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[Patrick Moore]

It's not that I want it to be unbalanced, but I have to be able to hear the snare clearly.  Else the rhythm of the band is not established and I quickly lose focus while listening to the mix.

[Jeff Harrell]

i'm a rock drummer and this is how i play my drums > hihat/ride cymbal = time keeper. bass drum(s) = rhythm. snare drum = driving force of the song. lots of times i play the snare just a tad ahead of the beat to make the song sound faster then it is. for rock i like the snare just a tad louder but it has to be a good sounding snare to begin with. i 'v heard a lot of awful sounding snare drums. the 2 best rock snares are the ludwig supraphonic 400 and the rogers dynasonic.

[Jay Barracato]

It's not that I want it to be unbalanced, but I have to be able to hear the snare clearly.  Else the rhythm of the band is not established and I quickly lose focus while listening to the mix.

Patrick

This is going to depend on your relationship with the band but this may also be an arrangement problem as much as a mix problem.

If you have to bring the snare ( or any single instrument) up that far in the mix I have to wonder what else is it competing for room in the mix with.  What part of the beat is the snare on? What else is on the same part? Is the snare strong because it is above everything else or because everything else is pulled back at that point?

My instinct for bands I am not involved in helping with arrangements it just to recreate what they give me rather than imposing my own tastes. If I can't hear the snare when the relative levels are balanced because the arrangement is so busy at that point I don't try to fix it in the mix.

[Jeff Harrell]

the snare is not the beat its the "drive". the bass drum is the beat. the bass guitar is the bottom end. the rhythm guitar and/or keyboard is the rhythm. the lead giutar is the voice instrument. the snare doesnt have to be a little louder in the mix but its my prference along with other people. it should be just loud enough to notice that it a little louder. the drummer should be hitting it hard but not so hard that it dents the heads. i'v ben drumming since 1970.

[John Chiara]

   Since this thread started it has made me notice a large majority of rock/pop made in the last 10 years is very snare heavy. I am not saying as bad as the REO video but it stands out now that it was brought up.

The thing is, with a studio mix you can turn down the overhead and room mics but live that slamming snare us in everything. The same with the stupid riding on a crash cymbal that gets into all the vocal mics and you can't turn it down. Plus most snares on recordings are at least a layered sample.

[Jay Barracato]

the snare is not the beat its the "drive". the bass drum is the beat. the bass guitar is the bottom end. the rhythm guitar and/or keyboard is the rhythm. the lead giutar is the voice instrument. the snare doesnt have to be a little louder in the mix but its my prference along with other people. it should be just loud enough to notice that it a little louder. the drummer should be hitting it hard but not so hard that it dents the heads. i'v ben drumming since 1970.

Sure you have been playing the same style since 1970 but not all music fits into that narrow perspective so it defeats the purpose of helping an artist create if you go into the show with preconceived conceptions of how it "should" be.

As you said in your post above sometimes the snare is In front of the beat. Sometimes it is on the beat and sometimes behind.  As a mixer it is not my job to determine where it should be but if the artist wants my help I will make sure there is room for it where they want it.

To paraphrase a departed member of the boards the way to become a really good mixer is to listen to a wide variety of music and to gain experience doing a wide variety of shows. Personally I don't think anyones skills mixing rock will be hurt by learning to mix a good jazz drummer.

[John Chiara]

Sure you have been playing the same style since 1970 but not all music fits into that narrow perspective so it defeats the purpose of helping an artist create if you go into the show with preconceived conceptions of how it "should" be.

As you said in your post above sometimes the snare is In front of the beat. Sometimes it is on the beat and sometimes behind.  As a mixer it is not my job to determine where it should be but if the artist wants my help I will make sure there is room for it where they want it.

To paraphrase a departed member of the boards the way to become a really good mixer is to listen to a wide variety of music and to gain experience doing a wide variety of shows. Personally I don't think anyones skills mixing rock will be hurt by learning to mix a good jazz drummer.

Ditto on all the above. Another observation... every drummer I work with live who describes his job as "Drumming" as opposed to "Playing the drums" ALWAYS plays how he thinks it should be with basically no flexibility based on room acoustics, size or setup.

[Jay Barracato]

Sure you have been playing the same style since 1970 but not all music fits into that narrow perspective so it defeats the purpose of helping an artist create if you go into the show with preconceived conceptions of how it "should" be.

As you said in your post above sometimes the snare is In front of the beat. Sometimes it is on the beat and sometimes behind.  As a mixer it is not my job to determine where it should be but if the artist wants my help I will make sure there is room for it where they want it.

To paraphrase a departed member of the boards the way to become a really good mixer is to listen to a wide variety of music and to gain experience doing a wide variety of shows. Personally I don't think anyones skills mixing rock will be hurt by learning to mix a good jazz drummer.

On a quiet saturday I have been relistening to some stuff i haven't heard in a while. Brothers Keeper by the Neville Brothers has some great drum sounds on it, including snare with both sticks and brushes.

[Paul Dershem]

Gaff tape in the right spots, either on the kit or the drummer........

Now, that's funny! 

[Paul Dershem]

<SNIP> To paraphrase a departed member of the boards the way to become a really good mixer is to listen to a wide variety of music and to gain experience doing a wide variety of shows. Personally I don't think anyones skills mixing rock will be hurt by learning to mix a good jazz drummer.

Couldn't agree more!