Need hekp guys im a totall noob!! heres my equipment.....

[TheGreatNothing]

OK, firstly....is it possible to achieve a studio quality drum sound by home recording?? Well, heres my equipment, i have the Shure PGDMK6 Drum Mic Kit, a behringer 8 track mixing board which i run them into, and the into my computer, in which i have sonar ver.4 installed. So it all works fine, ive got my midi controller also running in via USB, but it's just not a great sound from the drums. I pretty much am a complete noob when it comes to mixing/recording, playing is more my area, so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks dudes!

[iancl]

You should be able to get a great sound, but you can't really expect "studio quality", otherwise studios wouldn't exist.

What kit do you have? What's the room like?

Best thing to do is work on one drum at a time tuning it to sound great, then recording and seeing how it sounds with the rest of the kit, and possibly retuning if you want a different sound for the close mic'ing.

After that, just play around with the mic positions and volumes. Since it's just going down to a stereo track, the mix is REALLY important now, since you can't edit it after the recording.

[TexRoadkill]

Originally Posted by TheGreatNothing

OK, firstly....is it possible to achieve a studio quality drum sound by home recording??

You can get close but that equipment you have is going to make it harder. The keys to a good drum sound in my opinion are:

1. Solid Drummer
2. Great sounding room
3. Well tuned kit
4. Good drum heads
5. Decent drum kit
6. Good quality mics and pres (if you want a hi-fi sound) It's better to have 2 or 3 high quality mics then a pack of crap mics.
7. A good engineer

[Supercreep]

Welcome to HR.


Post some samples and we can give you some specific advice.

[NL5]

Originally Posted by TexRoadkill

You can get close but that equipment you have is going to make it harder. The keys to a good drum sound in my opinion are:

1. Solid Drummer
2. Great sounding room
3. Well tuned kit
4. Good drum heads
5. Decent drum kit
6. Good quality mics and pres (if you want a hi-fi sound) It's better to have 2 or 3 high quality mics then a pack of crap mics.
7. A good engineer

Great post!

[zacanger]

Tuning, tuning, tuning. That makes all the difference. And using maybe three nice mics instead of loads of not-so-nice ones. Get all fresh heads and tune them well ( http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/ ), and try some simpler mic setups (kick and two Recorderman-type OHs) or something. A great sound can be had that way.

[dgatwood]

The PG81 probably suffers from the same HF disc as the SM81. If you're willing to mod it and remove that, you might like the sound more.

Beyond that, mic placement is key, and the placement of the overheads is the most important part, as they should capture the character of the kit. Experiment with the distance from the kit, the height, and the angle. This will change the overall balance of the kit significantly. Change the position, record a few seconds, then play it back and listen. Repeat.

Once you have the overheads working the way you want, adjust the other mics. Remember that with cardioid mics, the closer you get, the more the low frequencies are accentuated. This is called the proximity effect. Use this to your advantage. If a mic sounds too tinny, move it closer. Too boomy, farther away. Listen to each mic individually, and adjust.

On the kick, use a front head with a hole. You'll probably want the kick mic right in front of the hole, but you may find that it sounds better somewhere inside the drum. Depends on the sound you're going for. Experiment.

[Supercreep]

Just keep in mind that you can't tune a shitty set to sound like a good one.

Tuning isn't the panacea some folks make it out to be.


Fork out the money up front for a quality set and it will be easier to capture sounds you will like.

[zacanger]

I'm afraid I'll have to partially disagree with you, Supercreep. A Pearl MMX kit can sound like shit if it's not tuned well, and the Ballroom's old Percussion Plus kit sounds great, because of the tuning.

[Elton Bear]

+1.

A good set will always sound better given that other factors (heads, tuning, room etc.) are identical, but a cheap kit can definitely sound great with TLC.

[chester]

Originally Posted by Supercreep

Just keep in mind that you can't tune a shitty set to sound like a good one.

Tuning isn't the panacea some folks make it out to be.


Fork out the money up front for a quality set and it will be easier to capture sounds you will like.

I disagree, i have a 300 dollar cb set, and you would be surprised how good you can make it sound. Obviously a nice kit will sound better, but there are so many drummers out there that don't know how to tune a kit. The tuning bible is a great read btw whoever posted it, its like but its worth it.


to the threadstarter, I think it would be difficult for you to really fix your sound because you have to mix everything beforehand and it is hard to tell what is going to the mixer, but it can be done, so focus on what many people have been saying about mic position and tuning and all that other stuff.

[Interstellar]

I've got a cheapy set and I'm able to make it sound damn good. It's the tuning, mics and placement. I'm not able to get a good sound from my floor tom alone though... I have to use a mute.