Ringy Toms :(

[Scott Martinez]

I am wondering if there are any sample packs out there that do NOT have drums that ring horribly.  I love EZ drummer, but I wish they would have taken the ring out of the toms when they were recorded.  If there’s an easy way to do it, I’m all ears.

when I usually record drums, I pad them to get rid of that ring – because I don’t know of ANY mixes, other than ambient, sparse music, that this sounds good in.  They’re no good for rock, at least the length of time that they ring.

So I’m interested in some ideas/sources/techniques to get rid of that problem.

Thank you.

Scott Martinez, Owner/Engineer
Audio Cave Recording Studio
http://www.audiocaverecording.com

Topic

[John]

Hi,

 

check out the Claustrophobic, the Vintage Rock, the Classic and the Seventies Rock EZX:s.

Depending on your preferred style, one of them might work for you.

 

BR,

John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Antinet]

You’ve got me wondering now if this is what I’m hearing that bugs me with some of the samples.

[Scott Martinez]

Well, any engineer worth his or her salt would get rid of that excessive ring – because they really can muck up a mix.

I would like to hear from Toontrack – WHY they don’t have samples that are more muted as part of this – which is an otherwise FANTASTIC system.  I mean, sure, by themselves, those toms sound GREAT, but again, when you start putting that stuff into a mix, it really needs to be able to be attenuated somewhat in some cases.  Currently, there is NO way to do that.

Scott Martinez, Owner/Engineer
Audio Cave Recording Studio
http://www.audiocaverecording.com

[Scott Martinez]

Thanks John.  Nope.  Too ringy.  Why didn’t you guys include some samples in each case that have been muted?  It’s a fairly common procedure in the studio to do this, and it’s also why some drummers do it themselves with gel and such.

It’s surprising to be honest, that you guys DIDN’T do this as an option.

Scott Martinez, Owner/Engineer
Audio Cave Recording Studio
http://www.audiocaverecording.com

[the.metal.sound.guy]

Gates and sharp Q notches are your friend for this 🙂

If you have superior drummer 3, the envelope feature is useful for this as well.

91 Sound Studios
https://ninetyonesoundstudios.squarespace.com/

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Thanked by: myron and Henrik

[Scott Martinez]

Changing parameters on drums, i.e, Q settings and gate never produce as good a result as I would like, and gating sounds very artificial with drums – and the overheads and room mics are still ringy.

I was just told by someone at Toontrack that the EZ Pop kit has a Tea Towels setting – check it out so you can see what I’m talking about (if you care).  Still at $89, that is a bit steep considering the rest of the kit is nothing I would really have a use for.

What they need to do is make a kit that is focused primarily on this type of drum treatment.  It would be an EXCELLENT addition to the collection.  Every studio I have EVER been in, engineers are very familiar with this methodology – so I’m actually surprised it hasn’t been done more often.  IMO, it should have been a setting on every one of their modules.

Scott Martinez, Owner/Engineer
Audio Cave Recording Studio
http://www.audiocaverecording.com

[Antinet]

Interesting….it does seem like it should be a standard offering, especially when a broken snare is included. It wouldn’t take THAT much extra effort considering the rest of the setup. Did you hear this on the Bob Rock collection also? That one seemed to have the best sounding shells overall.

[Scott Martinez]

Antinet wrote:

Interesting….it does seem like it should be a standard offering, especially when a broken snare is included. It wouldn’t take THAT much extra effort considering the rest of the setup. Did you hear this on the Bob Rock collection also? That one seemed to have the best sounding shells overall.

It absolutely SHOULD be.  Why it isn’t, is a complete mystery.  I’m not familiar with the Bob Rock collection.  I’ll have to check it out.

Scott Martinez, Owner/Engineer
Audio Cave Recording Studio
http://www.audiocaverecording.com

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Thanked by: Magnus Fiskvik

[Magnus Fiskvik]

I have encountered the same issue with Sup.dr.3 now and support the notion here. As they have some muted snares it should be the same option for toms and I think in general the tom samples lack some major punch in Superior drummer 3. It’s like the toms are hit very softly even on “hard” hits/velocity. I managed to get some punchy toms with EZX ROCK DRUMS, but other than that I think it’s the same issue with most of the EZX expansion as well.
Other than that it’s great of course, lovely piece of software!
What’s the best solution for reducing/removing ringy toms mix wise? Low cut and/or compression?

• This post was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Magnus Fiskvik.

[Scott Martinez]

I think compression would exacerbate the problem, as it’s the length of time that they ring which is a major bummer.

I would try a high pass and perhaps a gate that has a medium-slow release to start, see what that does.  Play with the gate setting to try and minimize the length of the ring.

Let’s cross fingers that, in future, Toontrack provides a remedy or adjustment for this problem.  Because it IS a problem.

Scott Martinez, Owner/Engineer
Audio Cave Recording Studio
http://www.audiocaverecording.com

1

Thanked by: Magnus Fiskvik

[Magnus Fiskvik]

Cool thanks for the swift reply, I’m quite new to mixing so I’m learning something new every day.
Yes agree and I think in general they’re quite good at updating, however I don’t knowhow often they read these posts though.

• This post was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Magnus Fiskvik.

[Bear-Faced Cow]

I wouldn’t bother with the gate or hi-pass in the case of SD3. I would use the envelope palette in the kit piece properties. Done right with the release curve and time, you can get a more natural taper of the ring, which in the context of a song is what counts perceptually. You can also simulate other muted effects with the envelope.

jord

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Jordan L. Chilcott

Web Site: https://jordanchilcottmusic.com/

• This post was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Bear-Faced Cow.

2

Thanked by: myron and Magnus Fiskvik

[Magnus Fiskvik]

Cool I will try that as well. Thanks for the input.

[JimmyK_1]

The Tom’s are what kills EZ Drummer. Every Drum Pack I have heard has the absolute WORST Tom drum sounds. The ‘Ringing’ is awful. No basic engineer would ever allow this to slip through on a mix. The program is excellent. The Tom drums make fills unbearable to listen too. Come on boys call up Liberty Devito or Kenny Arnoff and have them help you fix these terrible drum sounds. It really makes no sense. Was it done on purpose. Are their no real drummers that work at EZ drummer. Maybe just computer geeks. They did a great job. BUT… how the hell did every drum pack include such horrible Tom sounds. I have an idea. Put together BETTER TOM DRUM SOUNDS. Offer it as a Free Drum Pack to all your customers, who spent their hard earned money and spent countless hours trying to fix the unfixable. The EZ Drummer customers deserve that. Call the drummer pack….TOM & PHIL Then we can at least have some Tom drums for decent sounding FILLS. A great company acknowledges their mistake and makes it up to their customers in one form or another. I stopped using EX drummer, I mean EZ drummer because of the Tom drum aggravation. Some people just think that’s the way it sounds. I’m here to tell you. NO! No it does not. Do better EZ drummer. At least make an attempt. Thank you 😊

[Jace Vek]

I feel ya/. Tom ring is one of the biggest problems with Toms.   Theres not much that can be done from a mic’ing perspective, except buy toms that don’t ring that much in the first place.

[Author]

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