The snare drum big four: pulse, smack, wires, head
These terms should become part of your snare drum vocabulary. This should get us on the same page for talking about the mix recipes.
Pulse describes the part of the snare drum that smacks you in the chest and makes you want to dance. Another good word for this part of the sound is body. You can often get some extra pulse out of the drum boosting as low as 100Hz but that can start to affect the kick drum and bass sounds so I like to look a little higher. You can get some clean pulse out of your snare drum by looking in the 200-400Hz area. I like using a regular peaking band of eq to boost the pulse. A Q setting (bandwidth) of about 1.0 should be fine. If you don’t get quite enough pulse out of the snare drum you can try making the band a bit wider (lower Q, higher bandwidth).
Smack should work in conjunction with the pulse to really help identify the snare drum hit within the mix. Some other common descriptions would be bang or crack. You will find most of your snare drum’s smack around 900Hz-2.0kHz. A peaking band works well here and I will often reduce the bandwidth (Q) to 1.5 or so. A narrower bandwidth here can help pinpoint the smack without taking up too much space in the already crowded and vital midrange frequencies.
Wires are exactly what they describe. The snare wires under the drum help to give it much of its characteristic buzz. The snare wires can be found in the 3-5kHz region. A narrower bandwidth can work well here just as in the smack band (see above). While bringing out the snare wires can help the drum sound very exciting, you will have to be careful not to overdo it. This frequency can get buzzy and fatiguing in a hurry. Be sure to evaluate the sound of the drum the way it sounds in your recording. Many snare drums will naturally accentuate the wires enough that you won’t have to boost them. If you have recorded your snare using a dual mic technique (see below) then you might do all the boosting of wire sounds on the bottom snare mic.
Head is just what it sounds like, the head of the drum. Imagine the sound of a snare played with a brush. That swishing sound of the brush is the timbre I mean when talking about the head sound of the snare drum. Played with brush or stick, your snare drum still makes a head sound in the 6-10kHz range. Boosting this frequency can give a lot of extra texture to your snare drum sound. A peaking band will often do plenty of work for you but you can try high shelving band too.
Snare drum big four quick eq chart
More pulse (body) +4dB at 200Hz
More smack (bang) +3dB at 2kHz
More wires (buzz) +6dB at 5kHz
More head (texture) +6dB at 7kHz
To eliminate kick drum bleed and rumble use a high pass band at 80Hz
Start here for light snare drum compression
Ratio: 4:1
Attack: 4ms
Release: 200ms
Threshold: adjust for 3-6dB gain reduction
Learn more in-depth in this tutorial here: http://www.benvesco.com/blog/mixing/2007/mix-recipes-snare-drum-eq-and-compression/
Reply
On Friday at KC's sandbar I had a unique opportunity to mix the Michael Allman Band. Michael Allman, is the eldest son of rock legend Gregg Allman. Hearing all of his original music and him covering his dad's songs was absolutely amazing. Wayne Hall opened for them that night and was a treat to listen to as well. This local artist draws you in with his acoustic act and his songwriting skills with his music really blew me away.
The best part of the night was the deep friendships I saw with and between the band, the respect they had for their sound man, and even a cameo appearance of a local legend Andy Durand, it felt more like homecoming than just another concert for the fans.
Something I will always cherish is before Michael went on stage was him standing by the mixing console and us talking watching his band jam on stage. I asked what do you think of the mix, what would you like in it? His eyes lit up and started giving me instruction. "Bring out a little more Hammond, I want the kick to hit me in the chest; more thump, bass heavy in the mix." We went back and forth for a few minute as he got lost in the music. He turned to me before he got on stage and said, "that it's right there, perfect. Great job and thank you, this shows gonna rock!"
Being humble to a legend was something I was willing to do. It led to an experience I will never forget. No matter where you are in life, how good, or how equipped, relationship is always more important above all else.
