In Summary
With the snare drum being perhaps the most prominent rhythmic element in a track, getting the recording right means getting the drum right, and knowing what close mics are trying to achieve. Here’s where we suggest you start.
Going Deeper
With the snare drum sitting right up front in many mixes, this rhythmic marker along with the kick underpins the entire rhythmic language of the song. Getting this signature element sounding its best starts with a decent drum that is maintained, well tuned and well played. Only then does the business of placing mics become meaningful. While snares can vary in depth, diameter, and shell material, all of the pointers we bring together here apply to all snare drums.
While the principle of a good source well recorded is universal, the approaches need to take on artistic considerations, as well as objective ones such as controlling the balance of the kit.
The Drum
The snare drum has moving parts such as the snare strainer that should work properly. Should things go wrong, usually all that is needed is a drum key and some very basic tools. The drummer may or may not have the necessary tools, so these are to be found in the smart studio - remember if it sounds bad it’s the engineer’s fault!
Drum tuning is a huge subject whose acoustic considerations are highly complex. This is confirmed by the continuing challenges to those who have tried to synthesise these seemingly simple instruments. Certainly, heads that are not worn out and a well deployed drum-key are essential. You can read our in-depth guide to drum tuning here.
Why Mic At All?
Control
In genres where overhead mics are intended to form the basis of the entire sound, soloing them can sometimes make one thing become apparent: the drums are too quiet and the cymbals too loud. The obvious remedy here is to speak to the drummer about the dynamics of the performance, but in reality, players are sometimes unable or unwilling to change these. Once other avenues have been exhausted, the time honoured way of controlling the balance of recorded snare drum is to close mic it. Level increases can then be effected, although where a natural sound is required, a balance must be struck between supporting the snare transparently and breaking cover entirely.
Aesthetics
Across many genres, the sound of close mics on snare can represent the biggest part of the recorded sound’s character. With roots in experimentation during the middle of last century, the technique has become the sound for many. Close mic techniques impart an immediacy and ‘pop’ to snare that artists, listeners, and many engineers take to be the default, forming the basis for further mix processing. These aesthetic benefits are not ‘free’ however, and inevitably some processing ends up being employed to fix the side effects of close capture itself such as hi hat bleed…
Mic Choice
Durability
One thing that can surprise those making their first drum recording is the loud ‘DONK’ that happens when the mic itself takes a hit. In purely practical terms, mics with a known resistance to the kiss of hickory are a wise choice. Tools such as the ubiquitous Shure SM57 and old live sound favourite Sennheiser e604 have a proven track record here, with the latter’s fibreglass body and flexible mount helping it to literally bounce back. These dynamic mics are more reliable when exposed to moisture from those drummers who will insist on spraying sweat everywhere…
Pattern
For many, cardioid is king, with other patterns sometimes being overlooked. While keeping spill out from other parts of the kit is good, the results from a cardioid mic can vary. In a worst-case scenario, the phasey, mid-heavy colouration of things like hi hat spill can sound worse than just using a wider mic or even an omni to catch ‘better’ spill.
If kit layout permits, a figure of eight mic can deliver seemingly magic levels of side rejection. These can be placed further back in-between the first tom and the hi hat to look at the snare. In larger rooms the rear lobe is less of a problem. Its hybrid relative, the hypercardioid, can be used closer still, whose proximity-led low-end weight beats the cardioid by design.
Sound
On more subjective ground, experimentation and listening is key when choosing a mic for the first time on snare. Alongside the aforementioned dynamic, condenser mics’ improved transient response sees them getting out of bed faster when the first hit strikes. Tastes will vary on whether this adds extra snap, or the dynamic’s slightly slower heft wins the day. With most of the useful snare drum information happening somewhere that is north of bass and south of treble, the condenser’s increased acuity at the top might be lost on snare duties - better to leave that expensive vocal mic out of harm’s way…
Where To Mic
With the benefits of exaggerated transients close-up and spill rejection there to be had, need can dictate a position away from the drum measured in cms or inches rather than in feet. Opinions vary, but very generally looking just over the edge of the drum towards the centre of the batter head is a good place to start, around a thumb’s length above the hoop. This can provide a place to start, and could work well straight away. Where gear allows, positioning a second mic with an alternative placement can provide options, although using two great sounds in combination does not guarantee success.
Engineers often mic the underside of the snare as well. This technique can help add some extra natural fizz to the drum from the snare wires, although using too much in the mix can sound like two different instruments being played together in perfect time!
Snare In The Mix
Although how to mix drums is a whole tome of its own, it still holds true that the recording is the mix. Therefore any recording decisions can be made simply by listening as would be done during the mix. Below are some starting points to approach the mix following the process of listening during recording.
EQ
Beginning with keeping unwanted low end out of the snare mic(s), the high pass filter is the engineer’s friend. Filter slope can be to taste, although shallower curves can sound more natural at the expense of the required cutoff. Snare drums’ fundamental frequencies can be surprising low, with useful character beginning somewhere around 150Hz and upwards depending on the drum.
Even well-tuned drums can have multiple rings; better to see if they are actually a problem in context. Sometimes a wider, shallower cut in the middle can take out more than one and help to accentuate the body and fizz of the drum either side of the mid band when centred around 1kHz.
Snare drum ‘fizz’ and brightness around 5-10kHz inevitably sits in the same band as spill from hi hats and other cymbals. Opinions will vary on how useful ‘air’ boosts are on snare. Boosting to add brilliance may lift cymbal spill, and peaking boosts can help discriminate. Sometimes with helpful playing from the drummer, a more targeted bump in the overheads can achieve the same thing.
Bussing two mics together and EQing them as a single entity is speedier than deliberating with two, and has technical advantages in the phase domain.
Dynamics
Gating or expanding snare drum mics is often held up as essential mix hygiene, however in reality intricate ghost-notes often sit down among (or below) the stuff that needs to go. Certainly chopping off the quieter notes is not an option. Much time tweaking will often lead the engineer to conclude that gating works best on beats Two and Four! Sometimes triggering clean hits can work far better for basic backbeats.
Compression can raise related problems that also exacerbate spill, and while compression can achieve a tight, squeezed sound, any makeup gain will draw spill upwards. Gravitating towards higher thresholds and ratios to achieve ‘lim-pression’ effecting the same amount of gain reduction can help.
Reverb
While many engineers will use as few reverbs as possible in the whole mix, snare close mics frequently need some help where their role has been to raise the drum’s level. Some ‘verb to match any real ambience can help a lot to avoid drums that sound like they’ve been overdubbed! Other treatments can of course take in classic reverb effects such as gated tails, or natural ones that decay before the next hit. Using an under mic to feed the reverb can induce a brighter sound in the tail with a softer front to leave room for the snare’s dry bite.
Anything Else?
A surprising amount of energy can travel up stray mic leads into the mic (gently flicking a headphone lead will convince anyone of this), so wobbly stands and errant leads should be dealt with a turn or two around the stand. Drooping mic clips can be a real take-killer so keeping these in check is a simple precaution. With just a little time preparing the snare drum itself, plus a good performance in a sympathetic space, some productions might work well without a close mic on the snare. Indeed, some drum recordings actively require its absence where naturalism is essential.
A Word About This Article
As the Experts team considered how we could better help the community we thought that some of you are time poor and don’t have the time to read a long article or a watch a long video. In 2023 we are going to be trying out articles that have the fast takeaway right at the start and then an opportunity to go deeper if you wish. Let us know if you like this idea in the comments.
Grey snare photo by ASBA Drums on Unsplash
White snare photo by Case Hubbart on Unsplash
Black snare photo by cottonbro studio