How to Re-Amp Snare: Salvage and Mix a Bad Sounding Snare Drum

For more info about the online recording school go to: www.creativesou...

[@mixskywalker0078]

Ive been engineering and producing records for over 13 years (aka: making money for services) and this is the 1st snare re-amp i have ever seen. That sounded amazing. Props to you thinking outside the box and coming up with a solid solution rather then pull the sample/trigger card. I hate to use samples myself because your drum sound shapes the character for the entire recording, it's the 1st shot at putting your stamp on it. To all my fellow engineers, stop chasing what your hearing from your mentors but commit and create your own sounds. Think outside the box! Cheers... Good job brother, really impressed with this video..

[@creativesoundlab]

+Mixskywalker Thanks man!

[@beedoovideo]

Hahaha, I think you could make a fortune with Metallica fans and reamp all the snares from St Anger.

[@butt_woman1493]

Metallica could win back a lot of fans if they just disowned st. anger

[@jasonzenobia4459]

beedoovideo hilarious!!!

[@TyCrawford]

I came here just to see if this was the top comment. Thanks for not disappointing

[@johnmorrison8618]

I do this all the time on acoustic and electronic drum tracks. Love the sound particularly of a fender twin's spring reverb on a snare. If you're feeling adventurous you can run the whole mix through an amp or maybe an old boom box and blend it in parallel to your master. Cool to see there's others using the same technique. Great content - have a great time recording and creating!

[@andrewt248]

I was skeptical, but, dude, that sounds amazing. Nice work.

[@creativesoundlab]

+andrewt248 Thanks! I was skeptical too when I first tried it.

[@Charlyfromthenuclearcity]

Came here from HoboRec. Excellent channel, subscribed after reading 3 video titles.

[@creativesoundlab]

Ah yes, he did the kick drum reamping right? Great dude and channel.

[@Gruhak]

This is probably the best trick i have seen drum wise. Is this your idea or did you pick it up from somewhere? Your videos are grear, very educational, keep going!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks for the complement! While it's not a very common technique, I'm not the first to do it. I had to do a lot of experimentation on how to get the best results, and using a microphone on top is a result of my own experiments.

[@tommibjork]

Hi, nice to see someone else use this technique. I used to get big kick sound using same "speaker reamping" with a 50 litre plastic bucket. Not kidding. It's all about the resonance.

[@onemanpiano]

I've been thinking about this for a while and I think you might be able to use an exciter transducer instead of a typical speaker. In this setup you would put the exciter directly in contact with the head. It will control the ring of the head, but you could add a reverb tail if you want more head ring. The other thing with using an exciter is that you can play around with placement on the head whether you put the exciter in the center or more off center where drummers normally hit the snare. You can pick up a Dayton Audio exciter for about $15 bucks at Parts Express or DigiKey. I think the transducing will give you a much more aggressive attack than inducing a buzz through an external speaker. I'm gonna buy some of these real soon. So I'll report back at some point if/when I do this at my studio.

[@marcomizzoni8323]

From one engineer to another, way to think out side the box. Truly brilliant.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Marco Mizzoni Thanks!

[@TheRealSorav]

This really impressed me. I don't usually subscribe to KZbin channels even if I enjoy the videos, but this proved to me that you are a real sound engineer so now I have. Keep it up.

[@DynamicRockers]

Niice! I've heard about this technique a long time ago when samples and triggers did not exist But I never saw it actually. It was about the snare drum in Fine Young Canibals " She drives me crazy". David Z, the engineer, said " I pumped the processed snare and blended through an Auratone speaker set upside down atop another snare drum, which rattled the metal snares and gave the result some ambience and even more high end". That's an awesome idea!

