One drumset. Eight inputs. Lots of microphones.

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Seventh Arrow

New member
Hello Home Recording forumites,

I'm going to be recording drums next week, something I've never done before. I know that much ink has been spilled on the subject and I promise I'll get around to reading it someday, but for now I just need some quick tips. Up until now, I've been using EZ Drummer but I prefer the kind of interaction that comes with a real drummer.

I have two CAD 7-piece drum mic kits, as well as a Shure SM57 and an AT4040.

My audio interface is an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra...it's got six direct inputs and an SPDIF input. I'll be using a preamp with two mic inputs and an SPDIF out. So...eight inputs or channels altogether. I think.

So how about this: One mic on the snare, one on the kick, maybe the SM57 on the hi-hat; one mic on the floor tom, maybe the AT4040 at a distance; maybe another mic for the cymbals...there's three rack toms, so I'd be short one mic to capture them all. Maybe two condenser mics to capture the three toms??? Yes/no?
 
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Use the CAD mics for the kick (KM 212), toms (TM 211 x3) and overheads (CM 217 x2), the 57 for the snare. You might be fine without a hihat mic, so that would be 7 inputs. Maybe use the last input for the 4040 at a distance, if your room sounds good.

The SPDIF preamp will have to be the master clock.
 
I'm with bouldersoundguy. If you found another mic, just about anything that isn't a large diaphragm condenser, like the 4040, you could use it to mic the hat, if you really feel the need.
 
Im with RAMI.

1) Go read

2) Experiment

3) start with fewer mics. The four he suggested will get the job done.
 
I agree, start with four mics, kick/snare/overheads. I always do. But then I usually end up using 7 to 9 mics on the kit anyway.
 
RAMI said:
There is no one way to mic drums, but things like micing cymbals, for example, show that you need to read up.
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Well, yes? That's what I said. Anyways, by "cymbal mics," I just meant overhead microphones. I guess they're kinda-sorta pointed in the general direction of the cymbals, yes?

The advice about the 4 mics is sort of counter-intuitive, but it makes sense. Well, I say "counter-intuitive" because I guess I'm kind of OCD about controlling every sound that comes out of the drums. But less can certainly be more and I'll definitely take your advice to heart. I guess I'm just antsy because I'm renting a (relatively) soundproofed studio with a decent drum kit and I want everything to sound good because once I get home, I won't have access to all that stuff anymore.

The SPDIF preamp will have to be the master clock.
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What does this mean? Usually when I hear talk about master clocks, it refers to midi. I think.
 
Seventh Arrow said:
Well, yes? That's what I said. Anyways, by "cymbal mics," I just meant overhead microphones. I guess they're kinda-sorta pointed in the general direction of the cymbals, yes?
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Yes, but sometimes people will actually mic each cymbal. It's kind of stupid and unnecessary. Overheads pick up the whole kit.

Seventh Arrow said:
The advice about the 4 mics is sort of counter-intuitive, but it makes sense. Well, I say "counter-intuitive" because I guess I'm kind of OCD about controlling every sound that comes out of the drums. But less can certainly be more and I'll definitely take your advice to heart. I guess I'm just antsy because I'm renting a (relatively) soundproofed studio with a decent drum kit and I want everything to sound good because once I get home, I won't have access to all that stuff anymore.
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I would mic everything. You can always shut off the tom mics if they aren't necessary. It's better to have too much than not enough.



Seventh Arrow said:
What does this mean? Usually when I hear talk about master clocks, it refers to midi. I think.
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All digital units need to have their clocks synced. So one unit has to be the master and the rest need to slave to it. Since there is probably no way to slave your preamp to anything else, it needs to be the master. So you will have to set the clock source on your interface to spdif, so the interface will sync with the preamp. Otherwise the preamp channels will get clicks and pops because the clocks are out of sync.
 
Farview said:
Yes, but sometimes people will actually mic each cymbal. It's kind of stupid and unnecessary. Overheads pick up the whole kit.
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Oh. Yeah, that's kind of strange. I think I'll have the overheads a few feet away from the kit, although the positioning will take some trial and error I'm sure.

I would mic everything. You can always shut off the tom mics if they aren't necessary. It's better to have too much than not enough.
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Good point! At the very least, I know how to work a mute button :D

All digital units need to have their clocks synced. So one unit has to be the master and the rest need to slave to it. Since there is probably no way to slave your preamp to anything else, it needs to be the master. So you will have to set the clock source on your interface to spdif, so the interface will sync with the preamp. Otherwise the preamp channels will get clicks and pops because the clocks are out of sync.
Click to expand...

Good to know, thanks!
 
I've found that those CAD kick mics in those drum mic packs actually sound better on floor tom than they do on kick, so if you've an extra (since 2 mic kits) throw it on the floor tom instead of the regular CAD tom mic.
 
Good to know, thanks. Another way the 4-mics-for-the-drums advice comes in handy is that I might want to record a bit of stuff with honest-to-goodness jamming with the drums, me on bass, and a keyboardist. So the extra inputs will be useful.
 
With the overheads, make sure they are both the same distance from the snare. That is probably the most important thing in placing overhead mics, no matter if you are doing a 4 mic setup or micing the toms as well.
 
If you dont care too much about stereo image I might put the AT4040 as a mono overhead. You wont have to worry about the over head mics being equal distant from the snare and its a significantly better overhead than the CADs.
 
What kind of music are the drums going to sit? That always dictates how I mic a kit. Still, in my old age I'm continually using less and less mics on a kit. In a few instances, just a single overhead and kick. But for general purposes I put up 7 mics on a kit (one inside the kick and another on the outside front skin, one on the snare, one on the rack tom or between two rack toms, one for floor tom and two overheads) and use what's appropriate for the tune. Room mics have been real hit and miss with my experience. It really comes down to the room.
 
Thanks to everyone for their advice. I managed to get all the drums that I needed recorded in two days. Fortunately, the drummer was able to come by the next day so I didn't have to tear everything down and set it back up. Here's one of the songs, no tampering on the drums other than some volume adjustments:



This is the same but with a bit of compression and EQ on some of the drums:



There's probably a lot that I'm not hearing since I still have newbie ears but overall it's been a good learning experience.
 
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