Splash snare help

thin king

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
hey

Been struggling a bit lately to make my snares sound big and splashy - I seem to get a very blocky sound a lot so can anyone give me some tips on make a normal snare sound splashy??
 
ha ha yes but I wanna make it myself rather than just nicking a sample there must be some techniques?? all I can think of is a high passed clap with lots of verb - but it always comes out a bit too seperated?
 
its all about sample choice to start with, try get the characteristics ur looking for. sometimes layering some white noise over ur snare can help get that "splash" (just try not to overdo it as it can sound harsh and unatural if u do)
 
or program one... slower attack and longer release to get the shape, noise wave and a sine i think for the waveform?
 
hey

Been struggling a bit lately to make my snares sound big and splashy - I seem to get a very blocky sound a lot so can anyone give me some tips on make a normal snare sound splashy??

Splash is something you get from cymbals in your break.

If you're talking about getting your Snare hit 'live' sounding here's a way you can do it.

For this example lets say you are making your snare out of 3 different snare samples to create 1 x processed snare hit.

1st Rule is sound selection - OPEN A MONO CHANNEL FIRST - you need to audition a bunch of snares individually through a spectrum analyser to see what frequency the sounds you like are hitting at. Transpose the hits either up or down in semitones to get your bottom layer of your snare hitting around 180-190hz which is going to give you the weight. Use a curve fade on the end of each snare layer to tidy the sound on the decay and remove any clicks etc.

OPEN A STEREO CHANNEL - The middle layer is the one for getting your drums sounding 'live' or 'splashy' as you put it.
Find a snare with plenty of midrange presence and sizzle with a longer tail around 200hz. Again, tune the hit if needed so its hitting in the right range. Place a small fade on the start of the hit if you dont want the transient of the sound clashing with your bottom layer transient. (only if you need to as sometimes they work together) As this layer is on a stereo track you can have it a litle bit wider in the mix to give it that 'live' sound. Usually done by sending a small amount stereo from your snare channel to your Drums Bus.

OPEN A MONO CHANNEL - This top layer is for adding the 'Crack' element to the snare so with this you are looking for a nice attack'y sounding snare sample to signify the drum stick hitting the drum which i'd probably find a sound that hits around 210hz.

Obviously you need to EQ each hit so it sounds flat across the frequency range and take out as much low end as you need to so that it doesnt lose it s weight and doesnt conflict with the Kick drum - which you need to do by ear.

Experiment with this process. Find the right 'Live' or 'Splashy' sounding snare for the middle layer and place on a stereo channel but keep the other 2 layers mono.
:)
 
cheers subsonic... that was spot on! even though i 'know' all this, somethimes you just need someone to spell it out to help break them bad habbits!
 
Don't neglect the other frequencies. Snares have so much going on above 200 hz.
Run your snare channels thru a seperate bus before feeding into the main drum bus. Place a compressor and an eq, it can help tie the samples together.
You can set the compressor to bring out the body of the snare.
 
thanks loads everyone theres some great tips there I'll have a go tonight - I use battery mainly by the way - find that easiest for manipulating hits - cheers again
 
Splash is something you get from cymbals in your break.

If you're talking about getting your Snare hit 'live' sounding here's a way you can do it.

For this example lets say you are making your snare out of 3 different snare samples to create 1 x processed snare hit.

1st Rule is sound selection - OPEN A MONO CHANNEL FIRST - you need to audition a bunch of snares individually through a spectrum analyser to see what frequency the sounds you like are hitting at. Transpose the hits either up or down in semitones to get your bottom layer of your snare hitting around 180-190hz which is going to give you the weight. Use a curve fade on the end of each snare layer to tidy the sound on the decay and remove any clicks etc.

OPEN A STEREO CHANNEL - The middle layer is the one for getting your drums sounding 'live' or 'splashy' as you put it.
Find a snare with plenty of midrange presence and sizzle with a longer tail around 200hz. Again, tune the hit if needed so its hitting in the right range. Place a small fade on the start of the hit if you dont want the transient of the sound clashing with your bottom layer transient. (only if you need to as sometimes they work together) As this layer is on a stereo track you can have it a litle bit wider in the mix to give it that 'live' sound. Usually done by sending a small amount stereo from your snare channel to your Drums Bus.

OPEN A MONO CHANNEL - This top layer is for adding the 'Crack' element to the snare so with this you are looking for a nice attack'y sounding snare sample to signify the drum stick hitting the drum which i'd probably find a sound that hits around 210hz.

Obviously you need to EQ each hit so it sounds flat across the frequency range and take out as much low end as you need to so that it doesnt lose it s weight and doesnt conflict with the Kick drum - which you need to do by ear.

Experiment with this process. Find the right 'Live' or 'Splashy' sounding snare for the middle layer and place on a stereo channel but keep the other 2 layers mono.
:)


Thanks for the tips subsonic.

When you make the stereo channel for the mid snare, do you pan to give it some spatial location incase it intereferes with other sounds in the track?

Or will that deaden the snare?
 
When you make the stereo channel for the mid snare, do you pan to give it some spatial location incase it intereferes with other sounds in the track?

Or will that deaden the snare?

Personaly I'd keep any main snares mono and dead center, anything else is more than likely to just take the impact away from it.
 
Thanks for the tips subsonic.

When you make the stereo channel for the mid snare, do you pan to give it some spatial location incase it intereferes with other sounds in the track?

Or will that deaden the snare?

No worries...Hope it helps you out.

Personally, on the stereo snare channel, where you have your 'send's' on the channel strip i would just use 'Spread' and send just enough signal to the drums bus until the middle layer sounds wider in the mix. Keep increasing it slightly until your wider layer sits nicely with your mono layers. Dont add too much though as you want to leave as much space in the mix for other elements - unless you are making tunes like Alix Perez who uses a more minimal style which allows his sounds more room to breathe - then you can be a bit more generous using widening effects.
 
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