Snare Compression/ALC Snares?

[Bobby Ffitch]

YO i was just listening to my itunes playlist of all the alchemist beats i have (yes im a nerd, i have my playlists organized by producers) and his snares have always amazed me. somehow, dude gets the crispiest, hottest snares a on a lot of tracks. im not sure if its just the snare sound, or is it compression/other fx? or maybe just good mastering/mixing? ive tried hella things...

like peep the snares in 'the feelin' on thsi dudes page...
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=14334550
thats what im talking about... and those kicks too? how come my shit never sounds that crispy lol?

 

[Artistix]

Man it's all about EQ, Compression and just having good quality drum samples to work with.

 

[Greg Savage]

I agree, also alot of compression can be avoided if you filter the sounds right.

 

[bigdmakintrax]

if you sample your drums (I sample about 98% of my drums)make sure you get that millisecond before the attack and leave a natural decay, also a big part of some of those dope hip hop records where the snare sound really good is because just like Artistix said it begins with a good sample, in my opinion if you have a well mixed sample from vinyl to begin with why would you want to even over compress it, sometimes how it sits in the mix in reference to your other sounds can sometimes help you avoid using more compression, if the sample sounds natural and loud off the record I dont do anything except maybe a tiny amount of EQ, the sample should already have the room ambience, fx already with it....at least thats my approach.

 

[open mind]

compression is really overrated i dont compress nothing no more i really dont need it. i eq the sound iam looking for!!!

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

good looks on the help... yea i understand that sometimes you just want the snare to sit nicely in the mix... im just trying to expand my musical vocab, so to speak, by adding some drum mixing/filtering techniques. im loving that guys drums in the link i posted above.

 

[5th Sequence]

I use compression a lot, especially on drums. Even though sometimes they dont need it, I do it to get more punch. it's easy to over do it, so it's somethin you wanna keep a close ear to so you dont squish your sound.

From the myspace stuff I heard, these drums sound compressed. Some settings I use is -12 to -15db threshold, medium attack, ration of 6-8:1 and a fast release. Then add your make up gain. You get a crunch/thump sound out of it. Then it's about placement in the mix, the loudness/effect of the drums can be increased by decreasing the sound of the other instruments too.

EQ is another definite biggie. Mess with the EQ to add a slight snap or presence in the high range. Or take the same snare sample and pitch it up (or down) and layerthat to get a thicker sound. Also try layering a hi-hat that has some snap to it in there. Gets that natural high frequency snap in there without having to alter the sound of your snare using EQ.

For kick drums... use a spectral analyzer and see what frequencies its dominating. You can either increase frequencies where the harmonics are doubled (if dominant frequency is 90Hz, you increase 180Hz) but also cut EQ where it may be too much. If there is too much bass in the kick then it will be a huge frequency rush when it hits, kind of taking away its character and natural sound. If for instance, that 90Hz range was really just rumbling the shit out of the kick sample, you could lower it by a few db's, but increase it at 180Hz or wherever it may need it to taste. This way the huge bass rush is toned down, but you still have the original texture of the kick drum, only clarified.

To keep the kick tight, roll of some of the mid-bass frequencies around 350Hz and up. Sometimes an EQ dip in there can clear up some muddyness and make the drum kit sound tighter. Doesnt have too be much, but a few db's can make the difference.

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

^thanks 5th. been sweating your drums for a minute, so ima try that stuff. thanks for the help all/

 

[Lazy Eyes]

compression is really overrated i dont compress nothing no more i really dont need it. i eq the sound iam looking for!!!

Ur right about the EQing bro, it's mad important to get your drums to sit right in the mix, but as fas as compression it's really important man.. Really important..

Check Gang Starrs Hard to Earn, and all of the Dangermouse productions are heavy on the compressing tip! Those drums really smack the shit out of you and are just taken from breaks..

U ever heard a dirty drumbreak smack that hard ? I haven't and on those records they do.. That's not just Eqing thats a comp, my friend... An expensive comp!

 

[shotgun]

My beats arent complete until theres compression, eq's, and this tiny distortion effect to get the snares and kicks smackin u down like gods hand lol

 

[FTdub]

Dog, your not the only one. Right now I've got Alc, preemo, dre, hi-tek, dilla, madlib, just blaze, & rza

Embrace the nerdiness

ALC is a digger first and foremost. I'm sure he has scoured for those samples. Compression is probably not needed too much for him because the original sample was already compressed. Source, resolution, and layering are my bets on his samples.

 

[Ash Holmz]

fuc a compression .. just find the right blend of layering with hot samples to begin with ...

 

[TheDeen]

Dog, your not the only one.

I do as well. It's really helpful because it helps me appreciate production more.

 

[Wizdom]

fuc a compression .. just find the right blend of layering with hot samples to begin with ...

What do you mean by layering? Do you layer the snares? If so, are you using a plugin?

 

[5th Sequence]

You can layer anything. Layering two snares can give you a different sound, or the best of both words. You may like the crunch of one snare, and the full bodied phatness of another. combining them gives you a phat crunchy snare.

Same thing with kicks an anything else really. You don't need to use a plug-in to do this either. It's as simple as having another set of snares playing at the same time as your other snare is playing and then manipulating its individual features (EQ, attack, release, pitch, reverb) until it sounds how you want it.

 

[carlinitroso]

compression is really overrated i dont compress nothing no more i really dont need it. i eq the sound iam looking for!!!

bad EQ'ing will fuck up a nice sound...
Anyway EQ'ing is mainly used (i think) for crisping up the sound a little bit
But the compressor makes drums sound way harder.

 

[Wizdom]

Okay, I get it... (duhhh) Seems no matter how much I think I know, there's always something new to learn....