Recording V-Drums via Monitor and Stereo Mic

[whiskyandspice]

Hello,

I've started dabbling in home recording. I'm a hobby drummer and wanted to experiment recording my drumming.

I know that I can record the drums direct to PC via USB and although that sounds good I wanted to experiment capturing the ambient sound of the drums via the drum monitor.

I'm playing on a Roland TD-11 kit with a Roland PM-10.

When I'm playing and listening to the drums via the monitor they sound great, very realistic both highs and lows. The highs are crisp and smooth via the monitor.

For microphones I'm experimenting with a Shure MV88 ios mic and a Blue Yeti.

It seems that no matter what I try, the highs in the recordings via the microphone sound piercing and harsh. I've been able to smooth them out a little with changing some variables but no matter what I try I still seem to get harsh, piercing highs.

When I listen to some demo from drums on YouTube with people using the same mics on drums, albeit they are acoustic drums, the highs are much smoother and crisp compared to what I'm capturing.

Is this just a symptom of entry level, inexpensive microphones capturing something coming out of another speaker like a drum monitor?

I've tried adjusting the recording levels, limiter, compression, reducing the treble on the drum monitor, reducing treble equalization while recording, surrounding the drum monitor with more dampening like furniture and blankets. I've tried the angle of the mic, height and distance of the mic from the monitor, yet still on the cymbals I get a piercing, harsh sound on the recording.

The room I'm in has a great ambient sound, similar to a booming sound like When The Levee Breaks. It sounds so great when I'm playing but I can't seem to capture it with a mic.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Cheers,
Dan
Toronto, Canada

 

[mjbphotos]

You can't compare miking acoustic drums and miking an amplifier playing electronic drums. I assume your Roland kit has audio outputs, just plug those into a suitable audio interface and record the DI signal.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Or maybe capture the MIDI data instead of or in addition to the direct audio. Then you could swap out the kit etc.

 

[Farview]

What sort of drum monitor are you using? If it has a tweeter, don't point your mic at it. Microphones are not ears, they 'hear' things differently than you do.

You will need to play with the placement of the mic. Different parts of the room will sound different. If it sounds great to you while you are playing, put the mic above your head, facing forward.

Unfortunately, it will never sound like an acoustic kit.

I do agree with the others, you would be so much better off with a direct signal, or recording the midi data and getting a drum VST to build a believable kit.

Unfortunately the sound of the instrument as you are playing the instrument is affected by how you feel while playing. Microphones will only capture the sound. When you aren't playing, you don't feel the same and, therefore only hear the sound. It can be a letdown.