Eq-ing a djembe drum

[Tonio]

thats dry??
IMO, as 1 track you could boost about 80hz or so 1-3dbs and cut the mids @ 500-800hz, To bring back the slap? boost about 5-8khz. The slap is really ringing due to the performance style. Guessing its more of an rim shot thing than a real slap -in djembe technique anyway. A compressor could help in elongating the boom that you're lookng for.

Alternatively as 2 seperate tacks- bottom mic track high pass from upper mids ; top mic rack a low pass or just bring down the top mic volume. You'll need to tweek till you find what you think is right of course

A tad bit of compression may help to keep the boom in check , so as to not drown the guitars tone.

I'm thinking maybe a cajon might even get a better balance vs a djembe. Cajons are less resonant yet has a general character of the kick and snare. Some cajons even have snare wires for that specific purpose.


good luck with it.

T

[jrech]

It is two tracks dry. One track is the bottom mic, and one is the top mic. I didn't mix to taste, I just put them both at zero. I know the technique is not the greatest. It is a guitar player attempting to play drums:)

I am printing your ideas right now. I like to keep them in a little mixing log, so I have a starting point. I really appreciate the ideas. I am hopefully going to give it a shot tonight.

J-

[bootsncats]

of course my answer is always compression....

Side chain or multiband compressor on a curve to react with the the changing sound. Eqing by keeping the uper freq's slightly boosted and find the area that is being masked (note wise) and notch eq it. its hard to say. I'm just throwing out ideas to try. I have 3 djembes and they all bring different issues to the table. also, you can try mic'ing from a distance with a supercardoid or shotgun.

again, not sure if these would work but just a few ideas to throw on the table.

[mhschmieder]

Although this is a belated response to an earlier post, I just noticed the suggestion of a cajon, which I think needs to be qualified, as quite a few cajons have a tambourine-like jingle effect from various internal resonator type mechanisms.

[Tonio]

Hey Mark,

I suggested a cajon since the OP was looking for a more sustained low end boom. Yes there are cajons - with strings , they are called guitar cajons. Actually it makes it sound like a snare drum.
Basically IMO a cajon will give a sharper nn sustained slap than the djembe as performed. Possibly making the mix clearer for the low end.

T

[mhschmieder]

Ah yes, it had been a few days since I encountered the guitar-cajons when I posted that, and I had forgotten it had strings inside not jingles . They didn't specificcally call it a guitar-cajon, but this is Guitar Centre we are talking about .

I agree that a regular cajon may be easier to control in the studio for recording purposes, than a traditional djembe.

[Tonio]

You could call them jingles, jangles whatever. Back in the day , they used old guitar strings. So maybe its a slang denomination. It was an adaptation from the Cuban cajon (old fish crates) .
Cuban style cajons are used primarily for rumba -yambu-a slow polyrhythmic style vs the Cuban rumba Matanzas. Though there are varieties in regional usage
of the Cajon in rumba scenarios.
They are used as much in the Spanish flamenco side to -if not more, which the stringed cajons are more prevalent.

T

[mhschmieder]

Ah, that explains a lot. I first became aware of them when I was subbing in a flamenco band, and of course the percussionist used the varieties with string resonators inside.

I only later saw them referenced in Cuban music, where I had thought until recently that they were just mean to be a poor man's substitute for congas.

Thanks for clearing that up; it gives me a good basis for further research, and helps me with some upcoming latin work in terms of knowing what would be considered appropriate instrumentation from a traditional point of view.