What mics to use for recording drums in a small room

Dicus

Enthusiastic Member
I have a not to big room, about 17 square metres, which I will be treating acoustically soon. I spared some money to spend and have about 200 euro's to spend on either Logic (right now I work with Garageband), studio monitors (right now I work with pretty decent headphones), an interface (right now I use M-Audio Fast Track Pro) or new microphones (at the moment I have two Shure SM58s a Rhode NT1-A and a MXL 990 (two large-membrane, if that's the correct term, mics).
I do understand this is a bit of a many layered question and might be better suited in another subforum (if so, please tell me).
But I'm wondering what I should spend my money on first from now or should I save more for either of these things. I'd rather only buy things that will keep me satisfied for the next 10yrs or so.

If that question is to complicated: What mics/interface/pre-amp/other stuff should I buy for recording drums in my 17m2 room? (more then one option is ok)

All of this is so complicated and I do not really know where to start as you can see. Thanks a lot already!
 
You have enough mics of the right type to make a half-decent recording of your drums, but you need an interface that will record four inputs at once. I would spend my money on that in the first instance.

*Don't buy a DAW program, download Reaper for free on a fully-featured 60 day trial. It's all the DAW you are likely to need.
*Use one SM58 on your snare, one on your kick drum and the two condensers as overhead mics to capture the whole kit.
*Buy an audio interface with as many proper mic inputs as you can afford, with at least two providing phantom power for your condensers.
*Read "Greg L's guide to rock drums for newbies" - a sticky at the top of this forum. This will give you all the basics on what you need to start making good drum recordings, including mic choice, placement, room treatment etc.

If you have any money left, ask again. :D
 
The Tascam 1200 (6x2) is on it's way to retirement (not obsolescence). Currently running about $120 here in the states. Would be a pretty sweet buy for a really stable unit

I picked up the 1800 last year for $180 and now they go for $300+ again, but you might find one on e-bay or local lists...
 
Thanks, I'll start looking for other interfaces. Are their any affordable interfaces that make it possible to lifemix different monitor groups, so I can record with my band while hearing eachother?

I just read Gregs wonderful post and that left me with the following questions: How does the recorderman technique work with two different overhead-mics?
And should I get worried that I damage my precious large-membrame microphones with loud drums? I'd like to keep using them for recording vocals and acoustic guitar.
 
Thanks, I'll start looking for other interfaces. Are their any affordable interfaces that make it possible to lifemix different monitor groups, so I can record with my band while hearing eachother?

I just read Gregs wonderful post and that left me with the following questions: How does the recorderman technique work with two different overhead-mics?
And should I get worried that I damage my precious large-membrane microphones with loud drums? I'd like to keep using them for recording vocals and acoustic guitar.

Your condenser mics should be perfectly fine as overheads, but don't close-mic with them. They probably won't be able to handle the signal pressure levels up close, plus there's a risk of hitting them. I have no experience of using two different condenser mics as an overhead pair, but I would say give it a try and judge for yourself. If they're wildly different in character, I'd suggest buying a partner for one or the other.

I can't suggest a cheap interface that has multiple monitor mixes. My Focusrite 18i20 only has capability for two discrete mixes and that is a £350 (GBP) interface.
 
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I'll try it the moment I have my acoustic treatment sorted.

I'll keep on looking for these interfaces, thanks for the help! Maybe keep this monitors as a distant dream...
 
Interfaces are expensive. No two ways about it. The cheapest option I can find (and what I currently use) is a presonus rig. I've got a 10 input Presonus Firestudio Project. This link will take you to the 4 input USB version you can buy on ebay:

PreSonus AudioBox 44VSL 4 in 4 Out USB MIDI Recording Interface AUDIOBOX44VSL | eBay

Mine is a firewire connection with four more microphone inputs than the one in the link. Firewire seems to be cheaper, but USB is compatible with more computers.

But I have two Presonus interfaces: The AudioBox, and the aforementioned FireStudio Project, and I completely recommend using Presonus. Other people with more experience like other rigs better, but Presonus works perfect for me. I hope this is helpful, and doesn't just confuse you more. lol.

Absolutely use Reaper. The "the 60 day trial" will never run out. Just keep using it until you can afford to buy it.
 
Thanks dudes. PreSonus looks nice, but thanks to the advice in another thread in the Rack forum I bought a used Tascam US-1800, looking forward to using that in a set-up with four mics in Recorderman style...

I've got to try Reaper. Everyone on this forum seems to love Reaper, how is Reaper an improvement from Garageband? Isn't it hard to find acceptable MIDI sounds for Reaper? My Garageband has some acceptable MIDI sounds which is nice...
 
Thanks dudes. PreSonus looks nice, but thanks to the advice in another thread in the Rack forum I bought a used Tascam US-1800, looking forward to using that in a set-up with four mics in Recorderman style...

I've got to try Reaper. Everyone on this forum seems to love Reaper, how is Reaper an improvement from Garageband? Isn't it hard to find acceptable MIDI sounds for Reaper? My Garageband has some acceptable MIDI sounds which is nice...

I've never used Garageband, but Reaper is basically a fully-functioned digital recording program comparable to Logic, Cubase and all the other famous recording software packages. If you use a lot of midi sounds there are numerous free soft synths on the web that can be simply dropped into the channels you are using for your synth tracks and need only be played using any midi keyboard. Likewise, there are some great drum programs out there if that's your bag.
 
Thanks! I'm mostly looking for strings and horns, since I sometimes imagine myself a real composer and try to write orchestral rock or a bit of filmscore. I have looked slightly realistic strings and such for free, but couldn't really find them... I just could Garageband for those things though, I don't think I can export the built-in VSTs from garageband to Reaper, I'll look that up though...
 
I've never used GarageBand, but from what I hear it's a pretty decent entry level DAW. I had a few guys tell me to use Reaper, and I've never looked back.
 
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