Video Created by JOEL CAMERON - Transcribed by TOM BOWSER
You often do NOT need much of the Hi-hat microphone in the mix. You can often get the amount of Hi-hat you need from the overhead microphones. However, in denser mixes you may need to use the Hi-hat microphone to give the hi-hat definition in the mix.
If the Hi-hat mic is positioned too high when it was recorded to "let it breath" you can get a lot of snare leakage/bleed into the hi-hat mic. If you then use the hi-hat mic/track high in the mix you tend to get a phasy/blurry snare response that's fighting the close mic on the snare.
The goal of the following section is to reduce the amount of snare sound present in the hi hat track.
Create a "pre fade" send on the top snare track.
Left click on a blank area under the SENDS section of the tracks channel strip.
Hover your mouse over the word "bus" then left click on any unused MONO bus, for example, Bus 9 (Mono). You know a bus is not being used when the numbers (or name) that identify it are colored white. Yellow indicates the bus is being used.
Set the send level fader to 0.
Left click on the "PRE" button on the send fader. It turns blue when enabled.
Rename the bus to "TOP SNARE SEND". To rename the bus right click on the bus button then left click on "Rename…".
Insert a Pro Tools Dyn 3 Compressor/Limiter (mono) on the hi hat track.
Enable the side chain of the compressor on the hi hat track by left clicking on the small key in the SIDE-CHAIN section of the compressor. The small key will turn blue when the side chain is enabled. See the image after step 9.
Set the "key input" of the compressor to the bus (TOP SNARE SEND) created in step 1. Left click on the Key Input dropdown arrow (says "no key input"). Hover your mouse cursor over "bus" then left click on the TOP SNARE SEND (Mono) bus to select it. See the image after step 9.
Set the compressor's attack to 10.0 us or so (turn the attack knob full counter clockwise) to catch/bite off the front of the transient of the snare in the hi hat microphone/track.
Set the compressor's release to 26ms or so. You want the compressor to release so fast you don't notice the snare drum was compressed. A fast release will also allow the hi hat through.
Set the compression RATIO to 3/1. Experiment with a lower compression ratio of 2/1.
Adjust the THRESH (threshold) of the compressor until you see about 6 to up to 18dB of gain reduction. When used in heavy rock where you may need to bring up the hi hat to enable it to cut/be more present in the mix.
NOTE: The hi-hat track is being compressed, but the snare drum is triggering the compression. The snare level present in the hi-hat track will be reduced and compressed.
EQ:
Joel states that the hi-hat is a high frequency instrument. There is nothing in the way of low frequencies that we want to hear in the track. The first thing Joel wants to do is reduce the low frequencies in the track. All the low frequency information has nothing to do with the hi-hat.
Joel also states in this video that the hi-hat track has a "metallicy" character that he does not like. He states that the sound of the hi-hat in the track is either how the hi-hat itself sounds or it sounds as it does because of the microphone or preamp used or possibly the mic placement used to record the hi-hat. He decides to insert a compressor on the track to see if he can improve the sound of the hi-hat.
Insert the Pro Tools EQ 3 7-band in the hi-hat track AFTER the compressor.
Disable the LF (low frequency), LMF (low, mid frequency), MF (mid frequency) and HF (high frequency) bands of the EQ. Left click on the "IN" button to enable or disable a band. A band is enabled when the "IN" button is blue.
Enable the HPF (high pass) filter and set it to 6dB/oct (this should be the default).
Sweep (slowly turn the FREQuency knob from left to right) the HPF FREQ knob from its default at 20.0 Hz up to 450 - 750 Hz to reduce the low end present in the hi-hat track. (Joel eventually sets it to 768.5 Hz in the video)
Cut using the high mid filter (HMF) to reduce the level in this frequency range if the hi-hat sounds tinny or harsh (often a problem that results from using cheaper solid state microphones). You may want to sweep (turn the FREQuency knob from left to right then right to left) and listen to find the frequency range you want to reduce. In the video Joel reduces by -2.7 dB at 12.62 KHz. You want to use what works on your hi-hat track.
Bypass the EQ and listen then re-enable the EQ to verify the difference in the hi-hat track both with and without the EQ.
Consider blending the sound of the hi-hat mic with the sound of the hi-hat in the overheads.
The low end can cause phasiness or a blurred snare drum image. Use subtractive EQ. Sweep from low to high until you hear the low end disappear (from around 450 - 750 Hz), The sound of the high hat should remain unchanged in the mix.
Reducing the low end also gives you a little more headroom if you need to push the faders up to achieve a louder sounding mix before you reach for compression.
The process outlined in this tutorial is a useful way to contain the snare in the hi-hat track so that the snare remains the dominant part of the groove/backbeat and yet the hi-hat when the snare is not playing is still entirely natural and clear allowing you to pan the hi-hat where you want it in the mix.
NOTE: Remember to disable any EQ bands not being used. If an EQ band is enabled it influences the sound of the track in subtle ways even if you have not changed the filters settings. Look at the image above. EQ bands that are not used are disabled.
