These claps are crap

[Bear]

Okay. I need some help getting a good hand-clap sound out of junk gear. Are there any tricks of the trade that I'm just not aware of (I've heard of people using 2 by 4s instead of their hands)? Are there any techniques that'll get me something along the lines of the claps in "We Suck Young Blood"? All the clap recordings I've made sound really thin and puny, even when I track them 5 or 6 times.

Any advice or input would be awesome.

[supafuzz]

the best hand claps so far I got recently
1176 set to nuke
just clap in the room about 5 feet back from the mic

if you have any compressor and set it to massive clamp you'll get a similar effect

[soundguy]

try to get a small group of peeps together and a dead room. Clap party is lots of fun and you can pretty much invite anyone you know. Often its the one dude that is slightly late that makes the track thicker, 5 people hitting the pocket at the same time really doesnt sound much bigger than 2 people doing the same.

dave

[rhythm ranch]

A bit of pitch shifting can sometimes help.

[saag paneer]

Clap party is lots of fun and you can pretty much invite anyone you know.

just be wary about sending an e-mail inviting everyone you know to a 'clap party.'

[Bear]

Some good ideas here. And I can't believe I didn't think of messing with pitch. What's wrong with me?

[jayrope]

the fact that your claps sounded thin might be related to the way you recorded them.
mike them right. use a large vocal mic. maybe even a ribbon.
be sure not to cut of the transients with the compressor, therefore don't set the attack time for too fast - i'd go with 10-20 ms attack time.
is your preamp good?
and: if all doesn't hep, then try pitching fingersnaps downwards.
be sure to record rtf stereo.

[Bear]

Aha! It worked. I used a vocal mic, a bit of compression (with a slower attack--thanks for the tip), tracked five takes with just me (couldn't set up a clap party, though that sounds like a lot of fun), loaded it into the computer and dropped the pitch a bit. And it's the sound I was aiming for. Thanks for the help, folks. You guys are peachy.

[jayrope]

yo bro.

[leigh]

be sure not to cut of the transients with the compressor, therefore don't set the attack time for too fast - i'd go with 10-20 ms attack time.

Hmmm, that's actually the opposite approach I'd take in general, but it certainly depends on the kind of clap sound you want, and I don't know the recording that the original poster is referencing.

I like to get a roomy sound on claps, so for that fast attack is the way to go, combined with fast release. Just think of it as trying to get the decaying sound of the clap in the room up to an audible level. The fast attack/release is used to remove that pesky transient that would otherwise be WAY too loud if you just cranked the gain knob.

And if you want a roomy sound, remember, track in a room that you actually want to hear! Wood floors and high ceilings are great, so maybe a living room, hallway, or stairwell. Concrete can also work for a brighter slap sound.

Leigh

[jayrope]

ah got ya. actually i don't know the track you were referring to in th efirst place, just thought of a fat hip hop style handclap recording, and that sounded stereo, bassy, snappy, and just with a room ambience to me. there 4. might still make sense to have transients for definition and turn release pretty slow on higher ration 10:1 or so. that easily take the punch away from it though

[wayne kerr]

If you send me your handclaps, I will evaluate them for $35. You can send the money to me via paypal. I'll respond with my professional critique in 72 hours. If your handclaps are REALLY good, you may actually get a phone call from me (not my assistant, mind you, but from ME!) and we'll talk. I might want to sign you to my label.

[helstab]

"we suck young blood"

off of Radiohead's new record.

[Bear]

I wanted the claps to be thick and lazy, with some of the multi-tracking slightly off-time. The slower attack worked nice. I got a nice, clunky kind of sound. The pitch shifting really helped too. It's not a sound I would use all the time, but it's what I was aiming for with the song.

If you send me your handclaps, I will evaluate them for $35. You can send the money to me via paypal. I'll respond with my professional critique in 72 hours. If your handclaps are REALLY good, you may actually get a phone call from me (not my assistant, mind you, but from ME!) and we'll talk. I might want to sign you to my label.

And right you are, Helstab.

[wayne kerr]

heheheh