Dubstepforum.com

I've spent a couple days reading the forum, there really is a great wealth of information and good contributors here!

I've been struggling trying to maximize the loudness and crispness of the snare drum in my recordings, and I was wondering what you guys do to really get that snap and punch from the snare. Can it be achieved without 3rd party VSTs within Ableton, or is there some combination of effects you use to achieve the punch? I've only been producing for about a year so I'm not really an expert on this stuff. Laymans terms plz

Also, I wasn't sure if it was taboo to put reverb on a snare or not.

Thanks dubsteppers

Do what sounds good to you.

There is not one VST that makes you sound good. Well....there is, but Deadly hasn't given it up yet...

Stack your snares and EQ them.

There is also this technique that is AMAZING!!!!


Its called, use the f*ing search button...

Layering, proper EQ cutting (dropping unwanted/clashing frequencies) of the individual layers.. a bit of compression or limiting (if needed) to gel the different snares together and rebounce then as one snare...

Apply whats needed, be it a transient shaper, more limiting, some saturation or nothing.

Everything within music is a case-by-case basis unless you're reusing the same sounds in every tune... Every sound has different frequencies and sounds, theres no magic formula. Apply basic knowledge of EQing, compression and knowing when you've added too much and know when to take away.

Layering, eq, compression, saturation, sidechaining and carve out space for the dominant freq in the rest of your mix with eq.

david nicol wrote:I've spent a couple days reading the forum, there really is a great wealth of information and good contributors here!

I've been struggling trying to maximize the loudness and crispness of the snare drum in my recordings, and I was wondering what you guys do to really get that snap and punch from the snare. Can it be achieved without 3rd party VSTs within Ableton, or is there some combination of effects you use to achieve the punch? I've only been producing for about a year so I'm not really an expert on this stuff. Laymans terms plz

Also, I wasn't sure if it was taboo to put reverb on a snare or not.

Thanks dubsteppers

well, the snap, punch and crispness of your snare drum are probably coming from individual sources in most cases. i personally layer 1-2 snare samples, 1-2 claps, and a kick drum with a lot of the frequencies filtered out - this will give it more weight, just play with it until it sounds good.

then, layer all of them together, route them to ONE bus, record all the different samples to just one sample. you'll want to put a compressor, a few db's distortion, and eq on this master bus. once you have the basics of layering, it's really all up to you. and yes, reverb on the snare - with half time drums you can get away with longer reverb tails.

legend4ry wrote:Layering, proper EQ cutting (dropping unwanted/clashing frequencies) of the individual layers.. a bit of compression or limiting (if needed) to gel the different snares together and rebounce then as one snare...

Apply whats needed, be it a transient shaper, more limiting, some saturation or nothing.

Everything within music is a case-by-case basis unless you're reusing the same sounds in every tune... Every sound has different frequencies and sounds, theres no magic formula. Apply basic knowledge of EQing, compression and knowing when you've added too much and know when to take away.

I understand it isn't paint by numbers, I'm always just looking to learn more about compression+EQing, etc.

I think we can all learn from some healthy discussion, Howiegroove. Plus I wanted to introduce myself to the community, figured why not. Its not like I'm coming in here asking "BRO HOW CAN I BRO MY BASSES DOWN."

Layering, eq, compression, saturation, sidechaining and carve out space for the dominant freq in the rest of your mix with eq.

In regards to this carving out of space, do you typically drop the dominant snare frequency out of other layers (e.g bass synths and higher synths)? I worry about losing the sound I was looking for when notching out a certain frequency. Or do you typically just dip the EQ for that frequency?

Thanks, sorry for the n00b questions.

Welcome by the way !

I would get a spectrum analyser just to see, visually where you snares peak and fiddle with EQs when cutting out frequencies of your layers.. if you have a snare whats really middy sounding.. Try layering a rimshot or a clap, etc, etc..

A good snare is 3 things...

Good source samples (sometimes you can get away with not even touching a snare, not layer a thing and no compression if its a good sample)
Good EQin' with layering and correct layering (using samples what sound like they go together)
Making your layers gel... a hard compression or limiter is good for this, adding some saturation can work wonders on layering before you bounce a sample..

