First Post - Need advice

stevieray2305

New member
Hey all - Let me preface this by saying this is my first post and I look forward to being a contributing member.

I am getting ready to attempt recording drums for the 1st time with the mics I already own. I have read the post about mic placement, but was looking for advice on which of the mics I already own should be miced where...

I would like to only use either 3 or 4 mics - snare, kick, 2 OH's and here is what I have already.

DYNAMIC:
Sure SM57
Sure SM Beta 58A

CONDENSOR:
Blue Bluebird
MXL 990
MXL 991

Appreciate any thoughts on which mic to use for which drum. Thanks in advance!!!
 
Well you could do the overheads with the MXL 991 if you have a stereo pair, if not you can use the Glyn Johns Technique. For the snare the SM57, the Blue Bird can be used for the kick if you put it in front of the kick. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks apoczen211.

So you would use the smaller diaphram mic as an overhead? I have read a couple things saying to use larger diaphram condensors for the OH's and a dynamic mic for the kick. Then again I have read that using a larger diaphram for the kick can be good too. So confusing. Do the OH's have to be identical? Would this setup be horrible:

Snare: SM57
Kick: SM58 A
OH1: Bluebird
OH2: MXL990
 
Well its best to use a matched pair of mics on overheads if you have them. Pencil condensers are used on OH's a lot, but if you only have one then its going to not be any help. I would use the large diaghram condenser on the kick, either the Blue bird or the MXL. The SM58 will sound kind of honky with a SM58 vocal mic, though its been done before. I would do the Glyn Johns tech, it only uses 3-4 mics and is all you need to create a nice sound. Google the placement of it and see the pictures provided, replicate that technique and I'm sure youll be satisfied.
 
OK. Cool. Thanks for the clarification. So if I don't have a pair of the pencil condensers, would you use the other large diaphram as the sole OH, or still the pencil condenser?
 
You can use the large diagphram for sure, it just wont have a stereo image on the recording. It will just be a mono track for the OH and the real only downside to this is the inability to pan the set. You can use two different condensers, this wont "kill" you or make your face melt, its just not the correct way of recording in stereo. Just make sure your levels are equal when recording, and nowhere near clipping and the rest is all about trial and error. Just a little side note. When I was 15, my band and I would rent a rehersal spot in my town and try recording our instruments. Everyone spent the entire session trying to perfect the placement of their mics, it was never a good mix because we would have leveles all over. But when I would mess with my friends drum mic, (which was only 3 mics by the way) it would come out pretty good because we would look at it from a logic sense and not a scientific one. The point is Recorderman technique is only 2 mics for the whole kit, it sounds pretty good and is used by professionals that choose it. Placement is key and really logical. Look at this and take whatever you get from it, this is almost exactly what we would do to record ourselves as kids only with an added mic in front of the kick. Recorderman overhead drum mic technique - Hometracked
 
Don't know if you want to spend a small amount of $$$$$$$ to try something different.............. a single Omni like a EV 635 (in the right location) can produce nice results. Of course won't be stereo.
 
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