Belastbar wrote:
This is how it's done in Scream Bloody Gore, but I think RtL more or less works the same way:
If you look for the kick in the mix, it is actually quite small and unaudible. It's more or less a high "dit" that cuts through the mix. So I think I would mic the kick, see that it has a nice attack sound, and not treat it much. I think in the mix, the kick isn't too loud, so I think when mixing, listen to SBG for reference, so that you can turn down the kick until it's at the same volume as in SBG.
The snare on the other hand is very loud and thick. I can imagine that the drummer plays the snare very loud, also I think the snare is tuned quite low. I would definitely invest the time to tune the snare until it sounds thick, and then just mic it and throw some tape saturation on it in post.
Cymbals: They all sound quite thin and distant, the only thing that has significant weight is the bell of the ride cymbal. So I think they record the cymbals with two overhead mics, I don't think it's a fancy way of recording.
Toms: The toms have a lot of reverb on them and sound quite distant. I think they are using the same overheads for the toms, or they recorded them with an extra mic, and then threw a lot of reverb on them
Guitars: Obviously not part of the drum kit, but I think very complementary. The guitar amp is cranked, and very mid heavy. That leaves a lot of room in the mix for the bass and the base drum in the lows and for the cymbals in the highs. Very important because now with digital recording you can squeeze a million fat sounds into one stereo recording, but oldschool bands didn't do that.
General recording process: SBG sounds very ferocious, and I think for this sound it's very important that you do a live recording of at least the drums and the guitars together. Oldschool metal fans often remark that the demo tapes of 90's albums sound great even though the recording quality is bad, while the albums sound great, but are sterile. This is because the tracks are recorded after each other, so they have no human interaction. So try recording the instruments together as you would play live, it makes such a difference (and is faster).
Thanks! I'll try this out