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage
Owner/Media Producer
Emergent Recording & Production House
237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580
www.emergentrecording.com
850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com
www.facebook.com/emergentrecording
www.twitter.com/emergentrecords
www.youtube.com/emergentrecording
http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply
A dear friend called late last night with a struggle. It's heartbreaking to hear someone considering giving up on their dream. It's even more devastating when you see so much in a person that it resonates at your core to yell. "Don't do it!"
You as a musician must understand who you are, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and the sum of your expectations; true or false. When your self driven expectation is not met, let that be a driving point to make your dreams come true. You have the talent, work on building trust in yourself. You have to master yourself first and it's all about thought. As author John C. Maxwell says, "A minute of thought is greater than an hour of talk."
11 keys to successful thinking:
1. Cultivate Big-Picture Thinking
2. Engage in Focused Thinking
3. Harness Creative Thinking
4. Employ Realistic Thinking
5. Utilize Strategic Thinking
6. Explore Possibility Thinking
7. Learn from Reflective Thinking
8. Question Popular Thinking
9. Benefit from Shared Thinking
10. Practice Unselfish Thinking
11. Rely on Bottom-Line Thinking
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage
Owner/Media Producer
Emergent Recording & Production House
237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580
www.emergentrecording.com
850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com
www.facebook.com/emergentrecording
www.twitter.com/emergentrecords
www.youtube.com/emergentrecording
http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply
If you are a musician on the local scene here in the 850, you should really make it a point to read and stay up to date with The Beachcomber Magazine. They have the latest in music, arts, dining, and entertainment in the area. If you are looking for gigs or just want to look at other local musicians that are active in the area, this is a great resource/publication to find those leads.
http://beachcomberdestin.com/destin/
https://www.facebook.com/beachcomberdestinfl
https://twitter.com/BeachcomberFL
https://www.youtube.com/user/beachcomberdestin
The Beachcomber
P.O. Box 5707
Destin, FL 32540
thebeachcomber@earthlink.net
1-850-650-9940
Reply
PRE-PRODUCTION - This is the most critical and time consuming of the entire recording process. Songwriting, rehearsal, storyboard album, get producer input of track selection. Write everything on paper. Improvise nothing.
TRACKING: Approach is determined by album pre-production. Some studios track live with little overdubbing, other track rhythm section and overdub everything else. Your album storyboard will paint a picture for what is the best approach for this.
OVERDUBBING: You have the initial concept and structure of your songs, but you want to recut that vocal track or fix that solo missed note, maybe layer some sounds together, this is that step.
MIXDOWN: Taking all your pre-production, tracking, and overdubs and blending the instruments to a 2-track pre mastered product. Note: this is a pre mastered mix. All sounds will be blended not at mastered volume levels. Do not compare this phase to retail CD's in volume, just in sounds and placement wanted.
MASTERING: Taking your final pre-masters to polish. Taking all the tracks to optimal levels for CD, EQ balance, phase correction is step 1. After, the mastering engineer will create a master CD with CD Text, Track/Index points, and any track fades in your album storyboard. You should receive a replication cue sheet upon completion of this disc.
Emergent Recording & Production House handles any stage of this process. Please call us today for a FREE quote. (850) 729-1002
Reply
"If you can lie to someone, you can lie to yourself", an unknown quote read that popped up as browsed my news feeds. I thought back to disciplining my son this week, who got in trouble for lying about some school work. It is a learned task to own up to something. It is considered an honorable trait, but what does it really mean for us as individuals as we grow up? Why do we struggle to own up when the lie is the very thing we created in the first place. If we did A then B would be a non-issue, right? My son didn't understand that his omission and lie was dangerous. He simply didn't want to get in trouble and who was it hurting anyway? In all this, I read a post by my brother a little further down that summed it up for me on this issue. "Serenity is not something you obtain. It;s not tangible. It is something you become by doing the right things regardless of the benefit it has on you because it is simply the right thing." Be free in your mind because your only enemy is truly yourself.
