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Booms in Small Places  By Michael Molenda | March 1, 2010  Not
so long ago in a recording universe that wasnPearl drum set’t
very far away, snare drums were king. Back then, if an engineer
served up a massively humongous snare sound, the entire band
would “ooo” and “ahh” and giggle hysterically, as if they had
stumbled upon Prince’s top-secret notebook of super-sexy pickup
lines. A great snare meant a hit song was a possibility. It
elevated you above the losers who struggled to craft limp and
wimpy snares. A big, honkin’ snare proved you had cracked the
code for professional audio production, and that royalty checks,
groupies, and repeat performances on Saturday Night Live were
within your reach.  Today, a slew of those “louderthan- the-
lead-vocal” snares processed with gated reverb may sound cheesy,
but that doesn’t mean the concept of a mighty snare has gone the
way of spandex and head bands. You can still craft a snare sound
that can drive yo