No crack on recorded snare drum?

w3r1_drums

Senior Member
So lately, I've noticed that when recording my snare drum, I can't seem to capture the "crack" sound often associated with a snare drum. I have an SM57 pointed at the center of the snare drum, about an inch above the rim (i can post pictures if needed but I don't have one rn on the comp I'm posting from)

I can't seem to get the crack, it sounds a bit like a tom in the raw audio. I can fix that in post-processing but I can't seem to get that crack - could this be in the tuning? I've tried tightening the snares on the drum and I still can't figure it out - could it be a tuning issue? A mic placement issue?

Thanks for any insight anyone might have.... For the record I can hear the "crack" when playing the snare usually but after I noticed how it sounded recorded I couldn't un-hear a tom with a "crack" on top so idk if hearing it recorded affected how I hear my snare drum....I can't tell anymore
 
SM57 up top...

~3 fingers off the head (2 for brushes, 4 for ridiculously hard hitters), ~<45 degree angle, with a range of ~1.5 inches on either side of the rim depending on the tone/overtone ratio.

Post a recording, so we can hear what you're dealing with. When I hear a snare, I hear the snap of the stick, and I hear the sizzle of the wires, and the peak/decay of the stroke is the crack. From your description, it sounds like the top mic isn't the issue.


Oh, and watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWBPxDVlK_g
 
So lately, I've noticed that when recording my snare drum, I can't seem to capture the "crack" sound often associated with a snare drum. I have an SM57 pointed at the center of the snare drum, about an inch above the rim (i can post pictures if needed but I don't have one rn on the comp I'm posting from)

I can't seem to get the crack, it sounds a bit like a tom in the raw audio. I can fix that in post-processing but I can't seem to get that crack - could this be in the tuning? I've tried tightening the snares on the drum and I still can't figure it out - could it be a tuning issue? A mic placement issue?

Thanks for any insight anyone might have.... For the record I can hear the "crack" when playing the snare usually but after I noticed how it sounded recorded I couldn't un-hear a tom with a "crack" on top so idk if hearing it recorded affected how I hear my snare drum....I can't tell anymore

'Crack' is best captured with the mic hovering a couple of inches above the head. I like to aim the capsule at the rim on the opposite side (might sound counterintuitive, but I find it works). You want to defeat 'honk' and 'bonk' in order to get a clean 'crack'.

Also, my advice would be to tune the a bit snare higher than your preferred sound from the throne. Rock snares are often tuned higher than you think! Bottom end 'oomph' is easily added in the mix.

Thirdly, the addition of a snare side mic will help "dry out" the final snare tone.
 
I would say tuning. Tighten both heads is my method for crack. Loosen for ballad sounding snares.
 
See my signature.
I bet the snare side is tuned somewhere around the batter.
This is wrong.
Tune the snare side head way, way higher. WAY higher. Go in half turns at a time and go slow. But it needs to be tight.
 
See my signature.
I bet the snare side is tuned somewhere around the batter.
This is wrong.
Tune the snare side head way, way higher. WAY higher. Go in half turns at a time and go slow. But it needs to be tight.

Yup, that's my suggestion too. And don't be afraid to crank the top either!

If you're using a light hoop like a 1.6mm or 2.3mm standard triple flange, a switch to something heavier like a die-cast or something more rigid like an S-Hoop might help further, but you should get plenty with rimshots anyways.

On the processing side of things, a thick snare sound is often quite compressed, which often helps impart a good 'crack'. Usually, if you want to boost this (not too much!), it's around 540-560 Hz.
 
I always mic the top and the bottom and find that really helps..

If your missing some snare sound what is your overhead situation. That pics up a good amount of the snare sound in them also. Then you can use the 57 to fatten up the overhead sound.

All the advice given here was good. Try bringing it up about 3 fingers above the rim and aim it at the rim on the other side. or a 45 degree angle slightly toward the middle. don't be afraid to start recording. talk in to the mics mentioning what your doing and move stuff and do it again.. that way you can listen back to it.

also when it comes to overheads or using top and bottom snare mics sometimes reversing the phase 180 can make a HUGE difference, but if your 90 degrees out of phase flipping it 180 doesn't make much difference.. That is a whole different discussion if your putting mics on the snare reso though.
 