[@jcamargo04]

You took a very shitty sounding snare drum and turn it into a pretty decent one. Interesting technique, very impressive.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@florabee9283]

This is saving my life! I’m not being dramatic- the hours of frustration and tweaking to try to salvage the drum session are now going to be cut way down, allowing me to actually live! Ha! My dumb ass recorded a band live and the drummer had the snares off or something whack so the bottom mic just picked up garbage, and we’re all in the same room wearing earplugs so I saw the meter moving on the channel and thought- we good! No! We were not anywhere close to good! Now with this method- I can have a real, proper snare instead of whatever I managed to fake with a stack of plugins and crap. Also room snare without the swishy cymbals from the untreated room and guitar amp bleed! (now scrounging for wood scraps) Thanks!!!!!!! This is life changing, well, for me anyway on this specific project.

[@hardsap]

the best reamp video i've seen

[@LasseHuhtala]

Very clever technique, i'll be sure to add it to my tool box. Thanks!

[@creativesoundlab]

Lasse Huhtala Thanks!

[@creativesoundlab]

+Manofmanytallets Yes, a little. You can adjust for this and the amount will be depending on your system. If your unsure, you can always play a hi hat track through the snare reamp rig, and see how much of a scoot back it'll take to make it right.

[@tmmphono]

6 years ago I attended to a masterclass with Roy Cicala (Record Plant) where he taught us this technique. In that moment I thought "is this really happening?" :) Unfortunately he passed away a couple years ago. Btw, you're providing one of the best content on the internet. Seriously, congrats.

[@valentinfaline3397]

Creative Sound Lab hello could you please tell us how do you wire that speaker is it going directly through a di box via your daw or is it much more complicated than that. Btw your show is awesome. Thanks for sharing precious knowledge.

[@void870]

It's nice seeing this trick in other parts of the industry. I learned this when I was still in school at CRAS.

[@creativesoundlab]

Nice, yeah not the first one to do this, but I added my own twist.

[@void870]

I had a teacher say, "If it sounds good from where you're standing, put a mic there." There's no right or wrong way to do it, if it sounds great.

[@Stefan-]

Contrasting The Void Great advice from your teacher !! In my experience recording and mixing is mainly about listening, i mean really using your ears. People can tell you to do this and that, use this compressor and set your EQ like this and its going to sound great, but if you dont use your ears to tweak it for yourself it will probably sound like crap. Great video BTW !!

[@acsguitaradventures4186]

Never thought about this. Very interesting technique!

[@gian5902]

I was blown away with this! great videos, I use ableton for recording too. Greetings from Chile!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@2latuile]

I actually learned that trick in the early/mid 80s when working as a tape-op, the resident engineer often used it on rythmbox snares to make them sound a bit more realistic...

[@creativesoundlab]

Very cool to know that trick. I got it from Michael Wagener.

[@gribb5967]

I first read about this in Tape Op about 15 years ago or so, and have been using it on and of ever since. In my case I was just looking for more of the "snare" sounds since the drum had plenty of pop but no rattle. I just took a Yamaha floor monitor that was laying around and plopped it right on top and then mic'd up the bottom .I was so excited that it worked I darn near peed myself. I like tour tweaks and will have to give it a shot. Finally a use for that old Crate 12" speaker.....

[@citizennobody5518]

I really like your lo fi approach its very similar to what I'm doing at the minute - using what you have in a creative way to get a distinctive sound rather than rely too heavily on the standardisation of recording techniques that seems over dominant today.

[@foketesz]

This is really, really clever, and brilliantly implemented.

[@ChristianIce]

Great, fantastic, and also funny to do. As for guitars? Mh, eq matching, that's a life saver.

[@cmd_f5]

that sounds beefy and natural after your reamp sesh. Don't usually hear about this but the few times I've seen it done it's impressiv

[@craig7810]

You my friend are a genius. I will certainly be trying this technique. it's given me an idea of Re-amping a kick through a bass amp.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man, let me know how it turns out!

