recording drums

Gary Moore · Post by **Gary Moore** » 23 Sep 2007 6:35 am

sould you use cond mic on all drums or dym mic & whats the best mics to use thanks.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Sep 2007 7:15 am

I am not an expert but I believe it is common to use condensers overhead above the set left and right above the cymbals. Dynamics can be fine for all other needs.

Purpose is everything here.. Band demo's, home demo's ,all bets are off.. Session demo's for a specific purpose of a "RELEASE" nature you should always use the best gear possible to start with.

I don't even own overhead condensers so all of the small sessions we have done here at the house used 5 dynamic mics for the drum kit. Sounded ok to me..

but then theres forum members John Macy and Brad Sarno..who may have a different idea about what sounds good or..

not

I do believe that if we do another demo here at the house I will probably pick up a pair of pencil condensers, or at least borrow them.

Then after that you have to deal with the drummer:)
----------------------------------------------------
What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians?

A drummer.

tp

Dom Franco · Post by **Dom Franco** » 23 Sep 2007 9:55 pm

Condensors on overheads are great because they pick up the ultra high frequencies of the cymbals.

I like to use a Shure SM57 on the snare and I have two different special kick drum mics ( taylored for the lows) But any good Dynamic will do as long as it can handle the SPL (Sound pressure level)

Also if the toms are an important part of the song I will add individual mics for those as well.

But usually the overheads get plenty of toms.
Do take a few minutes extra to experiment with mic distance and angles to optimize the sound in the particular room you record in. If the room sounds good, move the mics back a few feet for a natural reverb.

Sincerely
Dom

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 24 Sep 2007 5:08 am

No rules, ever. Sure condensers are commonly used as overheads, there are all kinds of options. Some people swear by ribbon mic's. Others love dynamic mics. If anyone has had the pleasure of hearing Randy Beavers' latest album, you can hear the sound of engineer Denny Knight's technique of using SM57's all over the kit, including the overheads. It's a great sound. What's critical about drum recording is the room or space that the drums are in. That room sound will always be strong in a drum recording, so pick a space that flatters the drums.

One of my favorite techniques is an old-school, often thought of as a "jazz" approach with just one mic over the drummer's head, and a kick drum mic. On a great sounding kit in a decent room with a bit of compression on the overhead mic, this sounds real good. The simplicity, the clarity, the realistic image, no phase issues from combining mics, aahhhhhhhhh....

Brad

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 24 Sep 2007 6:28 am

Several years ago I was playing at a large club with a large PA and while we were getting the drums adjusted I said let's see how they sound with just a kick and two overhead condensors.

We turned off all the mics and turned up the condensors a little hotter than normal and we were shocked at how good the kit sounded with just three mics.

Less is often more.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 24 Sep 2007 10:36 am

[quote="Brad Sarno"]
One of my favorite techniques is an old-school...

But you're too young to be old school !
neat trick !

Two mics, uhmm, old school, maybe I'm so old that I'm older than the old school ?

tp

Glenn Austin · Post by **Glenn Austin** » 24 Sep 2007 10:37 am

Ditto on the old school approach, except I like to include a mic on the snare too. sm57 for snare is good, An AKG D112 for the kick, and a large diaphragm condensor for the overhead. Just pan them right up the middle.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 24 Sep 2007 10:37 am

Brad Sarno wrote: One of my favorite techniques is an old-school,

But you're too young to be old school !
neat trick !

Two mics, uhmm, old school, maybe I'm so old that I'm older than the old school ?

tp

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 26 Sep 2007 7:37 am

In a great sounding room you can do a variation of Brad's single overhead mic.

A Blumlien or M/S pair;
figure 8 and cardioid mic pair overhead,
aimed down, essentially over the drummers head.

The figure 8 looking sideways, like his ears,
behind the cardioiod facing the kit.

Then process that through a M/S plug in.
This allows you to change the spread and apparent sound field width of the kit, AFTER THE RECORDING...
By raising or lowering the relative levels.

Pretty cool on acoustic groups and grand pianos too.

Chris Tarrow · Post by **Chris Tarrow** » 12 Oct 2007 10:07 am

Some interesting 3-mic ideas here:

http://www.mercenary.com/3micdrumstuf.html