Hi folks — I’ve recorded a lot of live drummers...
Hi folks — I’ve recorded a lot of live drummers over the years, so I know as much as most engineers do about the flexibility of EQ, compression, distortion, etc. I’ve worked in super nice studios with Fairchilds + basements with duct tape on the mic stands. I’ve wrestled with all types of crazy drummers and problematic recordings.
I’ve had Superior Drummer 3 for a year now.
I really want SD3 to be the beat-all-end-all, but I just can’t seem to find the sweet spot in terms of getting these drums to sound like a real drummer. The kick drums are good. The snares can be made into something that totally works. The cymbals sound fine. The toms are a nightmare to me. I’ve purchased the Decades pack, the Hip-Hop pack, and the Custom & Vintage pack and none seem to be super usable.
I’ve hit “reset” on my perspective of what these drums are, and have accepted that they’re recorded really well and boring, therefore I need to spruce them up with plugins that make them exciting sounding. Okay — just like most sessions, the drums lack character until I stick them through plugins that beef them up and get them pumping. I can not, for the life of me, get the toms to make sense. They all sound like wooly basketballs at best.
Alright, you can no doubt sense my frustration. I’m in the middle of a project and my drums sound great (and my toms sound terrible). Has anybody figured out how to get the toms to sound like a classic rock band? Think ELO, Boston, The Eagles, or Fleetwood Mac — I’ll take any tips that lead me to a place where the toms sound like a drummer with a stick in his hand and some force behind a hit.
Is there a particular pack that I need to accomplish this? Is there a secret to getting the toms to sit in the mix? Less room? More room? No bleed? Only bleed? Who here knows the secret to getting the toms close to something on Abbey Road? Somebody must know, and for that, I love you.
Thanks in advance!
Bob
Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7Operating system: macOS Catalina (10.15)
-
This post was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by bobbyharlow.
Hi folks — I’ve recorded a lot of live drummers over the years, so I know as much as most engineers do about the flexibility of EQ, compression, distortion, etc. I’ve worked in super nice studios with Fairchilds + basements with duct tape on the mic stands. I’ve wrestled with all types of crazy drummers and problematic recordings.
I’ve had Superior Drummer 3 for a year now.
I really want SD3 to be the beat-all-end-all, but I just can’t seem to find the sweet spot in terms of getting these drums to sound like a real drummer. The kick drums are good. The snares can be made into something that totally works. The cymbals sound fine. The toms are a nightmare to me. I’ve purchased the Decades pack, the Hip-Hop pack, and the Custom & Vintage pack and none seem to be super usable.
I’ve hit “reset” on my perspective of what these drums are, and have accepted that they’re recorded really well and boring, therefore I need to spruce them up with plugins that make them exciting sounding. Okay — just like most sessions, the drums lack character until I stick them through plugins that beef them up and get them pumping. I can not, for the life of me, get the toms to make sense. They all sound like wooly basketballs at best.
Alright, you can no doubt sense my frustration. I’m in the middle of a project and my drums sound great (and my toms sound terrible). Has anybody figured out how to get the toms to sound like a classic rock band? Think ELO, Boston, The Eagles, or Fleetwood Mac — I’ll take any tips that lead me to a place where the toms sound like a drummer with a stick in his hand and some force behind a hit.
Is there a particular pack that I need to accomplish this? Is there a secret to getting the toms to sit in the mix? Less room? More room? No bleed? Only bleed? Who here knows the secret to getting the toms close to something on Abbey Road? Somebody must know, and for that, I love you.
Thanks in advance!
Bob
Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7Operating system: macOS Catalina (10.15)
-
This post was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by bobbyharlow.
