many good points so far, but noone's mentioned mic placement. to my ears a lot of the snare sound that i like comes from letting the mic breath off the head (even moving it back 1/2" has made big improvements). for me it's usually a lot further back than your usual live micing technique you're used to seeing. maybe 3-6"?

also try micing the shell of the snare - that's worked well for me too.

I have a dirty trick that I use to deal with "shit ass" snares, it's a strip of felt about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. I tie it on to one of the lugs then let it lay across the top half of the top head....when you hit the snare the felt strip bounces up allowing resonance, but it falls down just in time to kill the really annoying rings that poor tuning and old heads can generate...sort of like a ghetto noise gate.

A relatively cheap snare micing scenario that I've been happy with lately is an AKG C1000 on top and an Oktava 012 on the bottom, although if the said "shit ass" snare is a thin piccolo I would think that the 57 or 421 (or both) might add some balls to it.

Guitar Center Top Salesman Q4 2003, Q1 2004 & Q2 2004. Digidesign Pro Tools Certified. Sponsored by ESP Guitars & in Promising Local Band

Thats a good one, a little boasting to the analog boys.

if you are wondering about what kind of mic to use on a shitty snare then i suggjest the AKGC535EB. Yes, it is a live vocal mic but when you mic a snare with it the sound you get is nothing short of great. The only problem is that this mic is around 300 dollars and if you can't buy a better snare first then i'm guessing this isn't an option first. So a nice cheap microphone you can get for miking snare is the shure sm57, like said in previous posts. If you want your snare to sound good on a recording you will have to sit at the mixer for a while and either get the sound of your shitty snare or try to color it a little with the mixer. Good luck

brianbiv wrote:

Guitar Center Top Salesman Q4 2003, Q1 2004 & Q2 2004. Digidesign Pro Tools Certified. Sponsored by ESP Guitars & in Promising Local Band

Thats a good one, a little boasting to the analog boys.

actually, it's tongue in cheek. none of those things are true except i am in fact in a local band - some people call it promising. i'm usually an "analog boy" as well - but i'll use whatever it takes to get the job done. i should put a sarcasm emoticon on my sig if it exists.... RUSS!!

what does it mean if you're "pro tools certified"? Does it mean you're really good at clicking a button on a computer?

I like that...I wasnt sure what to think.

ok-

it's lengthy, time-consuming, stupid, and yet if - the player is skilled enough and it can be pulled off correctly...ToTally aBsoLuteLY WoRth IT!!!

double track the drums!

why should guitar players have all the fun?

i was raised on my mom playing ABBA records while i was in the crib- and when i finally grew up i became obssessed with why the drums always sounded so huge for crappy 70's dry drum shit. i did some research and found out that they would double track the whole kit.
so i started experimenting and it's like crack!

it's tough to do with tricky material- but i DARE you to try it anyway!

morze wrote:ok-

it's lengthy, time-consuming, stupid, and yet if - the player is skilled enough and it can be pulled off correctly...ToTally aBsoLuteLY WoRth IT!!!

double track the drums!

Whoa.

Just... whoa.

yeah- that's what i said the first time i heard the playback!