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage
Owner/Media Producer
Emergent Recording & Production House
237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580
www.emergentrecording.com
850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com
www.facebook.com/emergentrecording
www.twitter.com/emergentrecords
www.youtube.com/emergentrecording
http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply
We love The Google... http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/introducing-auto-awesome-photobombs.html
Reply
Let's help The Helvetica Effect get to the Blaze fest stage. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1396712570599773/
Beginning March 17th, 1031 The Blaze is declaring open season for local & regional bands to take their shot at the opening slot of Niceville, FL's newest festival, Blazefest. Last year went to Shallow Side and we're hoping this year is T.H.E's year. However, we can't do it without your help.
This is a voting-based contest, where you can vote once a day, every day until voting closes. So please - tell all your friends by inviting them to this page and to let them know that you want THE HELVETICA EFFECT to take the next step and open up for Chevelle, All That Remains, Nonpoint, Heritage Band, and more!
VOTING LINKS:
DESKTOP COMPUTER - https://www.facebook.com/1031TheBlaze/app_129764153762486
MOBILE OR ANY OTHER DEVICES - http://a.pgtb.me/FkM8w3
Reply
Just a friendly reminder to make sure all your social links on Reverbnation (really all social media) that link away from the site work. Countless times we get awesome email contact from bands and artist, but when we go to learn more, the link is broken. People want ease of navigation. They want instant gratification. Broken links = lost sales and fans.
Take a moment today to check your links. If we want to be a leading music mecca for this area, it takes everyone doing their business correctly to succeed!
Reply
We are asked all the time, "Where can we hear what you do?" Well, here are the links below:
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage
Owner/Media Producer
Emergent Recording & Production House
237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580
www.emergentrecording.com
850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com
www.facebook.com/emergentrecording
www.twitter.com/emergentrecords
www.youtube.com/emergentrecording
http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply
Emergent Recording & Production House / Blog
Snare Drum EQ and Compression.
The snare drum big four: pulse, smack, wires, head
These terms should become part of your snare drum vocabulary. This should get us on the same page for talking about the mix recipes.
Pulse describes the part of the snare drum that smacks you in the chest and makes you want to dance. Another good word for this part of the sound is body. You can often get some extra pulse out of the drum boosting as low as 100Hz but that can start to affect the kick drum and bass sounds so I like to look a little higher. You can get some clean pulse out of your snare drum by looking in the 200-400Hz area. I like using a regular peaking band of eq to boost the pulse. A Q setting (bandwidth) of about 1.0 should be fine. If you don’t get quite enough pulse out of the snare drum you can try making the band a bit wider (lower Q, higher bandwidth).
Smack should work in conjunction with the pulse to really help identify the snare drum hit within the mix. Some other common descriptions would be bang or crack. You will find most of your snare drum’s smack around 900Hz-2.0kHz. A peaking band works well here and I will often reduce the bandwidth (Q) to 1.5 or so. A narrower bandwidth here can help pinpoint the smack without taking up too much space in the already crowded and vital midrange frequencies.
Wires are exactly what they describe. The snare wires under the drum help to give it much of its characteristic buzz. The snare wires can be found in the 3-5kHz region. A narrower bandwidth can work well here just as in the smack band (see above). While bringing out the snare wires can help the drum sound very exciting, you will have to be careful not to overdo it. This frequency can get buzzy and fatiguing in a hurry. Be sure to evaluate the sound of the drum the way it sounds in your recording. Many snare drums will naturally accentuate the wires enough that you won’t have to boost them. If you have recorded your snare using a dual mic technique (see below) then you might do all the boosting of wire sounds on the bottom snare mic.
Head is just what it sounds like, the head of the drum. Imagine the sound of a snare played with a brush. That swishing sound of the brush is the timbre I mean when talking about the head sound of the snare drum. Played with brush or stick, your snare drum still makes a head sound in the 6-10kHz range. Boosting this frequency can give a lot of extra texture to your snare drum sound. A peaking band will often do plenty of work for you but you can try high shelving band too.
