They matter when triggering too. Yes indeed. Very much. I'll let you figure out why though. You don't know what you don't know. Maybe you'll get it one day.
Drum Mics help?
- Thread starter COA23
- Start date
They matter when triggering too. Yes indeed. Very much. I'll let you figure out why though. You don't know what you don't know. Maybe you'll get it one day.
GuitarLegend
New member
MetalJ, this is a Recording Techniques forum, and not really concerned with how you fix it up later. What you are suggesting may be better received in the Mixing Techniques forum (maybe). Here you are talking to people who have taken the long road to getting a good sound at the source and we do get pissed off when other people try to doctor up a bad recording. You didn't do the recording, I understand that, I just think that your suggestion is misplaced here.
R
RAMI
Guest
.........................
Last edited:
I don't get pissed off at that. I know sometimes you're handed shitty tracks to deal with and have to make do any way you can. What I don't like is when people with no experience in a certain area shit on techniques that they know nothing about. I don't like laziness or celebrating the ignorant. Too many people think and say that their sims are better than amps, samples are better than drums, and it's only because they're easier. They're not better, they're just easier. Heavy editing has taken the place of good playing, good recording techniques. And people don't know what they don't know, and the cycle of ignorance keeps spinning out of control.
Bubba po
Tiny Stonehenge Moment
The way I see it, there is kind of a rite of passage when recording drums. I'm working my way through it at the moment, and have been for two years. A few people have given me actual hands-on help, one of whom has been Greg L. Ok he's abrasive in the way he puts his wisdom across, but his advice is sound advice.
The rite of passage for me has been the discovery of all the elements of what makes a good recording of drums; I'm lucky in that I usually have a good performance from my kid and I spent some money on a good kit and cymbals. But my drum recordings were pretty shit. I realised that my room was awful and that two dynamic vocal mics didn't really cut it as overheads. I couldn't change my room, so I fixed my room and I bought cheap vocal condenser mics as overheads. My recordings improved, a bit.
Then I started to really look into drum tuning and microphone placement. I still had the same crappy mics, but suddenly my drums started to sound good. I bought a better (8-input) interface so I could close mic my toms, and bought better (but still pretty budget) L.D. condenser overheads. Once again, my recordings went up another level.
At this point I have achieved 90% of my original goal - to record acoustic drums well and have them sounding great in my recordings - but I still feel there are a hundred levels above me that I have not reached yet.
Where would I be if I had reached for the triggers on day one? Fucking nowhere, as would anybody else who took the easy way to do things. What I have learned is a million times more valuable - that is the gradual appreciation of subtle aesthetic differences from one real recording to the next. Somebody who throws triggers at a problem without learning the process of making a good recording will STILL not make a good recording because tools are only a small part of the skillset of being a recording musician.
Craftspeople learn from their materials - hacks assemble premade pieces of shit, like an Ikea bookshelf.
The rite of passage for me has been the discovery of all the elements of what makes a good recording of drums; I'm lucky in that I usually have a good performance from my kid and I spent some money on a good kit and cymbals. But my drum recordings were pretty shit. I realised that my room was awful and that two dynamic vocal mics didn't really cut it as overheads. I couldn't change my room, so I fixed my room and I bought cheap vocal condenser mics as overheads. My recordings improved, a bit.
Then I started to really look into drum tuning and microphone placement. I still had the same crappy mics, but suddenly my drums started to sound good. I bought a better (8-input) interface so I could close mic my toms, and bought better (but still pretty budget) L.D. condenser overheads. Once again, my recordings went up another level.
At this point I have achieved 90% of my original goal - to record acoustic drums well and have them sounding great in my recordings - but I still feel there are a hundred levels above me that I have not reached yet.
Where would I be if I had reached for the triggers on day one? Fucking nowhere, as would anybody else who took the easy way to do things. What I have learned is a million times more valuable - that is the gradual appreciation of subtle aesthetic differences from one real recording to the next. Somebody who throws triggers at a problem without learning the process of making a good recording will STILL not make a good recording because tools are only a small part of the skillset of being a recording musician.
Craftspeople learn from their materials - hacks assemble premade pieces of shit, like an Ikea bookshelf.
Wowzers, guys. This thread got really heated.
To, metalj, I'm using real mics. My budget got increased to $2,000, with about $800 of that already spent. I'm going to be using real mics. The only reason I'd use a trigger is to trigger a gate or something. I don't even know how triggers work lol.
