Recording Drums

[TrickyKid]

Hi, My band is recording our album and we have n a-dat 8-track recoder and we are using our PA also. I am un firmilar with the best places to put mics on the drums for recording and also what are the best mics for drums. Any help would be great
CyA
Sean

[tmcbrinn]

If you use SM57's on all the drums with the exception of the bass drum, you'lll get a pretty decent sound. Bass drums usually require a good consdenser bass drum mic. If you have a PA, I'd send all the mics to the mixer, so all your panning, and then send them to your ADAT as aa stereo track. If you have enough mics, mic all the drums individually. If you are limited in your mics, let me know how many you have and I or someone else can advise you on placement

[Howlin]

Some suggestions:

1 mic: Condenser mic overhead pointing at snare.

2 mics: Condenser overhead and kick drum mic.

3 mics: Condenser overhead left side pointing at snare, panned left. Condenser overhead right side pointing at snare, panned right. Kick drum.

4 mics: Condenser overhead pointing down or angled out left. Condenser overhead pointing down or angled out right. Mic the snare. Mic the kick.

Mic the rest individually as you see fit.

Experiment before you buy mics. If you only have dynamic mics, use them first and see what it sounds like. One or two condenser mics may be easier to record and mix and sound better than a lot of dynamic mics.

[drstawl]

Another 2-mic configuration I've seen work really well is two mics about 4 feet apart and 4 feet in front of the drum kit at a height of about 3-4 feet. Angle them inward toward each other and toward the kit so that the directional lines meet right over the bass drum. Pan each mic full left and right respectively.

[neadam]

Laugh if you want, but i've been messing around recently with a dynamic slightly above the snare, to try and catch some high hat, sm58 on the bass, and a $20 compaq computer mic set 10 feet away. I don't know what possessed me to try it, but that silly little mic pics up the whole kit equally! cymbals aren't overpowering and kick comes through clear... especially with the 2 dynamics backing it up.