Taming snare rattle and other drum tech related ??

[bnath]

..:


What are some techniques for minimising snare rattle, while keeping the tone of the snare relatively wet? I'm talking about the kind of buzz that is triggered by every other drum and instrument in the room, and is impossible to get out of the overheads. I'm currently recording a drummer with one of those double-wide sets of snares on his snare drum. We have it cranked pretty tight, but not insanely so, since the snare sounds really nice when struck, and we're all liking the overall wetness of the resonant tone.

Unfortunately, on all of the tom hits and parts where the snare is played less, the snares are rattling constantly and loudly throughout, which makes it hard to get a tom sound (from the overheads) that doesn't sound like a set of oversized snare drums!

Also, does anyone have any links to good drum tech pages? I really need to learn more about troubleshooting and fixing drum anomalies like rim buzz, etc.. I can tune drums pretty well at this point, but that's pretty much the extent of my technical knowledge of drums and drum hardware. I'd really prefer to get the sound sounding good at the source, so any help to this end would be appreciated!

b :*

[joeq]

You can try tuning the toms up or down to get them 'away' from the snare.

you can try a small piece of tape on the snares themselves or on the snare side head. Or detuning one lug of the snare bottom. Some drums have hi-tech snare strainers that have separate tensioning for pulling the snares lengthwise and separate tensioning for pushing them up against the head.

all of these ideas come at a price. I have arrived at the point of view that certain amount of snare rattle is part of the sound of a real drum kit, that it is inevitable and that it is even desirable. Hey might as well make a virtue of necessity.

[brendondp]

Originally posted by joeq
You can try tuning the toms up or down to get them 'away' from the snare.

you can try a small piece of tape on the snares themselves or on the snare side head. Or detuning one lug of the snare bottom. Some drums have hi-tech snare strainers that have separate tensioning for pulling the snares lengthwise and separate tensioning for pushing them up against the head.

all of these ideas come at a price. I have arrived at the point of view that certain amount of snare rattle is part of the sound of a real drum kit, that it is inevitable and that it is even desirable. Hey might as well make a virtue of necessity.

My experience has been pretty much limited to the above options. They do work, and like joeq states, ultimately have a trade-off somewhere along the line.

At times I've threaded fishing line or string through the snare wire (usually one piece at each end nearest the strainer butts) in an attempt to control unwanted buzz, but always with a trade -off in losing some cripness and articulation.

Another option is simply to fit a narrower (less number of snare strands) set therefore reducing the amount of sympathetic vibration.

Puresound make these, which work well, but again, give less of that big wet slap.

There's also a helpful article here that discusses the snare bed and options for varying sounds.

Cheers,

bdp

[warhead]

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/

Prof Sound's Drum Tuning Bible

It's very involved but is a great item to print out and keep around. I thought I knew how to tune drums, and realized I didn't know much once I read it. This guy knows his shit.

War

[not_so_new]

Originally posted by warhead
http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/

Prof Sound's Drum Tuning Bible

It's very involved but is a great item to print out and keep around. I thought I knew how to tune drums, and realized I didn't know much once I read it. This guy knows his shit.

War

Second that.... Read this a few years back and loved it so much I come back to it every now and again for a refresher, great stuff there....

[DirkB]

Originally posted by bnath
..:


What are some techniques for minimising snare rattle, while keeping the tone of the snare relatively wet? I'm talking about the kind of buzz that is triggered by every other drum and instrument in the room, and is impossible to get out of the overheads. I'm currently recording a drummer with one of those double-wide sets of snares on his snare drum. We have it cranked pretty tight, but not insanely so, since the snare sounds really nice when struck, and we're all liking the overall wetness of the resonant tone.

Unfortunately, on all of the tom hits and parts where the snare is played less, the snares are rattling constantly and loudly throughout, which makes it hard to get a tom sound (from the overheads) that doesn't sound like a set of oversized snare drums!

Also, does anyone have any links to good drum tech pages? I really need to learn more about troubleshooting and fixing drum anomalies like rim buzz, etc.. I can tune drums pretty well at this point, but that's pretty much the extent of my technical knowledge of drums and drum hardware. I'd really prefer to get the sound sounding good at the source, so any help to this end would be appreciated!

b :*

It's all in the tuning of the drums to begin with. When the toms are really well tuned, so that each lug has exactly the right tension, my experience is that I have been able to get it working on all kits that have been recorded in my studio. In can be difficult though sometimes.

Also, check if the wires run straight over the resonant head. Badly mounted snare beds can really make it impossible to get the rattle under control.

Experiment as much as possible, but also remember, it's a drumKIT not a bunch of samples.

Good luck,
Dirk

[bnath]

Originally posted by joeq
You can try tuning the toms up or down to get them 'away' from the snare.

you can try a small piece of tape on the snares themselves or on the snare side head. Or detuning one lug of the snare bottom. Some drums have hi-tech snare strainers that have separate tensioning for pulling the snares lengthwise and separate tensioning for pushing them up against the head.

all of these ideas come at a price. I have arrived at the point of view that certain amount of snare rattle is part of the sound of a real drum kit, that it is inevitable and that it is even desirable. Hey might as well make a virtue of necessity.

Thanks for the tips! Normally I don't mind a certain degree of snare rattle, when the buzz level is reasonable, but this particular buzz is really overpowering. I'm looking forward to trying some of these tips out tomorrow.

b : *

[bnath]

Originally posted by brendondp
My experience has been pretty much limited to the above options. They do work, and like joeq states, ultimately have a trade-off somewhere along the line.

At times I've threaded fishing line or string through the snare wire (usually one piece at each end nearest the strainer butts) in an attempt to control unwanted buzz, but always with a trade -off in losing some cripness and articulation.

Another option is simply to fit a narrower (less number of snare strands) set therefore reducing the amount of sympathetic vibration.

Puresound make these, which work well, but again, give less of that big wet slap.

There's also a helpful article here that discusses the snare bed and options for varying sounds.

Cheers,

bdp

More great suggestions... can't wait to give them a try tomorrow. Thanks for the links too, curious about the equaliser.

b :*

[bnath]

Originally posted by warhead
http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/

Prof Sound's Drum Tuning Bible

It's very involved but is a great item to print out and keep around. I thought I knew how to tune drums, and realized I didn't know much once I read it. This guy knows his shit.

War

This is just what I was looking for... Thanks!

b :*

[bnath]

Originally posted by DirkB


Also, check if the wires run straight over the resonant head. Badly mounted snare beds can really make it impossible to get the rattle under control.

Thanks Dirk, I'm going to have to look further into this tomorrow; I have a feeling the snare bed might be to blame.

b :*

[2A Batterie]

I say tuning, tuning, tuning. You can really cut back on snare buzz if you tune your toms around your snare or vice versa. I could go on, but looks like you've found what you're looking for. Keep in mind though, Roland's new V-Drum kits have settings that incorporate "sympathetic snare vibrations" (snare buzz) settings for all of the toms. In other words, they can include a little snare buzz in each tom sample to make it sound more realistic.