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Cool Edit Pro

Peter Squire

Peter Squire

Aug 22, 2004
2,376
9
56
Adelaide, Australia
www.theantics.net
#1
Hi guys

Droog, Petebass, your advice in the "Recording Live" thread has been invaluable to me.

As a newb to recording, I am hoping for some more advice from this forum. Did a search, but not really good results.

We are using our 8 channel Tascam desk hooked up to Cool Edit Pro.

It seems to me to be a bit of a cheapo setup, although the program seems OK to work with. Although I am able to get a nicely balanced mix on the bass and vocals, the drums sound ******* dreadful. They sound like a poorly executed fart in a cardboard box.

Does this program have issues with the low frequency of the
bass drum? I just can't get the kick to sound big.

The snare sounds like someone brushing a Coke can with Steelo.
I have told our drummer that he needs to get his kit professionally tuned, which he is gonna do.

Generally, we closely mike the kick with a Shure SM57, mike the snare and hats with a Shure SM58 between both, and ambient the cymbals and toms with three 58's. I tried miking the snare from beneath on its own but it sounded worse.

I realise I am asking heaps of questions in one thread, but I am stumped, sorry.

Any advice? :help:
 
#2
I doubt the drum sound problems have anything to do with Cool Edit Pro - it's much more likely the result of micing or the Tascam.

I've used Cool Edit Pro for years and have found it to be an easy to use, versatile program that provides tons of bang for the buck without being a computer resource hog (i can do multitrack recording on a 400mhz processor without serious lag issues, although i generally don't do more than two separate tracks at a time).

It's also one of the main staples used in the radio industry (although there are others out there for sure).

I think Cool Edit Pro, though, is gone. Wasn't it bought by Adobe and turned into one of their programs? Not sure.

Good luck!
 
#4
It is probably the drums themselves. Make sure he has good heads and they arent overly dampened. Let them ring. If they are all dead, of course they are going to sound like cardboard boxes.

A bad sounding kit is still going to sound like crap when recorded, actually, it usually sounds WORSE recorded.

Of course, it could also be the EQ'ing. I dont think its the mic set up though. Even though they arent the best mics for the job, they should still sound decent.
 
#5
Thanks guys. I have only recently been involved with Cool Edit, so its all new.

Our singer used to mix most of our stuff, and he always put his vocals too loud in the mix, which made him sound like he was singing to a karaoke backing track.

I have had some success with using effects on his vocals and sitting them in the mix more naturally. We are looking now to spending a lot more time getting the sound right before we hit the record button. I just think that tinkering with the mikes for that extra bit of time makes a world of difference.

Last week, for the first time, I persuaded our singer/guitarist to record his track in the bathroom to get some different natural ambience and it sounded great.

Thanks for all your helpful advice, guys. ;)
 
#6
Also... watch out for "closely miking" the kick... you run a higher risk of overdriving the mic diaphragm... and you don't take advantage of all the lows you can capture a few feet further away from the actual beater head.

Just keep the mic pointed right at the beater for "impact", but move it a few feet back and see if that don't open up the low end! Experiment with placement (and maybe even different mics) until it sounds like you want it to.
 
#7
Peter Squire said:
Does this program have issues with the low frequency of the
bass drum? I just can't get the kick to sound big.

Generally, we closely mike the kick with a Shure SM57, mike the snare and hats with a Shure SM58 between both, and ambient the cymbals and toms with three 58's. I tried miking the snare from beneath on its own but it sounded worse.
Click to expand...

First problem, the kick being miced with a SM57. I don't mind 57's but there's some things for which they're great (micing a guitar amp and some snares ), and other things where it's never going to perform all that well - kick drum falls into the second category.

Indeed live, I've used 57's on the kick only when speaker excursion of the PA subs is a problem (a trick I learned from a fellow TB'er). This over excursion is caused by more ows than the subs can handle. When I use a 57 on the kick, the mic doesn't pick up the low frequencies, so they never make it to the speaker, leaving me to concentrate on making the kick sound decent within the frequency band that keeps the PA subs happy.

So the first thing I'd do is get a hold of a mic that's capable of taking low frequencies. There's a heap of them out there. Personally I like the Shure Beta 91, but lots of people get away with the cheaper Beta 52 (the egg).
 
#9
A Shure 57 can be used on a kick drum with sucess but it depends on several things. I have had them sound very good on a few drums, mostly if the drummer has a 24 inch or larger drum on the kit and the PA is only helping out the sound, it can really have some punch with the 57, as was stated earlier it rolls of some of the very low freq stuff at the mic.

Another trick is to take apart a 57 and bypass the built in transformer, come out of the mic with a shielded cable and then use a quality direct box to balance the line. This makes a VERY GOOD kick drum mic on the cheap. It seems that most of the low freq response problems with the 57 are not caused by the diaphram but the inductor instead.
 
#10
I have very successfully mic'd a kick with an sm58 before, meaning that the 57 should work just fine (since its pretty much the same mic). try putting the mic inside the kick. Personally, I would use the 57 for the snare (close mic) and put the 58 in the kick. that way, the snare mic is a little more directional and you wont end up with incredibly loud hihats later. Also, make sure to solo the kick mic and see what it sounds like then... if the low end isnt sounding the way you want it to when all the mics are on, its possible that you've got phase problems, probably being caused by your "ambient" 58's. Personally, I would close mic the toms with those 3 58's you're using for toms and cymbals. You'll end up with enough cymbal sound without even directly micing any of them (at least i always have)

disclaimer: I am by no means a professional, I only know what has worked for me while recording my band's various demos

hopefully I helped :)
 

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