Recording drums with 2 mics

MG Eddie

MG Eddie

New member
Hey so my interface only has 2 channels and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on mic placement or what types of mics would work best in this situation?
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I used to have that issue and what I did was use an 8 channel mixer and plug my outs into the two channels as a left and right. I spent a lot of time checking all of the levels through the earphones before I went to record. I use 5 mics.
 
Depends on what kind of sound you want. If you want to play a solid rock track, you'll really need the kick and snare to shine. Put a dynamic mic in front of the kick, and a condenser overhead, pointed towards the snare. If it's for a jazz, or acoustic song, 2 overheads will work okay. You'll have to experiment a lot with placement. You could also put one mic on snare and one on kick, record the track without cymbals, and add those later. But chances are, none of these will sound great.
Honestly, you'll save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you just get a soundcard with more inputs.
 
what about an M/S setup? the more I learn about miking techniques, the more this seems like the way to go to capture a big sound with only two mics.

...though I suppose that the room's shape and size would have a much greater impact on the sound if using M/S, as opposed to the recordingman technique.
 
I the M/S setup the same as the mid-side technique? If it is I'm only familiar with it by name.
 
I've gotten decent results with two dynamics in an X/Y array at waist level across the room.
I mean, it's probably not a great idea, but why not experiment?
 
m.g. eddie said:
I the M/S setup the same as the mid-side technique? If it is I'm only familiar with it by name.
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Yeah, M/S is mid/side... one figure-8 mic and one cardioid mic, pointing at the source. Has nobody tried this? Guess I'll have to do it myself and report back.
 
Are you going to copy the side mic track? Pan Left and Right and reverse the phase on one of the tracks. The Mid mic (cardioid) should be straight up, no panning but like all situations, experiment experiment experiment.
 
GC has a sale (buy one get one free) on a pair of CAD CM217 pencil condenser mic's. Does anyone have any opinion on these mic's?
 
m.g. eddie said:
Any recommendations for a pair of good pencil mics?
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Depends on your price range, I have a pair of SE1a's which are the same price as Rode NT5's but I prefered them over the NT5's.

I know they used just a stereo pair on a U2 track, as useless as it is I cant remember which track. . . but it can be done to great effect.
I think they set up the pair just behind the drummer. Placement will be everything, if you get the pair in the right position for the kit you will be able to capture a great stereo image with the clarity of kick and snare, it will be fairly easy to mix but the time will be spent making sure you get the positioning right.

But it all depends on what sound you want, using 2 mic you will never be able to achive a great level of tightness, like 80's Phil Collins or some typical screamo metal.
 
It's not the 60's anymore. People need to forget this two mic nonsense for drums in home recording. Sure, you can record drums with 2 mics. Chances are though, it's gonna sound nothing like what you want, unless you're into that trendy-ironic-chic-indie lo-fi sound.
 
Well if your gunna record a kit with 2 mics you need to get it 100% from the off, which means you will need a very good kit, a very good room and very good gear, but if you can get the perfect sound with 2 why use 10? Personally when I record kits I use 10-15 mics on each piece, just to make sure I have full control.
 
Greg_L said:
It's not the 60's anymore. People need to forget this two mic nonsense for drums in home recording. Sure, you can record drums with 2 mics.
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Even in the 60s engineers and producers were looking to get away from using one or two mics on drums. As track counts increased, it became the more the merrier. As ever, the kind of music being played will determine how the drums will sound.

A question for mg eddie ~ have you begun recording your drums yet and are you happy with your sound or are you looking for more ?
 
benherron.rrr said:
but if you can get the perfect sound with 2 why use 10?
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Why not? In the digital world, just because you record ten tracks doesn't mean you have to use them all. Use as many mics as you can. You never know, that off-axis upside down ride mic may be the sound you want.
 
To be honest with you when we recorded with just one LDC about 5ft away and 2ft off the ground we actually got a pretty good sound. we liked it because it used the natural reverb of the room and the natural balance of the drums. The only reason that we thought 2 would be better is because we have 2 channels so why not use both. Oh and to answer drumslinger, GC has em for 59$ a pair.
 
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