Can you name an album where super loud cymbals sounded good?

greg wrote:Can you name an album where super loud cymbals sounded good?

No, because I have never heard an album where the cymbals were anything more than the pathetic splashes of barely audible sound I mentioned. In most rock and metal albums it sounds like the cymbals are not even there. So what's wrong with super loud cymbals? That's the way they really sound.

There is only so much "room" in a mix. If you keep the cymbals "super loud" then other things have to suffer. Most bands want the guitars and vocals louder then the cymbals.

If you want a super loud cymbals record then make one. But I bet you'll find your guitars/drums/vocals sound pretty tiny when your done.

Good luck.

I had a really bad experience with loud cymbals in a mix .

the result is a massive frequency masking which make my mix sounds very aggressive.


(I was recording the drum with 8 mics on only two tracks , so no way to change anything during the mixing stage)

Damn Cymbals...

Damn Cymbals...

You should wear some protection when you're listening to loud powerful cymbals. Otherwise you go deaf and think mixes don't have enough cowbell.

Amateur Tools wrote:

greg wrote:Can you name an album where super loud cymbals sounded good?

No, because I have never heard an album where the cymbals were anything more than the pathetic splashes of barely audible sound I mentioned. In most rock and metal albums it sounds like the cymbals are not even there. So what's wrong with super loud cymbals? That's the way they really sound.

the MELVINS Gluey Porch Treatments album has kinda loud cymbals.. listen to that, i think it rules

In the scheme of things (from the big picture of a song as opposed to individual sounds) cymbals can really crush a vocal, making it very difficult to understand lyrics with any sort of clarity. For this reason, intelligent drummers are careful how they place the timing of cymbal crashes. Similarly they will choose specific tonalities when buying cymbals.

A great example is John Bonham who was very careful despite his powerhouse approach to playing. Another good example of a judicious cymbal user is Phil Collins.

Generally some good cymbal, mic and preamp choices together with good compression can result in cymbals that can usably sit up in the final mix.

As a player, drummers who are clever with their cymbal playing generally end up with engineers not wanting to hide their cymbal playing :=)