best way to record drums with this setup?

H

hovah

New member
This week will be my first foray into recording drums. I have these mics:
- studio projects c4 matched pair
- sm57 (2)
- akg d112
- mxl v63m
- akg 414

and i am recording a standard 5 piece set with 2 crashes, a ride, hi hats.
Now, i feel pretty clueless about recording drums. If at all possible, could someone tell me what mic to use for what (apart from the obvious like c4s for overheads abd d112 for bass) and what position i should put them in? Also how high should i put the overheads? my friend is always mortified of phase issues.

thanks!

Seth
 
Well you have plenty mics, you can experiment and do what you want, but most people are gonna tell you the c4's overhead, d112 on kick, 57 on snare. I usually like toms mics, maybe you could use the other mics as toms mics, but I myself probably wouldn't use a condenser on toms unless I had money to possibly replace one.

How high the overheads should be depends on how you want everything to sound. What type of music are you recording? If you are worried about phase issues maybe try an XY for the overheads, I've done that before with no phase problems and a good sound. For a tighter sound I usually put the overheads lower towards the cymbals and for a more roomy sound I usually put them higher. Don't seperate them too far like you see on live shows on TV, that's what's gonna give you the phase problems (if you're not doing XY). You can look in magazines and stuff to get an idea of how some of the mics should be angled and stuff like that. Also, maybe try a room mic in front of the kit, and if it doesn't sound good just take it out of the mix.

If you are recording into a DAW, then I suggest trying to move around the waveforms to get everything perfectly in phase. Sometimes stuff sounds ok a little bit out of phase, but I've had good experience getting ecerything perfect, it usually brings out the subtleties of the kick and snare better for me. Just make sure you save a copy of the original alignments.

Really though, it's all about the tuning and playing. And also keep in mind the drum sound will change when every other instrument is layered over it. I've had sounds that I wasn't happy with at all, then when I got everything tracked it sounded great. It's all about experience and knowing how things work after a while. If you want to get better at recording drums, do it a lot. Good luck.
 
I'd put the 414 up as well. Maybe as a solitary room mic in omni (if the room is good) or as a third overhead over the snare. No sense leaving out that mic because it is a good one. :)
 
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