[@lukesuperflyjones]

YOU GIVE ME HOPE

[@johannestuovinen9208]

Very nice! You can also use small active speaker like Avantone mixcube or genelec 8081 if you are out of guitar speaker. Those monitors are heavy enough to stay on the top and center of the snare without anything to hold them to stay in place.

[@joshuadavis8535]

This is amazing! I would have never thought of this. thanks for posting!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks Joshua!

[@bartnettle]

You are passionate about post production mixing and I really like your style! Excellent!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thank you, and I'm glad my passion is appreciated. I'm going to start Season Two of these videos very soon.

[@bartnettle]

No worries. I love this stuff too. Good on you for doing it. Your space looks good, your got a pro approach and I am sure it will be successful. All the best with it! .

[@thesuccessfulbarber]

This is why I subbed to your channel. You're the real deal!

[@julianwest4030]

Wow! That sounds a lot better than one might expect! I'm really impressed.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks! Much better than the original!

[@coreyreynolds3585]

Wow! Did not expect that to work at all. Great trick as an alternative to triggering.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks for the kind words and let me know how the technique works for you!

[@legacyg6]

Once again you have shown me something that I needed to see! I just did a session the other day and there was some major hi hat bleed on the snare track (I blame it on poor drumming technique, but that's a different discussion altogether). I will be giving this a try! I'm so glad I stumbled across your channel and can't wait for more content! :)

[@thesensoryman3997]

wouldn't have guessed this one - very impressive, and creative

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@MrBendertheOffender]

I'm just amazed!!!!!! I've had similar issues and had no idea how to fix it... suscribed!!!!!!!

[@creativesoundlab]

MrBendertheOffender I was amazed too when I first tried it! Glad it can help you with your mixing too.

[@projectz975]

this is the wildest thing ive seen all week. true mad-science going on here

[@AllenPendleton]

That's one of the coolest things I have seen in a while

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks.

[@joelonsdale]

Hi Ryan. Great video. I've got good results playing the snare track out of a guitar amp combo on it's back with the snare drum batter down on the amp case. Your way is better though as the snare isn't meant to be played upside down! What speaker and amplifier are you using?

[@creativesoundlab]

I think it was a speaker from an old organ, and the amp was a QSC amp. Really you can use anything that will get the drum moving.

[@paullennox2404]

bravo mate, bravo! That's commitment; the before compared to after is laughable. Have just sessioned about 15 of your vids straight!

[@Mr_A_Mia]

great advice! thank you for all your videos.

[@highfidelity71]

Hey man...Thank you for your tutorials man...Seriously...They are really great man..

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@jeroenfigee]

And one step further would be to use this system when your track has a drummachine. What would happen if the drummachine triggers a live kit, a live snaredrum andvthe room. That one is on my list. Really cool video and loved the results. Kinda 4 times better then the toinky snare.

[@jeffmclowry]

Pretty creative dude! Thanks for sharing.

[@ryanlachurrerra4044]

This is an awesome idea. I'm going to give it a try. It's got my mind turning over some ideas about an arduino controlled motor drum whacker(prob won't work) To accomplish something like this. Great video though

[@Scrapyy]

this is pure genius

[@EricssonB]

6:30 wtf is this black magic

[@gordontubbs]

Your little intro "song" reminds me of the intro to the TV show Longmire. I like it.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks, I kinda went nuts with the vocal effects. The bands credits are at the end of the video.

[@gordontubbs]

Oh, lol, I meant the song at 1:56.

[@creativesoundlab]

gordontubbs yeah, I could see how it resembles that. No guitar on mine though, it's just a piano that I strummed with a sustain pedal holding a d minor chord I think.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Very cool! I wish I knew this trick. Had a session that the snare was totally trash. Went and Re recorded the drums. Although it was worth it. I would’ve tried this first. Thank you!

[@theComaCalling]

Dude, seriously, this is brilliant!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@NOTSERP69]

love your content dude. keep up the hard work!

[@fourthlayer]

This is nothing short of brilliant!!!

