How do you sample a snare?

[Phurniture]

Just use low pass filter, i always "clean" my snares, i cut everything up to almost 300hz, and it sounds good in the mix most of the times sometimes i go even higher.

Not sure if you meant high-pass filter.

If you're going to have the snare sample on top of a kick drum (because, for example, you have a 4-4 kick pattern happening), then you can simply turn the high-pass all the way up on the snare (even to the point that it pretty well disappears) and then beginning lowering the cut-off freq. until the snare sounds good along with the kick.

If you then mute the kick, you might even be surprised how thin the snare sounds, but if it sounded good on top of your kick you're in business. All the better that you don't have any unnecessary low frequencies in the snare conflicting with the kick.

If you'll have passages where the snare will play on it's own without being on top of the kick, then you can solo the snare and continue to lower the cut-off until you have a snare that sounds good on it's own, but perhaps with the low-low frequencies still filtered out. You can make this your 2nd snare sample.

[Phurniture]

also phase inversion can work if you have a clean loop with just the kick and snare. double up your track, one with just the kick looped, the other with the kick and snare, add a utility plugin (in ableton) on one of the tracks and click the phase left/right buttons. this should remove the kick and leave you with the clean snare sample...

Sorry to pick up on this again. When you say double up the track, do you mean, one in the left side of stereo - one on the right?

No, just have the two parts play at the same time, but you invert the phase of one track. You have to find the same loop but one where there's the snare sound you want and one with everything but the snare sound. When you invert the phase of two identical tracks, the inverted waveform from one will cancel the other one and you'll be left with silence.

Read this for more detail:
http://audiogeekzine.com/2009/07/techni ... ith-phase/

If the only difference between the two loops is that one has a snare, then when you invert one track all you'll be left with is the snare.

I've tried something like this on occasion, but I've never managed to line things up to the point where it actually worked, perhaps because the two loops weren't so very identical, or they weren't perfectly in sync.

[loopdon]

Simplest trick i have found is two load up the track of choice on two lanes in your sequencer. Also works with mp3s but wav-files are better. Invert on of the two tracks. Adjust tempo in your sequencer to match the track tempos.
Move one track one beat(1/4th of a bar) to the right, so a kick+clap/snare lies above just the kick. Export the output as wav. Cut out the best snares from the rendered track. There should be lots of them, some better, some worse. Apply a highpass to the sample to cut below 150 hz perhaps, if so desired.

[pafufta816]

i almost always highpass filter my snares. 300-400hz usually does the trick, if i don't want any "umph" or body to the snare then i go up to 700hz.

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

Find an older media recording manual/book. The good ones usually show diagrams of different positions to mic different drums. I am no expert but apparently each drum has a particular sweet spot which a good sound engineer would know about. You need to "milk" the sound as it were.

The snare can be characterize as a tom-tom tuned to a higher pitch and with less sustain. Fundamental frequencies range fron 100 to 200 Hz, with harmonics that extend from 1 to 15 kHz.

Although that may not seem very helpful I assume if you know about sound and such then it will help you determine how to best determine the positioning and type of mic. To be honest I would just suggest that you play around until you find a set up that best suits the sound you are looking for. The best reproduction of the live sound may not be the best fit for the track. Sculpt it. Once you find something you think is ok... then post process it until it is just as you like. I am no professional sound engineer but that is my 2 cents. Learn the characteristics of you mics and your instruments and act accordingly.

[TechnoMusic]

I do it by getting my audio recorder out getting a snare drum and beating it up till I have a bunch of snare sounds.