Deessing hats from snare mic

[brk303]

Hi, I have a snare track which sounds dull unless brightened and compressed which then brings out harsh hats.
I would like to de-ess the hi-hats but not snare hits.
I guess I could use a 500hz sidechain detector, but that would make it de-ess snare hits only, the opposite of what I want.
So I need to reverse logic, any ideas how to do this ?

[Kenny Gioia]

Why don't you gate the snare so it only plays when the snare is hit?

[vdubreeze]

Or key the eq off the snare so it only eqs when the snare hits and is flat (or even tilted down) the rest of the time.

[serr]

If the track in question has a lot of hat hits right on top of snare hits and thus makes gating not really work...

Get a mix of hat + snare from the snare mic(s). Go for balance of snare with hat. Squash as needed.
Gate (strip silence) another copy of the snare mic. Low pass EQ this copy to only keep the body of the snare.
Blend to taste.

[beingmf]

Sorry, totally misread the question :/

[jrk]

Originally Posted by beingmf

Send the snare track to a second track, insert ReaComp with 0 attack, 0 RMS, max ratio. Threshold and release to taste. High-pass the detection sidechain to about 400Hz or higher.
Now flip the phase and you're good.

Neat trick, but how is it different from gating?

[beingmf]

--- misreading follow-up - - -

[pipelineaudio]

This is exactly why multi band gate was made

Hold the gate open long for the low frequencies and close it fast for the high end

[jrk]

Obv, it's whatever works best for you. ReaGate has all the envelope & sidechain control that ReaComp has. Now if it only had ratio/knee (i.e. was a proper expander/gate) it'd be perfect. We can dream, can't we?

[jrk]

... it's a bit of a "period" gimmick, but it's worth remembering ReaGate has a built in noise source. If you find you're finding it hard to get the bright snare you want without eq trouble, give it a go. A little goes a long way.

Snarebuzz (wavesfactory, free) is worth checking out also.

[beingmf]

OK, now that I understand what the issue is: been there once, and in the end, there's only 3 passable solutions.

The obvious one is sample replacement. If you have an "average" snare hit/sample without or with a lowly hit hihat, either replace the hits in question manually or ‒ if there's too many of 'em ‒ use a plugin sampler and one of the drum trigger JS's. The greater the variety of hits you can sample the better, but that should be clear. Check microtiming for phase coherence with the overheads!

The second solution only works if the snare track is sent to some kind of reverb. Rather than adding the top end on the dry signal only, try to find the a blend between "acceptable hihat top end on the dry track" and "brightened post-dynamic-EQ" reverb send. This, of course, involves a dynamic EQ which you can easily create with ReaEQ and Parameter Modulation (Audio).

The third solution is my favourite by far: instead of EQ'ing for brightness, re-amp the snare bottom and mix that in. Of course, mic choice and placement are crucial, but since you can re-do as many times as you like, you should usually find the appropriate sound.

EDIT:
Solution #4: Depending on the overhead mic placement/sound you might keep the dull close mic'd snare and accentuate the hits (sidechain > expander) in the overhead track. The snare has to be clear and rather upfront in the OH though.

[jrk]

Originally Posted by beingmf

The third solution is my favourite by far: instead of EQ'ing for brightness, re-amp the snare bottom and mix that in. Of course, mic choice and placement are crucial, but since you can re-do as many times as you like, you should usually find the proper

You're assuming the OP has a snare bottom track. Obv, something to consider for next time. Otherwise, see Snarebuzz, or whatever.

[beingmf]

Originally Posted by jrk

You're assuming the OP has a snare bottom track. Obv, something to consider for next time. Otherwise, see Snarebuzz, or whatever.

Not at all. I'm talking about re-amping:

1) Set up a snare drum.
2) Put a small speaker box on top of the snare, make sure it is not completely deadening the head.
3) Now set up a send from the snare track to the speaker: roll off/filter all the unnecessary top end in order to trigger the snare strainer, even heavily boost the bass. Experiment with speaker levels and the strainer tension, both will have qualitative impact on the result. Don't kill the speaker.
4) Set up a mic underneath, whatever sounds best for the task.
5) Record.
6) Mix.

[jrk]

Oh right, that palaver. Seriously, check out snarebuzz.

example, as an insert bringing the wet/dry mix (on the plugin) up, and down.
Maybe better to use parallel...

(Mono) OH & snare top (w/ snarebuzz)

like this

[beingmf]

Oh, yes, for a one stop solution that's absolutely amazing, thanks! Or even just to try experimentally if the "snare bottom trick" would work in your mix.

I personally love recording those little details that no one but me will notice in the end ‒ for most productions I prefer a bespoke mix solution. But I can see myself using the plugin more often than I'd like to (now that I've downloaded it, haha).

[jrk]

Absolutely agree - I'm sure you get a great sound doing it "for real". But the plugin's so quick and easy (and free), and very much "good enough". I've used it faking up a garage rock sound from programmed drums (drive it with a bit of everything, incl bass guitar) for a hint of resonant buzziness. Really convincing. As well as faking a snare bottom mic, obv.

There's folks add it to all kinds - sampled brass even.

[beingmf]

Originally Posted by jrk

There's folks add it to all kinds - sampled brass even.

Absolutely ‒ I can imagine deliberately using it on a boring kick drum track will bring it alive (if used subtly).

[valy]

You could blend a brighter snare sample with the original. Sometimes gating just ends up adding these swells of hi-hat sound which isn't usually what you want

[beingmf]

I have to thank you for that suggestion - since I'm not really motivated to go to the studio and re-amp the snare bottom ("Listen, officer, sir, it IS an emergency, kind of! I absolutely need some natural top end for that snare!"), I just used the SnareBuzz plugin and a little bit of PetiteExcite*. Instant beautiful 70's vibe, amazing!

* I know there's a JS (SonicEnhancer), but the VST sounded a little better

[jrk]

Glad it's useful. Thank the folks @ Wavesfactory!