[@Davicokeiro]

Really cool, man! Great idea! Congrats!

[@creativesoundlab]

Davicokeiro Thanks. Let me know how it works out for you.

[@PaulyStax]

pretty significant improvement! Awesome.

[@bydre]

This is insane. Great tip to know! Thanks for sharing

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@LudwigVanKinder]

OMG my mind just blow away, i'd never have thought about doing this O:! it's owsom

[@DeadKoby]

Interesting concept. I wonder if a transducer could work in place of a speaker if it did touch the drum in a spot.

[@ShredShed]

Thats incredible. Killer sound

[@alvagoldbook2]

This is freaking genius!

[@HandsUpDK]

Subscribed. Very interesting ideas, and awesome results.

[@creativesoundlab]

YoYo .Kidz Thank you!

[@eminence55]

Loved your vid! Brilliant idea with excellent results

[@creativesoundlab]

Chad Parker Right on. Thanks!

[@frozencons]

This channel is fantastic.

[@djentlover]

This is just plain genius. Thank you!

[@YeeVeeX]

Man... you are a genius. Great video!

[@DamienWalshcomposer]

Creat video, the final drum sound is excellent.

[@thirdfloorstudio180]

Wow!! That's awesome! Thank you so much! :D

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@Manofmanytallets]

Will there be any latency issues ?

[@AdamRainStopper]

Yes, but you can correct them easily enough, especially with a percussion track, just zoom way in and line it up with the original track(s).

[@VSPhotfries]

That was the cleverest damn thing I ever saw. Good one, man!

[@creativesoundlab]

Wow thanks man!

[@keith_hudson]

TheRev I agree. I thought it was brilliant.

[@talleric4523]

So i just found your channel an boy am i happy. Im stuck trying to figure how to make an acoustic Electronic drum kit hybrid. Id love to run the idea by you an hopefully you can point ne in the right direction.

[@creativesoundlab]

There's a really cool video on contact mics by the KZbin channel HoboRec you should check out. He does a electronic drum kit with it about half way through the video.

[@paolodigiovanni9839]

This is a really cool technique :) By the way, which console are you using for mixing?

[@famitory]

would this work for taking a beefy snare and making it sharp and ringy, for a third wave ska piccolo snare kind of sound? it seems like the lesser amount of initial high frequencies and sharp transient might make it harder to get a good sharp sound.

[@creativesoundlab]

This technique works better for going the other way...a snare that has no body and poor snare fullness from the bottom and giving it more. It would be hard to add more ring.

[@punk_rock]

Is it safe to connect 4 Ohm speaker to mic input? Microphone (like SM57) have 600 Ohm load, while speaker only 4; so is there any impendance problems like short-circuit of mic input? Thank you.

[@miked5487]

What a cool idea. Sounds way bigger now. I wonder if I could do this with toms as well. Question, what room mic are you using?

[@joshuamatotek532]

I thought this was a joke when he busted out the speaker. Way to think out of the box!

[@jahvogs5241]

Very good tutorial!!!!!!!

[@sejuyz]

I´m a fan of your work!

[@mikoajdobber2425]

It sounds awesome :) Great video

[@TLAudioMixingMastering]

My only two questions are.. Did you re wire the cone with longer wires to keep it attached to the guitar amp? And What ReAmp box did you use?

[@wade123davis]

Great video btw You say you using an old speaker with an amplifier ? Are you keeping your settings on the amplifier at unity gain ? Another question is are you going from your Daw out to the speaker and recording through microphones and back into your daw ?

[@SamBassal]

Great video mang, seriously creative.

[@creativesoundlab]

SamBassalDrums Thanks!

[@jasonzenobia4459]

Really, really nice, brother. :) thank you! Excellent videos :)

[@PORRFNK]

A small tip, even though this is an old video: Make the snare drum track into a midi track. Get a midi controlled drum module (Hardware) For example polyend.com/perc-drumming-machine/ Pick the snaredrum you like, hook it and mic it up and rerecord it. But man, you did a great job here, thumbs up.

