Electronic drums

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 12:12 pm

I am new at the biz of sound person, (about three years) Maybe some of you more seasoned pros could help a gal out. My drummer is solid and a good player and everything has been great til' he bought electronic drums. I can't seem to get the sound right. He adjusts I adjust but I just can't seem to get it right where I want it. When I get the kick bumbing the damn snare tears my head off. I get the snare snappin' real good then the kick is dead. Any suggestions? I am open to any and all help.

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 1:44 pm

Marlene,
It's great to see a woman engineer here. I think women have the capability to hear highs frequencies much better than many males. I had the joyful experience of working on a couple of things with Producing great "Cookie Marenco" and it was a pleasure. What ears! Unlike other places we don't spend our time here on threads 'dissing the females. Glad to have you aboard! I would try to get separate outputs from the sound module. If that can't be done the next solution would be to get to the parameters in the module and tweak the snare and kick tones until you get what you need. You might ask "The Soundman" what he thinks about this. He is ramrodding the new Forum here "Live Sound". Also please stop by and say "hey!" at my neck of the woods, "Small Steps". Fats

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:30 pm

Thank You Fats for such a warm welcome & great advice. I think I know a way to come out of the module separatly. I will let you know.
Ever since I started doing live sound I have been treated so nice by everyone. Some Sound Persons out there may be shocked, but the band I work with let me run the show. Thats right even the lead singer. They trust me with all their sound if they need it in their monitor I get it if I can't I tell them I can't and they never hand me grief. I have seen the way some sound people are treated and sometimes I am shocked. I am equally shocked by the number of sound people who show up drunk, unprepared,and late. You know I learn something new just about everytime we play. I guess I have a pretty good gig!
Marlene

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:34 pm

Yes...you have established you can do it right and keep them all tight. Great going!!! great team!! (afterall it is teamwork!!!!!!)

Welcome!

The old snare kick problem.....hummmmm lets see...I hear ya!!

Diversity in the EQ and phase. I bet you have a 180 degree phase shift occuring between them..Remember the ole phase button and run your kick 180 out. Tweak the eq around natural sound of each. Phase is the problem..mikes pointing at oppisite poles of the compass.

Phase switch on the kick. That is it IMO..

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 4:11 pm

Quote:

Originally posted by Marlene:
til' he bought electronic drums. I can't seem to get the sound right. He adjusts When I get the kick bumbing the damn snare tears my head off. I get the snare snappin' real good then the kick is dead. Any suggestions?

Hi Marlene! You didn't say what kind, but it sounds to me like you are running out of headroom. Some people like to set the velocities high, I do (on some of my midi) because I use direct outs, but if they go through a control box, you have to conserve space for dynamics. Set a lower level on the master, and set each of the velocities of the snare and kick lower, and make up gain at the console or live board.
Just a suggestion,
--Rick

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 8:12 pm

Thank You all for your help and advice I will have to wait til Friday to check all my new options. I am looking forward to experimenting!
What could go wrong? Right.
Thanks
Marlene

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2003 4:22 pm

I just wanted to thank all you who have replied to my quest for help with a drum problem I WAS having, that's right I said WAS. We all have come across a problem that seems to stump us, and what I found helpful was everyones input. Sometimes when we have a problem we tend to look at it one sided, so having all the input allowed me to look at my problem from another angle.

Now I will tell you what happened. We were having one of those weekends where everything was perfect the place was packed,the crowd was loud and fun. The guys were having a ball and I was too. Sometimes when the crowd is really into the band and all is going well we do this fun thing. All the guys switch instruments. Now for a second or two it is a nightmare for me, but everybody loves it and it is pretty funny to see each of the guys imitate one another. Well the drummer grabs a guitar he never walks around of course, so he is wireless suddenly and he comes out front to tease me. This is the first time he heard the new drums! So between the two of us we have pin pointed most of the problem. He has made a few program changes on the module. Which allowed me to tweak tweak tweak and now they sound so freakin' cool.
Thanks for letting me bend your ears with this long story.

Marlene

Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2003 5:07 pm

:c: :s:

Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:41 pm

Aah yes.... the age old problem of the musician who can't hear what's coming out of his/her instrument. Wink

I always think that if every player could step in front of their horn/axe and really hear what is going on, they'd start playing totally differently and better for it. I've had many musos in the studio who are horrified at how they sound on tape. But after a few simple tests, they realize that that is indeed how they sound.
Guitarists are usually the worst because most of them stand on top of their amps and never really hear what comes out of them. When I track a guitarist using an amp I put him at one end of the room, and his amp at the other facing him, and this is generally the first time he has ever really heard it.
It's harder for drummers because as soon as you put somebody else on the kit, it sounds different. I keep my kit set up in my studio and a variety of drummers use it. I always tune it up pretty much the same, but it sounds like a different kit on tape with each player. So drummer really need to trust the engineer.

Sorry for rambling Wink

:p

Mark

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