by Fletcher at Mercenary Audio
Fletcher's famous post about the 3-mic technique:
> >From Fletcher@mercenary.com Mon Nov 22 08:32:41 1999
> Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro
> Subject: Re: 3 mic drum technique?
> From: Fletcher <Fletcher@mercenary.com>
> Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 09:32:41 -0400
>
> proaudio101 wrote:
> >
> > How do you do this with the overheads (where should they be in height,
> > distance, aimed at?), and are
KM84 usually good tools for the OH pair?
> > Will there be any polarity problems if I throw in a snare and room mic
> > into this method for a 5 mic thing?
> >
>
> There a half a dozen "3 mic drum techniques" that I'm familiar with.
> Is there any particular one to which you refer?
>
> Here are a few of them:
>
> I usually start with a mic in front of the kit. It could be 6 feet or
> one foot off the bass drum. The object of this mic is usually to get
> the "front of the kit". I look for a good bass drum sound, but also
> the bottom of the toms and a bit of snare...cymbals will also exist
> here. The tuning of the kit, the proficiency of the drummer, the mic
> selection and placement are all pretty damn important...you can do a
> little EQ to this, but not a whole hell of a lot. When you use
> equalizers on this mic, you will find that you often mess up the
> balance of the drums within the context of the kit. Depending on the
> tone you're looking for, a ribbon, lg. diaphragm condensor or dynamic
> might be the most appropriate.
>
> For ribbons my choices are usually Royer 121's,
RCA-77's...for lg.
> diaphragm condensors, Neumann 47 FET's, M-147's; dynamics
MD-421, AKG
> D-30's often work pretty well, but they're a bitch to find and I don't
> own one. Sometimes [rarely] a Shure 57.
>
> Now, in mono, one speaker, I put up a second mic. This can go
> anywhere from directly over the snare to over the drummers right
> shoulder...or anywhere in the arc in between. The key here is to add
> that mic so you get the snare, hat, top of the toms and cymbals
> without the cymbals being out of balance with the rest of the kit. If
> the drummer can't control this balance, you're pretty much fucked and
> should revert back to the close mic'ed SR methods they teach at the
> recording schools.
>
> The reason I do this in mono-1 speaker is to insure that I'm not going
> to fuck with the bottom of the bass drum because of an inconsistent
> phase relationship with the front mic. For this I will often use a
> ribbon, like a Coles 4038, or a condensor. U-67's often work. I find
> that as I get closer to 'behind the drummer', a small diaphram
> condensor, like a KM-54 will often work a bit better.
>
> Mic #3 is often placed next to the floor tom, just peeking over the
> rim of the drum at the snare. It's usually placed equidistant from
> the over mic as it relates to 'ground zero' [where the drummer
> actually hits the snare drum, not the center of it]. As always, one
> speaker mono is your friend.
>
> Another set of fun ones...a pair of small diaphragm condensors [I
> usually like an SM-2 Neumann for this] about 4-5 feet over the front
> mic, aimed at the outer edges of the crash cymbals. I like an SM-2
> because I have to worry about the phase relationships of the two mics
> less, but still worry about that relationship as it relates to the
> 'FOK' [front of the kit] mic.
>
> There's another I've done where I use two lg. diaphragm condensors
> [like 47's] and spread them out. Like one in front of each rack tom
> [on the side of the toms. When I do this one, it seems that if all
> three mics are equidistant from 'ground zero' my setup time is pretty
> well reduced. Don't forget mono one speaker, or you may end up
> wanting to drink Drano when it comes time to mix.
>
> Adding room mics is often cool, it kinda depends on how you're
> tracking. I hate musicians performing with headphones, so I like to
> get everyone set up in the same area so they can hear themselves.
> Like the old record said...'Let It Bleed'. The biggest problem with
> doing this is the bottom of the bass bleeding into the FOK mic and
> causing the bottom of the bass to get really smeary sounding. You may
> have to move the bass amp around for a while until you can get clear
> audio and the drummer can still hear and lock up with the bass player.
>
> Sometimes a small speaker like a 10 or a 12 done as a satalite speaker
> placed in the null of the pickup pattern of the mics will work wonders
> getting the drummer to lock with the bass player while you move the
> bass amp farther away from the drum kit...gobos will often come in
> pretty handy too.