[@chinmeysway]

way cool. but how do you amp the speaker, and what is the room mic, and how is it stereo, if it’s just one mic. thanks!

[@TheLeon1032]

holy shit bud, world class!! great results!!

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@misterxeric]

Re-amping ? Or re-snaring ? 😂

[@creativesoundlab]

Both perhaps?

[@TheDintheSpace]

Your videos are great! I hope you get more views soon, it surprises me you don't

[@creativesoundlab]

TheDintheSpace Thanks for the kind words. Feel free to share them around and post them. I average one video a week released on Tuesdays.

[@MotherUniverseProd]

Hey dude, great vid as usual. Would using something cleaner than an amp be better. Can you perhaps come directly out of your desk or would it not give you the volume youd want ? Cheers!

[@MotherUniverseProd]

Sorry, also are you using a full range speaker or a guitar speaker ? Cheers in advance :)

[@creativesoundlab]

Well the desk gives you line level, which is great for the input of a amp. I think I used a rack mount amp for this video, which is clean and used for monitoring passive monitors. The speaker is full range, but it's heavy on the mids.

[@MotherUniverseProd]

Cheers Ryan, I seen you inspired a guy try reamp a kick drum also. Definitely worth trying. Anyways love the channel and think your content is the best online for those who actually wanna get good recordings over messing about with plug ins trying to fix shit :)

[@creativesoundlab]

Oh yeah that video is really cool.

[@MotherUniverseProd]

Yea man, pretty sweet! Took the liberty of sharing your channel on a couple of recording forums Im on also to share the wisdom! Take it easy!

[@xavkoston16]

I don't have enough inputs to add a snare bottom mic while recording for my band, this could be a very good trick to add punch attack and precision to my snare after recording ! But what kind of speaker do we have to use for this ?

[@sergiovene1848]

Merci realy cool trigger methode for SD.Thanks from Antibes France.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@sgperson101]

Incredible technique man! Can wait to give this a try, any idea how this works on toms?

[@creativesoundlab]

Hmmm, not sure. It might.

[@leonardobucci6801]

You could put a small speaker inside the snare, and then mic it

[@nicoeleich]

Great video... gonna try it...by the way... you look like Vinnie Paul... :)

[@robertreid2241]

Consider my mind blown

[@JeremyDavisDeathHouse]

I love your videos man. I really love the fact that you use ableton as well. Are you going to namm?

[@creativesoundlab]

Would love to.

[@TimmyP1955]

I prefer it without the room mic. Thanks for the useful technique.

[@creativesoundlab]

Sure thing!

[@marshallcornbread413]

thanks for posting this man !

[@Shadoworker]

Holy shit! Thank you!

[@Shane-zo4mg]

Where's the footage of the actual reamping??

[@erichzann3414]

Man, you are the best. Thank you.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Erich Zann Thanks!

[@joekugelblitz4144]

That´s a cool idea :) ... Thanks for sharing.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks!

[@chucksano]

Can I ask a question? Why not use something like drumagog or slate trigger for this? Cool technique if you HAD to do it, but these days you surely don't have to. People augment/replace drums with samples all the time.

[@somberlight]

this gives you a tone with unique characteristics right off the bat. drumagog / slate ... welp, it's exactly the thing everyone else is using. if thats what you're after, fine, but there are other ways to do it. this is one of them

[@JustinBA007]

chucksano because samples sound terrible and aren't real.

[@gonzomuse]

You're right, you could easily sample augment and done properly it would sound cool. But what I think is really valuable is NOT doing the exact same thing that everyone else is doing. Getting original sounds is now more important than ever, since everyone has access to all the same samples. Getting the audio out of your computer one way or another is often going to result in something unique.

[@escalator9734]

"because samples sound terrible and aren't real" maybe get some good samples and learn how to use them