Snare drum big four quick eq chart More pulse (body) +4dB at 200Hz More smack (bang) +3dB at 2kHz More wires (buzz) +6dB at 5kHz More head (texture) +6dB at 7kHz To eliminate kick drum bleed and rumble use a high pass band at 80Hz
Start here for light snare drum compression Ratio: 4:1 Attack: 4ms Release: 200ms Threshold: adjust for 3-6dB gain reduction
Learn more in-depth in this tutorial here: http://www.benvesco.com/blog/mixing/2007/mix-recipes-snare-drum-eq-and-compression/
Reply
Mixing for Rock Legends.
On Friday at KC's sandbar I had a unique opportunity to mix the Michael Allman Band. Michael Allman, is the eldest son of rock legend Gregg Allman. Hearing all of his original music and him covering his dad's songs was absolutely amazing. Wayne Hall opened for them that night and was a treat to listen to as well. This local artist draws you in with his acoustic act and his songwriting skills with his music really blew me away.
The best part of the night was the deep friendships I saw with and between the band, the respect they had for their sound man, and even a cameo appearance of a local legend Andy Durand, it felt more like homecoming than just another concert for the fans.
Something I will always cherish is before Michael went on stage was him standing by the mixing console and us talking watching his band jam on stage. I asked what do you think of the mix, what would you like in it? His eyes lit up and started giving me instruction. "Bring out a little more Hammond, I want the kick to hit me in the chest; more thump, bass heavy in the mix." We went back and forth for a few minute as he got lost in the music. He turned to me before he got on stage and said, "that it's right there, perfect. Great job and thank you, this shows gonna rock!"
Being humble to a legend was something I was willing to do. It led to an experience I will never forget. No matter where you are in life, how good, or how equipped, relationship is always more important above all else.
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage Owner/Media Producer Emergent Recording & Production House 237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580 www.emergentrecording.com 850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com www.facebook.com/emergentrecording www.twitter.com/emergentrecords www.youtube.com/emergentrecording http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply
Don't give up. Stand out!
A dear friend called late last night with a struggle. It's heartbreaking to hear someone considering giving up on their dream. It's even more devastating when you see so much in a person that it resonates at your core to yell. "Don't do it!"
You as a musician must understand who you are, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and the sum of your expectations; true or false. When your self driven expectation is not met, let that be a driving point to make your dreams come true. You have the talent, work on building trust in yourself. You have to master yourself first and it's all about thought. As author John C. Maxwell says, "A minute of thought is greater than an hour of talk."
11 keys to successful thinking: 1. Cultivate Big-Picture Thinking 2. Engage in Focused Thinking 3. Harness Creative Thinking 4. Employ Realistic Thinking 5. Utilize Strategic Thinking 6. Explore Possibility Thinking 7. Learn from Reflective Thinking 8. Question Popular Thinking 9. Benefit from Shared Thinking 10. Practice Unselfish Thinking 11. Rely on Bottom-Line Thinking
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage Owner/Media Producer Emergent Recording & Production House 237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580 www.emergentrecording.com 850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com www.facebook.com/emergentrecording www.twitter.com/emergentrecords www.youtube.com/emergentrecording http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply
The Beachcomber.
If you are a musician on the local scene here in the 850, you should really make it a point to read and stay up to date with The Beachcomber Magazine. They have the latest in music, arts, dining, and entertainment in the area. If you are looking for gigs or just want to look at other local musicians that are active in the area, this is a great resource/publication to find those leads.
http://beachcomberdestin.com/destin/
https://www.facebook.com/beachcomberdestinfl
https://twitter.com/BeachcomberFL
https://www.youtube.com/user/beachcomberdestin
The Beachcomber P.O. Box 5707 Destin, FL 32540 thebeachcomber@earthlink.net 1-850-650-9940
Reply
The 5 stages of the recording process.
PRE-PRODUCTION - This is the most critical and time consuming of the entire recording process. Songwriting, rehearsal, storyboard album, get producer input of track selection. Write everything on paper. Improvise nothing.
