The Importance of and Techniques of Room Mics

[RezN8]

PhilGood said there should be a thread about this - so here goes- a thread dedicated to

"the importance of and techniques of room mics"

Lemme get things started:

The ROOM- is one of the most important factors of your over all drum sound. There are a myriad techniques for recording drums but blending the close mics and overheads with some room mics will add life and dimension to you tracks.

There are many wise HomeRecrs around here and I hope they will chime in with some awesome tips to get you started. But it all comes down to YOUR own experimentation in the end.

So start using your ears - to discover WHERE in the room the kit starts to sound good. One way to get started is to move around the room as the kit is being played and listen closely to how the sound changes. Crouch down or stand on a chair to see if sounds better at different heights too. When you find a sweet spot, set a mic there.

Another way is to get a good pair of isolation headphones and move the mic around the room. You'll be amazed how just the smallest movement changes the sound in a big way.

I do things a little different from the norm. I use headphones when I play and I adjust my playing to accommodate what I hear. I use two SDCs for overheads in ORTF and a mic in the bass drum. Sometimes I'll mic the snare, but I rarely need it in the end. That's just the way I play - YMMV. This gives me the sound of the kit from MY (the drummer's) perspective.

However, the kit sounds much different out in front. To capture this I'll typically place an LDC in front of the kit about 3-4 feet from the floor and about 4-8 feet from the kit. It ALL depends on the sound of the room and the track or song I'm recording.

For additional Room mics (ambience), I like to place two condenser mics in the far corners of the room for a wide stereo sound (ribbons sound real nice here) OR I'll place two condensers in a binaural pattern - about a head's width apart and facing more toward the side walls).

For a nice True sounding reverb, I'll put an LDC by the stairwell in Omni or fig 8, facing up the stairs. The more I blend this mic in, the more TRUE reverb I get.

your mileage WILL vary. That's the beautly of it. I arrived at my techniques MOSTLY form trial and error. Happy hunting.

-Rez

[Supercreep]

Do try different mics and different locations in the room. Small changes yield big differences in sound. Make small adjustments in your playing style to accommodate the sound. Too much cymbals? Back off on the cymbals. Toms too quiet? Knock the fuck out of the toms. You are playing to your audience here, and the audience is the mic.

Everybody will be able to tell you what they use and how they use it....

But your room is different and your drummer is different. Figure out how to make what you already have work - you probably don't need expensive mics and compressors to get a good room mic sound.

I'd love to have a 4050 or KSM44 for this job but I use the SP B1 to great effect. I would love to have a distressor but Wave's fake ass LA2A plug will work perfectly for now.

[eeb]

I find it extremly more difficult to tweak out my drum sound when we record.. mainly because i'm the drummer and engineer and it involves me running back and forth and i admit it. i sometimes just say "fuck it good enough" which i vow to NEVER do again