>
> I find I get alot of my guitar reverb/ambience, at least on the basic
> track, by moving the guitar amp so the little bit of bleed in the drum
> mics makes it a cool ambience for the guitars...but doesn't overpower
> the drum kit.
>
> You will be surprised [I know I was] the first few times you do these
> tricks how little bleed there actually is between instruments. If
> there are two guitar players, I recommend setting them up on opposite
> sides of the kit, that way you'll get a better stereo picture when you
> disengage the mono button.
>
> So...room mics...now that you have the whole band set up in a
> room...mic the room. You should get a reasonable balance of all the
> instruments...it should sound like a band in a room [fancy
> that!!]...the mono button is still in until you're positive that
> you're not totally fucking up the clarity of the bottom of the track.
>
> Need more snare you think [first of all, if you really do, the
> drummers a pussy and should learn how to hit the fuckin' things]...but
> in those applications...a Shure 57 aimed about a foot off the side of
> the center of the shell of the snare drum usually will add all you
> need without complicating the rest of the balance.
>
> A few other notes...first, the drummer *must* be competent...second,
> the kit should sound good, and be well tuned or you're screwed. There
> will be damn little EQ that can be applied to any of this without
> totally screwing up the whole picture, so it's gotta be right the
> first time.
>
> You will also find that a large room, or at least a room with a high
> ceiling comes in damn handy or this can start to sound boxy in a
> hurry. I usually try to get soft things around the drum kit. I
> actually carry an 8' high, 20' wide [in the back], and 10' long
> [sides] that decend from 8' high in the back to 4' high in the front
> soft [4" insulation, cloth covered] booth. Front gobos as needed,
> usually just a gobo between the amps and the kit will work pretty well
> at helping you control the bleed.
>
> This usually alieviates the bounce and splatter that will be caused by
> reflections off of hard walls. Depending on where you position the
> kit, these reflections [especially on the cymbals] will come back to
> haunt you as Haas effect shit...
>
> There are times when you're artist is going to need to play loud.
> Often, this means that the other players won't be able to hear the
> drummer when they're playing. This is when you really need a great
> big room...because you go to the old phone book/Rolodex and call the
> local SR company. Now, mic the kit as if it were a barroom, with
> those mics only going to the SR speakers, the mics to the tape are
> still the original mics you set up earlier. You can run the SR mics
> to the tape if you want...most times I don't have enough desk to
> bother, sometimes I'll just take an extra stereo feed off the SR desk,
> thought I find it's the first shit to go if I run out of overdub
> tracks, or perhaps I'll add a little in and do a drum bounce if I need
> more tracks...
>
> Last one I did like this, we used 4x EAW KF-850's a side [about enough
> system to do a 1500 seater with some headroom]. I also use this
> system if you're having the band play to loops. For larger acts that
> are already using "in-ear" monitor stuff...you can bring their monitor
> engineer along to set this kind of thing up [saves you beau coup
> hassle], but rather than treating it like a headphone system [which it
> actually is], I still try to maintain "gig"/stage levels.
>
> If you don't need to get loud, then the musicians will usually balance
> themselves. Scratch vocal? Yeah, sometimes they are needed aren't
> they...well, if you're using an SR system, that's where it goes, if
> you have the 'ear monitor' option...a little in there too...if they're
> playing relatively quietly, like they don't need any of the SR
> stuff...often the singer can just belt it out over the band, other
> times a little guitar amp on a stool will work nicely [the mic being a
> handheld...record it just for shit's and giggles, sometimes you even
> get on the bonus plan and get a performance].
>
> At times, a floor monitor [like at a bar gig] will work well...make
> sure you can EQ the monitor so the little bit of bleed you get from
> the scratch vocal track can be used as a vocal reverb when it's time
> to mix. Sometimes it's a way, way cool thing to have the reverb of
> the scratch track be the main vocal reverb...not only are there always
> performance variations, but if you're trying to place the singer in
> the same room with the band...it works like a charm. Just like the
> guitar and bass amps...you may need to move it around for balance.
