Guitargodgt
New member
Yep. Count me as someone who doesn't get why anyone would want mono overheads. But certainly to each their own.
Drums: stereo or mono?
- Thread starter James K
- Start date
Yep. Count me as someone who doesn't get why anyone would want mono overheads. But certainly to each their own.
Guitargodgt
New member
That's pretty subjective. I love old Who recordings, and I love Keith Moon, but his drums sounded like dogshit on those early recordings. That Ringo guy sounded shitty too.
I usually put an LDC overhead, an SM57 on the snare and an AKG D112 on the bass drum. I compress the snare and the bass and gate the bass. I then get the mix right between the two and bring up the overhead until it sounds right to me. I also boost the bass frequencies in the overhead to bring out the toms more. Occasionally I put another condenser on the Hi Hats but I usually don't find I need to.
jdutchak91
New member
ha awesome
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
That sounds good...but do a stereo OH pair (not too high above), it still leaves the Kick and Snare basically up the middle...and you will see how much better it sounds without crowding all the other instruments. Like Seafroggys said, mono crowds the leads and other instruments more than having the drums "open" as a stereo kit.
I like old mono music...but in this day and age...why go for that jammed-up-the-middle sound?
Fireman Sam
New member
Hi all... noob weighing in here with first (hopefully constructive and at least mildly on the ball) post...
Given my mixing experience has REALLY opened up how I listen to stuff these days, I previously didn't really pay much attention to the panning of drums I must admit - although being in my thirties much of the older stuff I listened to was done as you say with single tracks. I am partial now to leaving kick and snare 'up the middle' with panning on toms. Our drummer has two rack and one floor tom, so it made sense to me to 'sit' on his throne and pan one rack tom hard L, one rack tom C and the floor hard R. We use two OH's and hard pan them too, so there (to me) is just enough panning to clear up some space... However this is ironic as the rest of any panning I do is done from the listeners perspective ie: from FOH looking at the band...
Interesting topic this one...
Given my mixing experience has REALLY opened up how I listen to stuff these days, I previously didn't really pay much attention to the panning of drums I must admit - although being in my thirties much of the older stuff I listened to was done as you say with single tracks. I am partial now to leaving kick and snare 'up the middle' with panning on toms. Our drummer has two rack and one floor tom, so it made sense to me to 'sit' on his throne and pan one rack tom hard L, one rack tom C and the floor hard R. We use two OH's and hard pan them too, so there (to me) is just enough panning to clear up some space... However this is ironic as the rest of any panning I do is done from the listeners perspective ie: from FOH looking at the band...
Interesting topic this one...
kohlfixari
New member
im not sure why you wouldn't use stereo
^ This exactly
jimmys69
MOODerator
Because two speakers cost more. Duh! lol
suprstar
It aint ez being green
lol nobody knows wtf youre talking about except me
Oh, and same here.. If I were to record em I guess. How confused are the rest of you now!?
jimmys69
MOODerator
lol nobody knows wtf youre talking about except me
Oh, and same here.. If I were to record em I guess. How confused are the rest of you now!?
At least one other knows......Halfway between kinda and huh? lol. Your secrets are safe with me!
leinad_kpg
New member
well , the bass, snare, hi hats, rack toms and floor toms could be recorded on a mono track and later on could be panned as per the mixng engineers choice, but for the overheadz stereo channel is a must coz it really gives the listener an idea of the stereo field..... So for me every thing except the OH's are stereo.
leinad_kpg
New member
well , the bass, snare, hi hats, rack toms and floor toms could be recorded on a mono track and later on panned as per the mixng engineers choice, but for the overheadz stereo channel is a must coz it really gives the listener an idea of the stereo field..... So for me every thing except the OH's are stereo.
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
No, it's not pretty subjective at all. It's totally unashamedly subjective ! I can't hear with anyone else's ears.
Not half as confused as I was during maths exams at school !lol nobody knows wtf youre talking about except me
Oh, and same here.. If I were to record em I guess. How confused are the rest of you now!?
You mean the electric drum one ? Hey, the Enquirer has had that story running nearly 7 weeks !!At least one other knows......Halfway between kinda and huh? lol. Your secrets are safe with me!
1. If you didn't have enough mics/tracks for stereo
2. If you think the sound of mono drums suits the individual track (as I often do).
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
So how many mics are you using for your mono drums....just one?
I get what you are saying, but you can do nice stereo drums with as little as 2, but 3-4 is perfect.
Most folks have that many mics, I would think.
In DAWs, track count is not an issue.
If you are going to multi-track tape, 2 tracks for drums shouldn't be a problem (unless you're using only a 4-track).
I just wouldn't let equipment limitations be the main driving force of production decisions ...but sometimes you gotta make do...
I use one overhead, one on the snare and one on the bass drum. I think it's far more important to have these three mics than to have stereo overheads and no spot mics on the bass and the snare (just my opinion though). That would take up three tracks as I like to retain the ability to change the mix.So how many mics are you using for your mono drums....just one?
I get what you are saying, but you can do nice stereo drums with as little as 2, but 3-4 is perfect.
Most folks have that many mics, I would think.
In DAWs, track count is not an issue.
If you are going to multi-track tape, 2 tracks for drums shouldn't be a problem (unless you're using only a 4-track).
I just wouldn't let equipment limitations be the main driving force of production decisions ...but sometimes you gotta make do...
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
I use only a stereo OH pair (M/S) and two spot mics (Kick and Snare)...so it's only one more mic than what you are using.
The kit still sounds "centered", but it just has a more 3-D vibe instead of that "boxed" mono sound...though I agree that occasionally that might be what you want, especially if you are going for some kind of retro-'60s, AM radio Pop sound.
So are you constrained by your track count to try a stereo kit...???
The kit still sounds "centered", but it just has a more 3-D vibe instead of that "boxed" mono sound...though I agree that occasionally that might be what you want, especially if you are going for some kind of retro-'60s, AM radio Pop sound.
So are you constrained by your track count to try a stereo kit...???
Well, I was. I only had 8 tracks (fostex R8) so I used to record the three tracks then bounce them to one. I've got a 16 track now though (Tascam MS16) so I don't need to bounce the tracks. I've actually got a matched pair of Oktava MK219s. That's the mic I use for an overhead so I suppose I could record in stereo. I've experimented with it before but I do quite like the sound of doing it in mono. I might try putting an XY pair overhead on my next recording to see what it sounds like.