Is there such a thing as snare drum crack without a rimshot?

Is crack dependent on the rimshot?
 
Is there such a thing as snare drum crack without a rimshot?

Is crack dependent on the rimshot?

I would say that crack is not dependent on the rimshot.

Crack is greatly enhanced by a rimshot, however.

In Homer speak - a rimshot embiggens the crack of the snare.
Also enloudens it.
 
I think it's much easier to find that crack when you hit a rimshot though.

Hit steady rim shots and you're halfway there
 
1. Definitely play those rimshots!

2. I actually started positioning my Audix i5 a smidgen behind the rim and about an inch high, still pointed at the centre of the drum. This seems to have made a difference in capturing the crack from the rim as well as the tone from the drum.
 
What heads are you using and what snare are you using?

Might be worth letting the drum breathe a bit see if that helps from a mic perspective.

Tune your reso head a lot higher than your batter and rimshot.
 
here's a recording of it, and a picture of how it was mic'ed (i didn't have any pictures directly of the drum, I was taking pictures for other purposes and didn't think to take one)

For the person who asked, the heads are a coated remo powerstroke 77 for the batter head and a stock ludwig head for the reso head
 

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here's a recording of it, and a picture of how it was mic'ed (i didn't have any pictures directly of the drum, I was taking pictures for other purposes and didn't think to take one)

For the person who asked, the heads are a coated remo powerstroke 77 for the batter head and a stock ludwig head for the reso head

That snare drum needs to be tuned muuuch higher, IMO.
 
If I wanted a cracky snare, duct tape would not even be on my list of things to do.

If I was going for crack, I think of a tightly tuned, non muffled drum, played with a rimshot...or at the very least, a very snappy hit.
 
Take the damn tape off--- are you seriously trying to get a crack from a drum with duct tape on it---Hahahahaha!
 
To get the crack you desire you need to tune your batter head higher, my guess based on the recording you posted would be at least a fullturn on all batter head lugs. In addition you may need to tune up the snare side head so that top an bottom work together.Because you are close miking the recorded sound will have a slight boost of lower frequencies compared to what you hear from the throne (the proximity effect). So you can tune up from the recording you posted.

Tune the drum first and then apply tape/ moongels etc to remove some overtones, but don't remove all of these at source as this helps give the sound a little flavour when other instruments are added. Trying to emulate processing by over dampening at sound source will lead to a lifeless drum sound.

Larry is right you can also get more crack by adjusting your stroke and processing such as pre-amp can enhance the crack. Having said that most snares can be set up to deliver this sort of sound.

Keep the snare wires tension somewhat loose this keeps the drum sounding too dry at higher tunings. You don't need to rim shot to get a lot of crack/bite but you do need to set the drum up ( heads, tension/ tuning ) to deliver this sound correctly.

Good luck, post you efforts we want to help.
 
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Notes on possible issues:

You have a control top (dot) head.
You have tape on the (already control top) head.
From the audio recordings, it almost sounds like you're using dynamic mics for overheads.
From the audio recording, it does not sound like you have a bottom snare mic.

In this situation, you're almost better off mic'ing the bottom of the snare than the top. Tightening the top head any more will change nothing other than the note.
 
Notes on possible issues:

You have a control top (dot) head.
You have tape on the (already control top) head.
From the audio recordings, it almost sounds like you're using dynamic mics for overheads.
From the audio recording, it does not sound like you have a bottom snare mic.

In this situation, you're almost better off mic'ing the bottom of the snare than the top. Tightening the top head any more will change nothing other than the note.
Actually the overhead is one condenser mic (a Scarlett CM25) - It's only 3 microphones, kick/snare/overheads.
I guess since the head/tape might be the problem maybe I should consider going for a different snare sound since replacing heads on a whim isn't really something I can do (like I said before it's a powerstroke 77)

also the tape was on back when I tuned this thing and couldn't get a good sound out of it at all - now I'm a lot better at that so perhaps I should try again without the tape. I'll post another recording when I record again and post my findings!

(Another note, the snare is tuned/muffled that way because I usually have gone for that kind of sound - but as of late I've found myself wanting to get more of a crack out of the snare)
 
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