IndexOutOfBounds - now with real drums!

Hi all! I finally managed to get into a studio and record some real drums for my song which I posted here a while ago.
Here is the new track: Stream When the index was outside the bounds of the array (real drums) by sfx | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
Please let me know what you think.

Still love this tune! Have to admit, the fake drums sound better! Not that the player didn’t play it well, but it sounds like you had one mic in front of the kit, with no processing. I would say, well, you can’t get away with that in fusion jazz! Maybe you had more than one mic, I don’t know for sure, but it might as well be one mic. As far as I understand, recording drums is difficult, and I wish I knew enough to say I could advise you. But I would say, I can barely hear the kick in this version, and the snare has no snap to it. It’s a kickass piece, you need a kickass drum track to go with it!

So from my amateur experience, when I record live drums, I use at least 4 mics, one very close to the top of the snare, one right in front of the kick, and two overheads spaced equally from the center of the snare (captures cymbals, toms, hi-hat, as well as the whole kit in stereo). The main thing I do before I balance the whole kit to my taste is to process the snare with compression to give it snap (ratio 4:1, attack about 30ms, threshold adjusted so you can see the gain reduced by 2-3db on average). The kick gets a similar treatment. Then I equalize each channel, especially the snare and kick (if you compare the kick sound from this new track to the earlier fake drum version, the fake drum version has a much deeper and more pronounced kick). I also add some plate reverb to the snare channel and some room reverb to the whole kit. Others who actually know what they’re doing may have better advice!

Then you can remix all the tracks together.

Thanks for the great feedback Early. The drums were recorded exactly as you describe, 2mics on the kick. I mixed it very roughly though and I’m actually pretty happy with the snare for example. I’ll see if I can. Improve the kick.

Ok, I re-worked the mix a bit, new version is up.

I can hear the kick much better now, but I still think the snare is weak and not exciting. Still love the piece!

I think the real drums sound better than the ‘fake’ ones…
I can see what Early means with the snare not being as powerful as it should(?) be, but I definitely prefer the new version!
It’s your track in the end, so if you’re very happy with that snare then all is well :slight_smile: