Micing drums with limited inputs... what do you suggest?

[foreverdown]

Hey everyone, I am in the process of setting up a small home studio and my input card to my computer only has 4 inputs mono or 2 stereo. I have 16 ins on my board, so I was just wondering if anyone could give me suggestions of where to place mics on a drum kit and then how I should group those mics to go into the computer. Does that make sense at all or do I need to try re-explaining?

[Adam P]

Are you dedicating all four mono ins to drums? If so, RecorderMan's 3-mic technique for drums, with a mic on snare as well. What mics are you using, by the way?

[Mark7]

How many mics are you planning to use on the drums?

If the answer was 4 then all you need to do is plug them into the board and then patch the direct outs for the channels you're using to the soundcard inputs.

If the answer is 7 or more then I'd suggest you send the kick and snare mic channels direct to two inputs and buss the rest (toms and overheads) to the remaining two. Obviously you'll have to make sure the sound you get from the submixed toms and cymbals is the sound you want, but at least you can tweak the snare and the kick to your little heart's content

Tidy!

[foreverdown]

I am not exactly sure which mics I will be using, but I Was planning on anywhere from 3-5 mics.

Thanks for the help guys!!

[Adam P]

If you have solid overheads, I wouldn't worry about close micing the toms at this point. A good pair of overheads should provide plenty of tom signal. This, of course, also depends on what type of music you're recording.

[Mark7]

While you're here do you plan to track any other instruments at the same time as the drums?

[foreverdown]

No, not at the same time... just drums by themselves to start with. Maybe later on down the line I will upgrade to a card with more inputs... like a delta 1010 or something like that. For now its just the four and I will do whatever necessary to work around it all and save money for now. Right now I don't have the mics I am planning to use for overheads, but I was looking at a pair of Oktava MK-012. I don't think I have said this, but I am on a low budget, so if you have any recommendations of mics to use for a mic setup that won't cost me too much then I would love to hear it. Lets say if I did like 2 overheads a kick and a snare. Any suggestions for that setup? Or any other setups you guys can think of that a small budget could manage

[Mark7]

How much do you want to spend?

[foreverdown]

maybe if you could recommend a few setups... say like a setup for like 300 a setup for 500 and then like one for under 1000?(somewhere around those figures is fine) If you don't mind... that would be awesome Oh, and btw. I will already have an SM57, a Studio Projects C1, and an SM58.

I was looking at the Oktava MK012 and possibly the studio projects C4's if I had some extra bucks for overhead mics.

[Mark7]

For around $300 you could do a lot worse than an Audio Technica ATM25 (for kick) plus a pair of Studio Projects B1s for overheads.

For around $500 swap the B1s for a pair of B3s.

[foreverdown]

what about for snare?

[Mark7]

Didn't you say you have an SM57?

[foreverdown]

yep

[Mark7]

Then there's your answer

[Adam P]

I agree with Mark. ATM25 for kick, and Oktava 012s or MXL 603s for overheads. I'm told the 603s are brighter than the 012s and therefore may not sound quite as good for cymbals, but it also appears that 012s are getting harder and harder to come by (unless you want to spring for a pair of Sound Room matched 012s).

One advantage of the 012s is that you have the option to buy other SDC capsules in different pickup patterns, or change it into an LDC with the RTT M1 or M3 capsule.

Or, for $950 you could get a matched pair of Josephson C42s from Mercenary Audio.