How to Fix Bad Overhead Tracks

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In an ideal world, you'd always get your drums tracked right at the source. But when that's not the case, you'll need to know how to fix sub-par overhead tracks. Here's how I tackle this common issue to get cymbals that cut through the mix.

[@PaulEubanks]

One thing I never realized when I started out is just how low cymbals usually sit in professional mixes. They’re WAAAAY lower in volume than you might think. And typically only come up in volume during sparse sections of the mix to fill it out.

[@ryanshreevedrums]

Right. I usually turn down the overheads until the kick and snare poke out from the drum mix. So far thats worked really well.

[@Fire-Toolz]

I agree with this. I'm always testing how low I can get them without them becoming ineffective. One of the biggest problems I have when mastering un-professional mixes is how horribly loud cymbals and hi hats are. Sometimes I ask the mixers or producers to lower them, and when they hear what a little exciter and saturation can do to their mix when they lower them, they are very pleased.

[@PaulEubanks]

@@Fire-Toolz Yeah you always have to tell people turn them down. Lower. Yes, even lower than that. Keep going. Almost there. Nope, 3db more. Okay you think that's low enough? LOLNOPE ONE MORE NOTCH.

[@davidgulik4987]

I think it’s a product of how wimpy modern drummers hit. You can certainly hear it in a lot of black metal, i.e., huge cannon shot kick and snare with little wisps of cymbals. Drums are easy to fake, cymbals less so.

[@PaulEubanks]

@@davidgulik4987 Nah, it's more that overheads and cymbals end up washing out important things like synths, reverb tails, and even vocals; so they get yoinked as a result.

[@rockboy360]

I usually love to have a lot of kit sound in my overheads, this didn't sound wrong to me at all, specially when you're using samples to augment the snare, you want that real sound from the rooms and overheads to make it sound more natural once again and make up for the sample's fakeness. But this was a wonderful tip!

[@NemertinesOfficial]

Same. I love one channel whole kit sound. So I can make it more alive if I work with vst drums.

[@theopinson3851]

I think it depends on the genre. For this sort of thing it makes sense to want a more cymbal-heavy OH mix.

[@myisleofview]

Sidechain compression from the snare track is also good opportunity to duck the snare in the overheads.

[@alessandrosummer]

The problem is it ducks everything that comes with the snare, so if you have a cymbal playing with the snare (kinda a Dave Grohl thing to do) the cymbal would be ducked as well

[@crayola2288]

Sweet! Thanks for the little walk-through! It really does sound great on everything!

[@WhirlwindDrums]

Wonderful production walkthrough. Gonna have to try out that plugin.

[@SharnjoySenMetalcore]

Love this plugin already! Might be exactly what I need for recording in smaller rooms.

[@combyjames]

Reminds me of slate digitals (fresh air) plugin.. very cool stuff!

[@coryhofing-drummer7441]

I am for alot of snare in the overhead and use the overheads as a secondary stereo snare mics. I then spot mic every cymbal so i have more control of them in the mix.

[@dmsaudio]

Interesting title for this video. The title conjured up thoughts of someone recording the overheads with something like a 57 (which I know some that have done that). But when he solo'd the track, it sounded pretty normal to me. Yes, it's dark. But I'm sure that's because the signal path was mics-preamp-DAW. With the mindset of sweetening in the mix. But I'm puzzled that an overhead drum mic track that has a good amount of snare in it, is considered "bad". If you want isolated cymbals, use samples. (CLA quote). The overheads capture an overview of the drum kit (hence the name). Impossible for those mics to do anything but this. So why one would expect not to hear a lot of snare in the overheads (especially on an aggressive track) is beyond me. But what was played certainly wouldn't be classified as "bad". Maybe it's not what he wanted to hear, but it's not "bad". It would have been more useful if in addition to pushing his plugin, he would have offered how he would mic the drum kit along with mic choices to minimize snare in the OH mics. There is valuable sonic information that those mics capture and to suggest otherwise is foolish.

[@phadrus]

Is this basically adding some saturation to the high-end of the overheads? You can also duck the snare by side chaining the main snare track to the overheads.

[@np466]

I found a website where I can download free multitracks for practice, and I once tried to work with an overhead that sounded like one mic was directly over the hi hat, the other directly over the china, and the crashes sounded like the were 20 feet away. I gave up for fear of having an aneurysm

[@tedgerard333]

That mix sounds tight. Any tips on recording overheads? I always hate mixing my overheads.

[@SharnjoySenMetalcore]

I'd like to know the same. I totally agree...

[@FeralDropbear]

I’ve worked with some big named producers who absolutely pour the sound of the kit into the overheads, yep lots of bottom end and snare frequencies. My drum mixes have never sounded so good once I worked this out.

[@lapiezaestudio]

How this differ from the "air EQ" plugin from Slate digital?

[@dougleydorite]

Would also like to know

[@alessandrosummer]

This plugin also can compress and saturate

[@matthewg7069]

I would actually have way less overhead in the mix than this personally, as it just seems to wash everything out with a bright swishy noise. I don't think you really need lots of overhead in a mix at all and it doesn't need to be super bright either. But cutting out the lows and low mids is a great idea, as it lets the individual drum mics do their job and maintain their body without becoming smeared by overheads adding room sound and phase issues.

[@Studioinsession]

Wow I bought Oxygen. It’s Awesome! On the mailing list. I did not know you the Black Salt Guy. Hype! Canada Brother.

[@theopinson3851]

To avoid this problem, it’s most likely caused by overheads that were too high, correct? If you heard this as a sound check and you could tell the recording engineers to change something, what would you have them try?

[@jdmclellan]

i actually love it hearing a lot of snares in the overheads but i know that’s rare heh

[@zachmillerdrums]

I don’t think it’s rare for people who don’t use 100% sample replacement

[@jdmclellan]

@@zachmillerdrums Yep! I think it can retain a lot of detail even if you do use sample replacement.

[@dougleydorite]

I like your old way of duplicating the track. Way more control that way

[@stephenross3931]

I usually have two versions of oxygen on my snare. One for bite and one for air

[@stephenross3931]

9:23 shout out to Roelof!! 😊

[@danielwiebe2123]

Fresh Air

[@NathanLaBee]

I like my cymbals to sound like hot sizzling bacon 🥓 would you consider that a good tone? Lol

[@PrantoKoX]

Nice plugin, especially liked it on snare - but too expensive IMHO, especially for a new offering from a new company. Also, in this chosen mix example that constant kick drum assault battery sounding like Sumo wrestlers trying to telegraph a Morse code message by furiously slapping their ass cheeks is really distracting & annoying.

[@randpresley1666]

Jordan seems to do well in his chosen field and has gained respect for what he does, however, there are always critics who are just wannabes...

[@PrantoKoX]

@@randpresley1666 Yes, and there are always fanboys, too. 🤷🏼‍♂️ (BTW pls learn to read: my point was the price of the plugin, and the distracting audio example chosen - nowhere was the level of success or expertise of your idol being questioned... in fact, if I thought he was a noob with no merit, I probably wouldn't be addressing these issues he surely understands and watching his videos, wouldn't I?)

[@randpresley1666]

@@PrantoKoX Perhaps you need to form your words correctly then...