Textures/Chon/AAL Snare Tone?

[jackshakespeare]

Looking for some information/advice on how to get a snare tone similar to Textures, Chon, AAL etc. Essentially I want to get a snare tone that's high-pitch, dry and poppy. I only play guitar and bass so I know quite little about drums so any advice about tuning, skins, shells, mic choice/placement and post recording effects would be appreciated

Some audio examples;

Textures - New Horizons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su0q0u4Yup0

Animals As Leaders - CAFO - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmfzWpp0hMc

Polyphia - Finale - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNYfM0ovwug

CHON - But - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vem_t1xhvB4

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[AntonioPetrole]

Will you be recording live drums or programming midi drums? The quickest way to a high pitch dry and poppy snare would be to start with a high pitch dry and poppy snare sample. I only listened to the Textures sample, but honestly you could probably get a sound like that using stock Steve Slate Drum samples and just experimenting a tad. Knowing a little more info on your setup would be great, otherwise I can't offer much advice

 

[Tegara]

"so any advice about tuning, skins, shells, mic choice/placement and post recording effects would be appreciated"
I would probably guess live drums.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

"so any advice about tuning, skins, shells, mic choice/placement and post recording effects would be appreciated"
I would probably guess live drums.

Good call. As far as post processing/editing, Ermin Hamidovich has a great post on the Sneap forums from a few years ago. This should be an excellent start for getting an idea of working with live drums

Systematic Mixing Series #2: In Soviet Russia, Drums Slam You | Ultimate Metal - Heavy Metal Forum and Community

I can't give much advice on micing/tracking, the only advice I can offer is that everything starts at the source. A poorly tuned snare with old skins will sound like balls, no matter how much post processing you have.

Also you'll very quickly learn to hate hi-hat bleed, so take that into consideration in your journey

 

[jackshakespeare]

Thanks very much for the replies guys, I'm going to be using a mixture of samples and live drums as I have a kick tone from a sample that's perfect for the kind of stuff I'm going for. Great thanks for that, I'll have to get back to you on set-up as my drummer has a pretty expansive kit. As for hi-hat bleed, do you have any advice about how to counteract that besides using EQ to cut the high end as I'm certain that'll be detrimental to the overall snare tone. I suppose snare isolation would be the only option to get a completely clear tone. Anyways, cheers for the links and advice I'll check them out ASAP

 

[T40]

If i recall correctly, misha helped tosin record the entire first AAL album, so that tone is from superior drummer, not sure which pack, but back then there werent near as many so you could probably pick it out. Then see if you can go get that particular snare! I believe toontrack even has what mics where used.

 

[russmuller]

I'm pretty sure the first AAL record was all Drumkit From Hell samples. I've been drooling over Toontrack's Progressive SDX for months, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Metal Machine EZX is my favorite library that I own (better than DFH EZX and Metal Foundry SDX IMHO).

Honestly the best tools that I can recommend for drums tones are Slate Digital's audio plugins. I have no experience with their trigger or sample replacement software, but the Virtual Tape Machine, Virtual Bus Compressor, and Revival plugins add SO MUCH MOJO it blows my mind. I also prefer an 1176 style compressor for drums, which is included in the Slate bundle (the FG-116). So I'd recommend signing up for their monthly subscription when it comes time to mix.

 

[Enselmis]

All those snare sounds. Compress the dick outta the snare with an 1176 emulator, dampen it so it doesn't get ringy, send it to a big plate reverb and put an eq after the reverb so it doesn't get in the way of anything. Done. All of those snares sound fairly deep, and none of them sound like they're tuned terribly high. Don't let the wires get out of hand if you mic the bottom, I didn't hear much sizzle on any of those.

 

[illimmigrant]

Tune the snare so it falls in the key of the song as well as within the range of the snare itself. Start with say a C then work your way up to a D, E, maybe even higher. Pick the tone that seems to sound best for the snare that also falls in whatever key you're playing. Use something like Moongel to dampen the snare so it doesn't ring a ton. Tune the toms so that they also follow the key you're playing in.
Hyper-cardioid mics seem to work well on helping to minimize bleed. On the snare drum, try to have the mic pointing towards your drummer as much as it's convenient for the drummer and aim it towards the center of the drums for more attack, or closer towards the rim for more of the actual drum tone.
Move the hi-hat as high up as is convenient for your drummer and his style of play without sacrificing his performance. Have your drummer hit the sane hard and consistently if you're going for that punchy snare sound.

Once recorded, your first step should be to reduce some of the hi-hat from the top mic so any eq and compression moves you do after will not affect the bleed.
Either automate, or use something like a dynamic EQ to reduce high frequency volume while the snare isn't playing.

All those snare sounds. Compress the dick outta the snare with an 1176 emulator, dampen it so it doesn't get ringy, send it to a big plate reverb and put an eq after the reverb so it doesn't get in the way of anything. Done. All of those snares sound fairly deep, and none of them sound like they're tuned terribly high. Don't let the wires get out of hand if you mic the bottom, I didn't hear much sizzle on any of those.

Unless you're talking about the parallel compression bus, I disagree with this. If you use an 1176 directly on the snare track (top only or top/bottom bussed), you're going to reduce the attack and raise the level of the ringing, the body, and the snare wires because of the fast attack/release times of such compressor.
If you want to emphasize attack you use a slower compressor to let the peak go through untouched. Then you also use a slow release time to keep the tail of the snare sound compressed. A slow release time also helps keeps the hi-hat bleed low while the snare isn't playing.
An 1176 used in parallel is great to help the tail of the drum come back into the mix as much as you need it to and create a bit of that "breathing" effect where the snare drum slams with the initial attack, yet decays naturally.
Plate reverbs work well on snares, also use in parallel. As far as EQ goes, only you can tell what to do based on the drums you record and samples you use.

Good Luck!