>
> Most of the time the singer will actually gravitate to the spot in the
> room where the band's balance is best...sometimes using a stereo mic
> like an SM-69 [or on the last one I just did...Guysonic's Mr. Liteguy
> stereo head] at that spot works like a dream. With Mr. Liteguy, we
> got a doo-rag on him, a pair of shades and a cigarette hanging out of
> his mouth pretty quickly. We called him 'Curtis'...that way everyone
> pretty much forgot he was hangin' around...he was just another dude on
> the venue [that didn't cut in front of you on the dinner line...most
> excellent of him].
>
> Tracking my basics like this I find I use fewer effect overall...that
> the overdubs require fewer effects, and the overall outcome is usually
> 'larger' sounding than when I do use a bunch of effect. The downside
> is that you have less control over the individual tones. You can't
> really do alot of "muscling it around" engineering. I know alot of
> brothers feel it's their god given purpose in life to move a whole
> shitload of knobs and stuff...so these methods will often cause a
> whole bunch of stress as knobs become less involved in the
> process...but you can use compressors to really make the whole thing
> come alive...so there are some knobs that can be turned.
>
> Other problems: if you're working with shitty musicians, there is a
> bit less you can do to obscure the fact that they suck. Fixing
> individual mistakes in the basics becomes more difficult depending on
> the level of separation achieved, and how bad the clam is. This
> mostly applies to bass players, but depending on how much guitar is in
> the drum mics...and again, how bad the clam is...it can be a bitch.
> This, from my experience, happens rarely.
>
> I've also found that more often than not when someone makes a clam, it
> drags down the groove for a bar or two. If they're performing to a
> loop, then you can often cut in that section from another
> performance...if the drummer/band is really tight, they might have
> even done multiple performaces at the same tempo...cutting takes
> together I guess is kind of an old school thing...I still work analog,
> so this is relatively easy to accomplish in my world...probably is
> working hard disk as well...but might, as in probably, will be a bitch
> and a half to deal with if you're using VCR's.
>
> Good luck...oh yeah...don't get discouraged...the first half dozen or
> so times you fuck with this stuff, it get's really
> overwhelming...practice on stuff that really doesn't matter that much.
> The first time I gave myself over to 3 mics on the drums, I was up all
> night the night before sweating it, puked before I left the house, and
> wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with the program all the way into
> the second day of the session.
>
> Once I got past the anxiety and the 'everything I know is wrong' phase
> of the mental part...it started to get easier.
>
> At this point I doubt I'll ever go back to the "too many mics"
> thing...but it took a while to get there. Another bonus...last
> project I recorded, I had three full setups, 3 drum kits, 3 guitar
> rigs, 3 bass rigs all set up in different environments, all coming up
> on a 40 input desk. All three setups were bussed to identical tracks,
> and I used the automation grouping to select which environment I was
> going to record. We had the "Mainstage" [the one with the big PA] as
> group one, the "Memphis Room" [small amplifiers in a smaller, walled
> off dead area] as group two, and the "Iggy Room" [big assed room what
> was finished in barnboard with hard floors and a high ceiling...we
> called it the Iggy room because the tone of the room reminded me of
> 'Lust for Life']...it was group 3.
>
> We also fed the loops off the main recording console to each of the
> environments where they were required. There were a couple of songs
> where I had "turn off the loop" cues. These were either in like one
> bar breaks within the song, or to let the band take the out of the
> song without the loop keeping time.
>
> Being terminally lazy, muting the loops from the control room became
> much easier. Now, another consideration...because there were no
> headphones involved...I was monitoring the band off the machine in
> repro...when I had a mute cue, I had to return the deck to 'input' or
> I'd be tardy on the cue. Because the band wasn't monitoring off the
> deck, I could switch back and forth at my leisure. We used the "loop
> send lines" if the muscian needed to monitor the track to do a fix
> punch.
>
> We could try any of the songs in any of the environments simply by
> selecting them with the automation group masters, and moving the
> musicians to that room and having them play. I think it made the
> record pretty interesting and diverse sounding, it also seemed to aid
> in getting some pretty bitchin' performances from the musicians [which
> afterall is said and done, what this sport is really all about].
> --
> Fletcher
> Mercenary Audio
> TEL: 508-543-0069
> FAX: 508-543-9670
>
http://www.mercenary.com
I've got Mixerman's tips printed out and hanging on my wall...Now if you can just dig up Fletcher's 3-mic drum technique, i'll be impressed 