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having a problem trying to find the right freq for my snares.

i;ve been attenuating the highs alot as this seems to make them nice and crisp, but then that seems to make the snare dominate the mix and be really painful on the ears y'kno?

i've tried taking sum of the highs out but that just makes the snare sound muddy. any tipz???

rekorder wrote:i;ve been attenuating the highs alot as this seems to make them nice and crisp, but then that seems to make the snare dominate the mix and be really painful on the ears y'kno?

boost and attenuate are opposites of each other. if you're boosting the highs and they're too sharp-- boost less. if they're dominating the mix-- turn 'em down. simple as that.

the meat (impact) in the snare is around 200hz, clarity up around 1-2k, air anyting from 8k on up

ok i'll give this a try. cheers!

rekorder wrote:i;ve been attenuating the highs alot as this seems to make them nice and crisp, but then that seems to make the snare dominate the mix and be really painful on the ears y'kno?

instead of boosting frequencies to make them stand out, cut the ones around them. ( apparently eqs sound better when cutting than boosting )

what i normally do for snares is low cut anything below around 150Hz. cut a bit from around 3khz to 6khz. compress it with a couple milliseconds of attack then stick it through digital distortion with no gain on it so it only clips the attack portion of the snare. this gives you a nice little click on the front end which cuts nicely through the mix. then bus it off to a tasty reverb with all the lows cut out...

Sick Rebel wrote:

rekorder wrote:i;ve been attenuating the highs alot as this seems to make them nice and crisp, but then that seems to make the snare dominate the mix and be really painful on the ears y'kno?

instead of boosting frequencies to make them stand out, cut the ones around them. ( apparently eqs sound better when cutting than boosting )

what i normally do for snares is low cut anything below around 150Hz. cut a bit from around 3khz to 6khz. compress it with a couple milliseconds of attack then stick it through digital distortion with no gain on it so it only clips the attack portion of the snare. this gives you a nice little click on the front end which cuts nicely through the mix. then bus it off to a tasty reverb with all the lows cut out...

wow cheers man thats really helpful, altho i never knew it require sooo much work. safe man!

remember that the meat of ya snare is at 200hz.
This is where ya kick is gonna b punching through too.

More important than anything else finding the right snare & kick combo.

Software eq for subtractive eq, hardware for boosting.

Get your software eq and create a large boost with a sharp Q then sweep through the frequency range of your snare. When you come accross a particularly nasty sounding frequency reverse the gain so the eq is now cutting out this frequency. Adjust the Q point at this stage if you wish. Rinse and repeat.

Then if you have a hardware eq boost frequencies that sound nice and give punch. 200-250Hz as people have already said is a good place to boost for punch and weight.

After doing this you can add some distortion. Tape compression is good, maybe some overdrive if you want. Try things like Camelphat, scream4 on tape, vintage warmer etc.

Also layer up a few snares. One nice snappy one, a low punchy one and a sharp, crisp one.

Have yet to creat a kick or snare that I really like.

Now, how ridiculously nerdy is this?

lots of good advice here,

i'd say layering your beats, be it snares or kicks is a good idea as long as you get hits that fill the freq range you want to fill.

use subtractive eqing techniques - check doa or sos for examples and guides.

another nice alternative for a healthy snare sound is to layer a nice clap on it, might sound silly but trust when done proppa it can sound fat as lard.

demento wrote:i'd say layering your beats, be it snares or kicks is a good idea as long as you get hits that fill the freq range you want to fill.

be very careful when layering kicks. as the frequencies are so low, if both kicks aren't in phase they could just cancel each other out and end up sounding weaker. solution is to only have one kick that actually has any bass in it, low cut the others and just use them for tone.

all about the claps layered with snares. fills them out really nice

wicked advice guys, big up your chests!!!

TeReKeTe wrote:

rekorder wrote:i;ve been attenuating the highs alot as this seems to make them nice and crisp, but then that seems to make the snare dominate the mix and be really painful on the ears y'kno?

boost and attenuate are opposites of each other. if you're boosting the highs and they're too sharp-- boost less. if they're dominating the mix-- turn 'em down. simple as that.

the meat (impact) in the snare is around 200hz, clarity up around 1-2k, air anyting from 8k on up

200hz is prolly the freq that you're looking for to give that snap.

rekorder wrote:i;ve been attenuating the highs alot as this seems to make them nice and crisp...

Just to clarify for posterity: Attenuate = Cut.

Sick Rebel wrote:be very careful when layering kicks. as the frequencies are so low, if both kicks aren't in phase they could just cancel each other out and end up sounding weaker.

Wise wise words indeed. Much too little attention is paid to phase issues these days.
Before you add layer #3 to "beef things up", check your phase, it might be what's holding you back.

Unempty wrote:

rekorder wrote:i;ve been attenuating the highs alot as this seems to make them nice and crisp...

Just to clarify for posterity: Attenuate = Cut.

yeh alright alright, i got mixed up! u got what i was saying didnt u!? picky bastards!

Sick Rebel wrote:
instead of boosting frequencies to make them stand out, cut the ones around them. ( apparently eqs sound better when cutting than boosting

for sure minimize before ya boost anyting, wanna get rid of any freqs that sound like shit either side of where you are at in ya eq, then maximism the sound that you get from that.

To clarify, neither analog nor digital EQs inherently sound better when either boosting or cutting. The philosophy behind 'cut is better than boost' is that if you go around adding tons of frequencies (which you'll do if you boost on an eq, with all but the tightest Qs), you'll end up with a muddy mix.

Also, cutting frequencies can reduce the psychoacoustic masking that occurs when two signals of different frequencies and loudness occur at the same time. Reducing this masking again leads to a clearer, less muddy mix.

if your looking to add tone to yr snare eq aint the best answer. eq is best used to cut out shit freqs. if you want to enhance something use another sound.
nice distortion tip SR.

subframe wrote:To clarify, neither analog nor digital EQs inherently sound better when either boosting or cutting. The philosophy behind 'cut is better than boost' is that if you go around adding tons of frequencies (which you'll do if you boost on an eq, with all but the tightest Qs), you'll end up with a muddy mix.

Also, cutting frequencies can reduce the psychoacoustic masking that occurs when two signals of different frequencies and loudness occur at the same time. Reducing this masking again leads to a clearer, less muddy mix.

I've read quite the opposite.

That when you boost, the EQ is forcing up the volume on certain sets of frequencies, essentially making headroom out of no where, so there tends to be coloration added.

In a seperate article it was suggested that you try several EQ plugs, boosting across different frequency ranges trying to identify which plugs give desirable coloration in which ranges, and journaling this information for later reference, so that if you need nice bass boosting, then you can pick a plug that works well for that range.

If working with analogue, boosting will tend to also accentuate any noise present in the signal, and if several layers of sound are being added, then this can become problematic in the mix.

Just an alternative perspective.

From what I understand, boosting from digital sources is seen generally as more acceptable than from analogue sources due to the lack of noise. Once again - just trying to give a composite of other perspectives.

Cut don't boost is an old school method. Additive EQ if done right can be just as effective.