Also - heres my top tip.

When layering, if you keep your 'high' snare (like a rim or a clap) out of the snare bus when you first bounce (after first initial layering) put the insert of the top end to your reverb bus, then attach the 'high snare' to the bus..

Your whole snare won't be drowned in reverb and it'll help your snare stand out in the top end, where its easier to make it prominent than in the muddy mid-low end and will make it work better in the mix with your pads and melodies.

legend4ry wrote:Welcome by the way !

TY!

legend4ry wrote:When layering, if you keep your 'high' snare (like a rim or a clap) out of the snare bus when you first bounce (after first initial layering) put the insert of the top end to your reverb bus, then attach the 'high snare' to the bus..

Your whole snare won't be drowned in reverb and it'll help your snare stand out in the top end, where its easier to make it prominent than in the muddy mid-low end and will make it work better in the mix with your pads and melodies.

Seems to make perfect sense, I do notice when reverb is added to a whole layered snare the midrange adds an unwelcome quality to it. muddy fa sho.

Yes I cut around 200 hz or where ever from every other track in the mix. I usually set up groups in ableton to help with all of this stuff. You don't lose anything and it keeps that snare shining through.

Compression on drums is more about the attack and release than anything else.

Using a slightly longer attack time will leave a snare with a real hit to start, whereas a shorter one with have a more long drawn out effect.

Reverb on snares isn't a taboo? I don't really understand what you mean.

I enjoy gated or short reverbs on snares, but that could just be my style. If you're looking for the real chunky brostep thing, get the ableton vocoder on it and mess with the settings until you get a chunky sound (the default setting generally makes this instant) and use a short attack on compression.

Ultimately, for the best results with snares, you want the best single snares you can find, no layering.

Assassin wrote:Compression on drums is more about the attack and release than anything else.

Using a slightly longer attack time will leave a snare with a real hit to start, whereas a shorter one with have a more long drawn out effect.

Reverb on snares isn't a taboo? I don't really understand what you mean.

I enjoy gated or short reverbs on snares, but that could just be my style. If you're looking for the real chunky brostep thing, get the ableton vocoder on it and mess with the settings until you get a chunky sound (the default setting generally makes this instant) and use a short attack on compression.

I've deff been told before to use less reverb on snares but i hear it a lot in dubstep tunes, probably just an issue with muddiness. Anywho tons of great advice in here guys, glad to see not everyone's trollin thru haha.

try EQing the output of the reverb then

sorry man....just contribute too. Welcome.

There are alot of different things you can do. Usually I do alot of cutting and boosting. you have to know where your thump is in your sound. Ill boos at 200 for more body, but cut at 500. But I will do this differently depending on what im looking for. there is no hard or fast rules really. I would suggest playing around with EQ till you get what you like. Oh yeah, make sure to get a good sample. You cant polish a turd. Uhhhhh...oh yeah. Resample your shit. Then in a year down the road, you have a gaggle of dope snare samples to choose from in your next track. In DS I personally dont think people are like "DAMN THATS A DOPE SNARE!", especially if its done right. However, if your snare is weak, people will notice. So u know.

david nicol wrote:I've deff been told before to use less reverb on snares but i hear it a lot in dubstep tunes, probably just an issue with muddiness. Anywho tons of great advice in here guys, glad to see not everyone's trollin thru haha.

I use verb on snares. I'm not sure which reverb plugin you're using, but the default verb setting in Ableton smacks a low pass filter on the EQ which will hide a lot of that swish sound you're looking for.

Also, while boosting certain frequencies in your snare to bring it out, remember to simultaneously cut frequencies in other elements so you don't muddy the shit out of your mix. Give your snare plenty of room to breathe, but don't force it. (that's what she said)

you could also, run a reverb bus which you can EQ and add effects too.. Reverb > Phaser > Dub Delay > EQ = Awesome reverb bus.

david nicol wrote: Also, I wasn't sure if it was taboo to put reverb on a snare or not.

i think you didn't understand the concept of dubstep

except that: listen to legendary he's giving gold tips.

camelcrusher. every time.