TRACKING: Approach is determined by album pre-production. Some studios track live with little overdubbing, other track rhythm section and overdub everything else. Your album storyboard will paint a picture for what is the best approach for this.
OVERDUBBING: You have the initial concept and structure of your songs, but you want to recut that vocal track or fix that solo missed note, maybe layer some sounds together, this is that step.
MIXDOWN: Taking all your pre-production, tracking, and overdubs and blending the instruments to a 2-track pre mastered product. Note: this is a pre mastered mix. All sounds will be blended not at mastered volume levels. Do not compare this phase to retail CD's in volume, just in sounds and placement wanted.
MASTERING: Taking your final pre-masters to polish. Taking all the tracks to optimal levels for CD, EQ balance, phase correction is step 1. After, the mastering engineer will create a master CD with CD Text, Track/Index points, and any track fades in your album storyboard. You should receive a replication cue sheet upon completion of this disc.
Emergent Recording & Production House handles any stage of this process. Please call us today for a FREE quote. (850) 729-1002
Reply
The art of owning up.
"If you can lie to someone, you can lie to yourself", an unknown quote read that popped up as browsed my news feeds. I thought back to disciplining my son this week, who got in trouble for lying about some school work. It is a learned task to own up to something. It is considered an honorable trait, but what does it really mean for us as individuals as we grow up? Why do we struggle to own up when the lie is the very thing we created in the first place. If we did A then B would be a non-issue, right? My son didn't understand that his omission and lie was dangerous. He simply didn't want to get in trouble and who was it hurting anyway? In all this, I read a post by my brother a little further down that summed it up for me on this issue. "Serenity is not something you obtain. It;s not tangible. It is something you become by doing the right things regardless of the benefit it has on you because it is simply the right thing." Be free in your mind because your only enemy is truly yourself.
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage Owner/Media Producer Emergent Recording & Production House 237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580 www.emergentrecording.com 850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com www.facebook.com/emergentrecording www.twitter.com/emergentrecords www.youtube.com/emergentrecording http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply
Have a safe and lovely April fools...
We love The Google... http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/introducing-auto-awesome-photobombs.html
Reply
The Helvetica Effect road to Blazefest.
Let's help The Helvetica Effect get to the Blaze fest stage. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1396712570599773/
Beginning March 17th, 1031 The Blaze is declaring open season for local & regional bands to take their shot at the opening slot of Niceville, FL's newest festival, Blazefest. Last year went to Shallow Side and we're hoping this year is T.H.E's year. However, we can't do it without your help.
This is a voting-based contest, where you can vote once a day, every day until voting closes. So please - tell all your friends by inviting them to this page and to let them know that you want THE HELVETICA EFFECT to take the next step and open up for Chevelle, All That Remains, Nonpoint, Heritage Band, and more!
VOTING LINKS:
DESKTOP COMPUTER - https://www.facebook.com/1031TheBlaze/app_129764153762486
MOBILE OR ANY OTHER DEVICES - http://a.pgtb.me/FkM8w3
Reply
Broken Reverbnation Social Links.
Just a friendly reminder to make sure all your social links on Reverbnation (really all social media) that link away from the site work. Countless times we get awesome email contact from bands and artist, but when we go to learn more, the link is broken. People want ease of navigation. They want instant gratification. Broken links = lost sales and fans.
Take a moment today to check your links. If we want to be a leading music mecca for this area, it takes everyone doing their business correctly to succeed!
Reply
Samples of our productions.
We are asked all the time, "Where can we hear what you do?" Well, here are the links below:
Arise. Dream. Emerge.
Ben Savage Owner/Media Producer Emergent Recording & Production House 237 Chicago Ave., Valparaiso, FL 32580 www.emergentrecording.com 850.729.1002 | info@emergentrecording.com www.facebook.com/emergentrecording www.twitter.com/emergentrecords www.youtube.com/emergentrecording http://soundcloud.com/emergentrecording
Reply