Re: snares... what the dealy o?
Ok guys here is my opinion for what it is worth. I should add that I am a drummer as well. There are 2 things that will help what I think you are dealing with that I use. Before I go any further if the drummer is beating the crap out of a poorly tuned drum the old saying of you can't polish a turd applies. Now 2 things: On the snare channel cut 400hz to 450hz. Start around 400hz and cut it 6-8db for starters, then sweep it up and down a little and see where it sounds best. You might end up cutting even deeper depending on how bad the drum actually sounds. Do the same thing with the toms but cut a full 15db and do the sweep between 400hz and 500hz to see what sounds the best. There is so much nasty sounding garbage coming through those mics in those frequencys you will be amazed how much this will clean up a mix. It is not just slightly out of phase snare drum and cymbals coming through those mics but all kinds of stage slosh including guitars. Solo it up and listen if you dont believe me. Remember that you are doing a mix and not just a snare. You have a lot of nasty things stacking up around 500hz. I prefer to let the vocals have that range.
If you have the capability of delaying the mains to the backline or channel delay that goes a long way in clearing up the "smear" and makes things sharp and focused. Do your approximate calculations but in the end you are listening for the speakers to dissappear and for it to appear that all of the sound is coming from the drum itself. Just keep adding delay until the drum comes into "focus". One of my favorite tools we have today. When I started out this was not possible.
If you add a overhead or a hi hat mic in I would suggest you roll off EVERYTHING but the very very top for some sizzle and remember just a little goes a long way. If there are unused background vocal mics cut them of or gate them if you can. You will find as the channel count goes up it will be more about taking out the things that cloud and muddy up a mix than turning up things.
Ok guys here is my opinion for what it is worth. I should add that I am a drummer as well. There are 2 things that will help what I think you are dealing with that I use. Before I go any further if the drummer is beating the crap out of a poorly tuned drum the old saying of you can't polish a turd applies. Now 2 things: On the snare channel cut 400hz to 450hz. Start around 400hz and cut it 6-8db for starters, then sweep it up and down a little and see where it sounds best. You might end up cutting even deeper depending on how bad the drum actually sounds. Do the same thing with the toms but cut a full 15db and do the sweep between 400hz and 500hz to see what sounds the best. There is so much nasty sounding garbage coming through those mics in those frequencys you will be amazed how much this will clean up a mix. It is not just slightly out of phase snare drum and cymbals coming through those mics but all kinds of stage slosh including guitars. Solo it up and listen if you dont believe me. Remember that you are doing a mix and not just a snare. You have a lot of nasty things stacking up around 500hz. I prefer to let the vocals have that range.
If you have the capability of delaying the mains to the backline or channel delay that goes a long way in clearing up the "smear" and makes things sharp and focused. Do your approximate calculations but in the end you are listening for the speakers to dissappear and for it to appear that all of the sound is coming from the drum itself. Just keep adding delay until the drum comes into "focus". One of my favorite tools we have today. When I started out this was not possible.
If you add a overhead or a hi hat mic in I would suggest you roll off EVERYTHING but the very very top for some sizzle and remember just a little goes a long way. If there are unused background vocal mics cut them of or gate them if you can. You will find as the channel count goes up it will be more about taking out the things that cloud and muddy up a mix than turning up things.