DRUM REAMPING
SNARE REAMPING
Back in my second year of uni (Advanced Audio Technology with Tim), we had a lecture where we covered how to re-record a snare – by placing a speaker over the batter side of the snare, so you could record the response of the wires and reso head – all without bleed! Now that I’ve started to kit out my home studio, I actually have the microphones to be able to do this and experiment with this effect.
For this I’m using an AER Alpha as the speaker (as it is small and easy to fit over the top of the snare), a Pearl Export 14″ x 5.5″ Snare and a RODE NT5. As for a source sound to play through the speaker I’ve been using the Mid Tuned snare from GGD Periphery V. I made this choice as I wanted to try and reinforce / improve the sound of the snare as I found it a bit flat in my drum pre-mix ( sorry Adam 🙁 )
Below is an image of the setup. The speaker was annoyingly just small enough to not fit on the edge of the snare hoop, meaning it was touching the batter head. To solve this, very worn drum sticks were used to provide space between the speaker and snare drum (because the ends are practically not round anymore).
For my first test , I used a TesseracT / Periphery style djent track I’ve been working on (definitely didn’t start writing it about 3 hours beforehand). Below I’ve attached examples of the track and drums before/after reamping the snare.
RAW MIC AUDIO
DRUMS WITH REAMP
DRUMS WITHOUT REAMP
TRACK WITH REAMP
TRACK WITHOUT REAMP
As you can hear in the examples above, when the reamp is added, the snare sounds fuller. It sounds more ‘real‘.
You may be thinking to yourself, ‘Why would I go through all the trouble of reamping a snare when I could go and get a sample pack and use Trigger 2“.
To which I’d say, because it’s fun?
You’d end up with a recording that nobody else has and you’ll have much more opportunity to shape the sound to your needs.
Also, isn’t this kinda what recording, producing and being an audio nerd is all about? Messing around with mics, speakers, plugins, kazoos, etc and finding new or old ways of achieving a goal. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. Worst case, it was a fun activity, best case, you’ve found a new sound or the 5% you needed to get the snare sitting just right. There’s literally no downside.
TL/DR: More Snare = More Better and being an audio nerd is cool.
Now this is just the tip of the iceberg. I only ran a snare through a snare to record a snare (snare³).
What if you played a vocal through the snare then distorted it?
What if you took the same principle and applied it to a floor tom and played the bass through it?
The possibilities are quite literally endless, and I will be exploring them here. So if you’re reading this and the page ends here. Keep an eye on my socials for an update. 🚨