your recording. Everything else fits in. If you wind up with 80's rock drums sounds, you aren't going to have a good blues album etc.

[stagefright13]

The ring is in my opinion the drummer's prerogative. If he wants the ring he snaps the snare. If he want's a quick snap then he holds the hit down with the stick. That kills the ring.

Or ya can lay a smoke pack on the snare filled with nails hinged by a strip of duct tape. That will kill the ring but give it some "snarey" sound.

But after the fact you can use a plugin parametric and find the ring frequency and cut it. Or sidechain the ring frequency to the snare compressor. Or even gate it out using a plugin with look ahead and use a verb for the trail. But the ring may sound good in the song. Depends. Or you can eq out the amount that doesn't fit. Depends on what it sounds like with a full mix.

[AllAboutTone]

Losen all the lugs and then tighten even all the way around,

as follows:

12 oclock
6 oclock
9 olcock
3 oclock
8 oclock
2 oclock
4 oclock
10 oclock
1 oclock
7 oclock
11 oclock
5 oclcock

and then start over with even turns until you get the sound you want and a lot less ring if any.

[PhatStax Drums]

I know for your particular track you may not desire a ringy snare....but, check this out, listen to Track 6, "I Got Two Women:"

VH1.com : Sam Lay : Albums: Urge Music Downloads

Or many of the other tracks as well.

A VERY ringy snare. Sometimes sounds almost like an anvil being hit with a hammer!! And, this drummer (Sam Lay) is an incredible blues drummer. He played on many Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters records, was in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was with Dylan when he unveiled his electric music at the Newport Jazz Festival (Folk Fest.?), AND recorded on Dylan's Highway 61 album (it's his pocket siren on his keychain that you hear on the title track of that album).

VERY ringy snare, but he gets SO MANY sounds out of his snare and has SUCH CONTROL over when it rings and when it doesn't. Kinda hard to hear on these highly-compressed clips, of course, but you can get the idea.

This guy is very much worth checking out, in any case.