Things Ive Learned

[poo]

I have to say this about recording drums.

#1 - ITS ALL ABOUT THE KIT. I couldnt beleive it...i recorded a $1200 kit and it sounded better than the $4000 kit. Some sounds just come alive on certain drum sets.

#2 - Mono drum sounds arent that bad. For that past few projects ive been limited to use only one overhead..i was skeptical but i got KICK ASS results. I don;t know how, and i dont care, all i know is it sounds good.

#3- If the snare sound sucks the song may very well suffer as a result.

#4 - It's all about the SM57.

#5 - The dummers got to be able to speak through the kit, in every subtle way.

I just had to share that with you guys, i learned alot in the past few weeks, and i owe it alot to this site (not to my college education, i learn more on this site than i do anywhere else)

thanks
peace

[bluelonestar]

likewise...i feel exactly the same.
how many mics do you use and where do you place them?
cause I used 4 for awhile(only one overhead) and the sound was decent. but I just bought 4 more. I can't wait to record with all 8 but my new soundcard isnt in yet. I had to special order it and its taking forever. I sold my old one to pay for the upgrade so I can't record at all right now. It sucks.

I'm thinking about micing the
1. kick -beta52
2. snare -sm57
3. tom -e604 (sennheiser)
4. tom -e604
5. floor tom -e604
6. overhead -at4033
7. overhead -mxl1006
8. ??? -sm57

but what do I do with the last track? should I mic the hi-hat? should I double-mic the snare(top and bottom?) what do you think?
i don't want the two sm57's to cancel each other out. have you had any experience with this? i guess i'd have to do some gating if I mic the hi-hat right?...cause the snare will probably bleed into it. i've never done that. what would you do?

[Gidge]

maybe a mic way out in front of the kit getting some ambience.....do u think 8 mics is a tad much.....when it comes to drum mic'ing, Id say quality of mic/preamp takes precedence over quantity....mic positioning is very important too....

[Gidge]

check out this mp3 and the # of mics used on the kit....

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthr...threadid=32553

[Blue Bear Sound]

One of my old threads may give you some tips as well ---> http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthr...threadid=23824

Bruce

[Gidge]

Ok Blue Bear....go ahead and use 8 mics.....

are the mxl1006 and the at4033 similiar enough sounding to use as stereo overheads?....if not, use one on overheads and one out front for ambience or even double mic the kick with it.....

[bluelonestar]

gidge - thanks for the advice. i listened to the mp3. i'm not gonna lie - it's pretty good. i dont know if it would work for me though. see i figured that if I miced all the toms I could pan them like i hear in so many recordings. I've experienced that the toms are picked up too loudly by the overheads with less clarity and distinction... and I can't lower them or eq too much b/c I'd also be lowering and altering the crash cymbals and ambience. so being in a catch 22 i decided individually micing the toms would be the best solution, you know?

i also read Bruce's entire thread. i want to say thank you. That was very helpful also. I'll probably most likely take this approach with 8 mics...mostly because I went out and spent a lot of money on a new soundcard and new mics for the whole point of having 8 drum tracks. I didnt think 4 was enough. Maybe I was wrong, like Gidge said,"its not the quantity its the quality." I went out and bought an mxl1006 b/c it was cheap and heard good things about it. I couldnt afford another at4033 at the moment. You asked if they're close enough to use as a pair of overheads...well, most features are the same. the frequency response is identical 30hz-20khz. but the sensitivity, max SPL, impedance all differ a little. i'm not sure what effect this will have as I have yet to record with the two of them together. I'm planning on recording a demo as soon as I get my q10. (I'm familiar with it b/c its just like my old one.)
I'll try a few different things and I'll post how everything goes. Thanks again.

[Gidge]

Cool, cant wait to here it...btw, what is the Garden State?....

[bluelonestar]

new jersey!

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by Gidge
Ok Blue Bear....go ahead and use 8 mics.....

heh-heh-heh...

I did... and it worked very well!

A sample clip of the drums from that session (with a bit of bass mixed in) is available at http://207.176.147.104/bbs.nsf?opendatabase

Bruce

[Gidge]

Bruce,

If you are looking for recording/mixing advice, scroll down to the MP3 Mixing Clinic

I was wondering when Id hear a clip of than infamous session.....I needed a good drum mix clip to reference my Fruity Loops to

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by Gidge
Bruce,

If you are looking for recording/mixing advice, scroll down to the MP3 Mixing Clinic

I was going to wait until I do a final mix before I post to the mix clinic... after all, I need all the help I can get!!! *snicker*

That clip was just a rough one for demonstrative purposes. You should hear it with the real bass line! (not to mention the other instruments...)

I was wondering when Id hear a clip of than infamous session.....I needed a good drum mix clip to reference my Fruity Loops to

I had posted this before, guess you missed out last time!

Bruce