All, I put up a bunch of stuff in my performance room yesterday. It's really, really budget, but it worked, I think. The room doesn't give me a headache sitting in it like it was.
The photo of the chair in the corner is what I couldn't catch in the panorama.
I'm going to post a redone version of a song from our second EP. The drums are sequenced, but all of the samples taken are from the drum set. A SM57 was used on the rack toms and snare and an SM7 was used on the kick and floor tom. The overheads you see in the picture were used, but they were about a foot to a foot and a half closer to the kit.
I am removing any EQ or compression and the guitars are turned down lower than the "full-on" version. (That's the version I've done to show my drummer what things are sounding like.)
To, metalj, I'm using real mics. My budget got increased to $2,000, with about $800 of that already spent. I'm going to be using real mics. The only reason I'd use a trigger is to trigger a gate or something. I don't even know how triggers work lol.
All, I put up a bunch of stuff in my performance room yesterday. It's really, really budget, but it worked, I think. The room doesn't give me a headache sitting in it like it was.
The photo of the chair in the corner is what I couldn't catch in the panorama.
I'm going to post a redone version of a song from our second EP. The drums are sequenced, but all of the samples taken are from the drum set. A SM57 was used on the rack toms and snare and an SM7 was used on the kick and floor tom. The overheads you see in the picture were used, but they were about a foot to a foot and a half closer to the kit.
I am removing any EQ or compression and the guitars are turned down lower than the "full-on" version. (That's the version I've done to show my drummer what things are sounding like.)
Attachments
witzendoz
Senior Member
So I go off line for the weekend and Oh this thread is hotting up.
I just hate triggering. It is possible to get professional drum recordings no problem, if you are willing to learn how. The trouble nowadays is that learning does not give instant satisfaction.
With the mics I recommended early in the thread the professional results can be achieved is a good sounding room and with a good kit and a good drummer.
If you plan to trigger everything why not just use an electric kit?
Oh COA23 I was not replying to you about triggers, (our posts crossed) I was referring to the triggering crowd LOL. By the way get some Bass trapping in that room and it will probably sound OK.
I just hate triggering. It is possible to get professional drum recordings no problem, if you are willing to learn how. The trouble nowadays is that learning does not give instant satisfaction.
With the mics I recommended early in the thread the professional results can be achieved is a good sounding room and with a good kit and a good drummer.
If you plan to trigger everything why not just use an electric kit?
Oh COA23 I was not replying to you about triggers, (our posts crossed) I was referring to the triggering crowd LOL. By the way get some Bass trapping in that room and it will probably sound OK.
That thing on the snare mic, is that to help keep the hats from bleeding onto the snare mic?
witzendoz
Senior Member
Yes, it is just a piece of foam with a hole to slip over the mic. There was not much of a problem with hat spill during this session so it was not really need, if there was a lot of spill it would have been moved closer to the head of the mic, but it probably helped even where it was in the picture.
Alan.
There was very little hat bleed in the recording I posted, because samples. I found a pretty good spot for the snare mic. I had the mic placed between the hat and crash, with the snare mic at about 45 degrees pointed at the center of the drum and with the back as pointed at the hat as possible. Sounded pretty killer. That's where the sample came from.
DM60
Well-known member
You look good for 58.
witzendoz
Senior Member
LOL, it's not me, it's the session drummer, I did play bass on the track
. I am the old bloke in the control room
.Alan.
Bad news, guys. My laptop stopped working. I decided to reserve a copy of Windows 10, and a few minutes later, blue screen. I tried to reboot, but it told me "Boot Device Not Found." Ran various tests, and the Hard Disk test told me "Hard Disk Not Exist." Reseated, still nothing. Found my Startup Repair Disk, and it couldn't find the hard disk. So, that being said, the laptop is 4 years old. I think it may be time for something new.
I've decided to build the computer.
I have an SM57 and SM7 and my cheapo SDCs will get us through demoing. I make good enough money to get the new mics before 2016. I should be ok.
Thank you folks again for all your time, patience, and great advice!
I've decided to build the computer.
I have an SM57 and SM7 and my cheapo SDCs will get us through demoing. I make good enough money to get the new mics before 2016. I should be ok.
Thank you folks again for all your time, patience, and great advice!