Snare Trouble

steverok

Silver Member
So I took my new Ludwig LM402 Supra to the studio today, and my band recorded one track. We're a heaving hitting punk-type of band. I recently replaced the bottom head with the clear, collar-less Remo head that was recommended by MikeM and Karl on the forum here, and I use the Ludwig snare chord, with PureSound 20-strand blasters. I had the bottom head nice and tight, and I had it sounding better than ever. The one thing I didn't agree with was the engineer/producer mic'd the snare drum at the bottom only, right underneath the snares. We did a few takes, and got a great take on the 4th try. I didn't really dig the snare sound very much - it was too snare-y, and not cracky enough. I figured this was because the way it was mic'd. It sounded good from where I was sitting. However, when I got home, one of the tension rods on the bottom was completely loose, almost to the point of falling out. In addition, the snares were completely loose. I spend so much time on my gear, and it's so frustrating when I see my equipment failing me. What am I doing wrong ? Do I hit the damn things too hard ? Looking for moral support here ...
 
Try using Tightscrews if it becomes a regular issue. Mic'ing a snare drum from the bottom only sucks IMO. These days, I prefer to leave it mainly to the overheads for a more natural balance, or at least, mic the top head rather than the bottom on it's own.
 
It may be that the engineer is using your snare to trigger a sample and will blend the two sounds.
Did you ask him why he's only micing from the bottom ?
Ask him when you go in to track the next song.
As for the tension rod , with new heads , sometimes that happens. The strand wires is a mystery to me, unless you were really pounding on the rim.
The main thing is how it sounds in the over all mix.
 
I've seen top and bottom miced,and top only,but never bottom only on a snare.Try using nylon lock washers on your tension rods.If that fails,you may have to use plumbers teflon tape.That will stop the rods from moving,but you'll have to clean your swivel nuts occasionally,or the tape may build up on the threads.I've seen guys that really hit hard resort to that,and it works,just don't use a lot of it.

Bottom rods backing out,has never happened to be.Top rods were I occasionally play rim shots ,yes.Again,nylon lock washers should do the trick.Maybe you have an excessive amount of lube on your rods.

Steve B
 
tension rods will come loose, due to vibrations...

miking only the bottom snare side is unusual, usually when i go into the studio i have both top and bottom miked, so that you can get a better balance between the snare wires and the attack of the top head.

+1 and also like KIS said, I'm not a hard hitter but EVERY metal Ludwig Snare I've owned and used have always needed locking lugs.
 
My Tama Artwood Maple snare has an occassional issue with reso head TRs loosening, but this usually only happens at lower tunings and particularly the TRs either side of the snare wires. I find that if I back off on the tension on the snare beds then they loosen eventually. If I match the tension on the beds with the rest of the drum they hold their position but I get more snare buzz.

Dang.
 
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