Get decent drums with ONE mic?

[mutok]

I wish I could share a method for all of you, but the fact of the matter is that I only have one decent microphone, a Sennheiser e835, and no budget to purchase any more equipment. I'd like to record a 4-piece Slingerland (1965) kit and still end up with something worthwhile. There ought to be one place to put a microphone and still get something that sounds resonably balanced. I assume that it just involves a lot of experimentation and ingenuity, but any suggestions are welcome.

If this fails, I have three more microphones I could use: two high-impedance box mic from a 1960's RCA stereo reel-to-reel – practically no bass, really piercing high-midrange; a piece-of-crap computer microphone. Any more suggestions?

edit: A last resort is just recording the drums from a distance and boosting individual hits with recorded samples of the drums (or just using a drum machine, but I would am really curious about the above question)

[Rimshot]

I own a Sennheiser e835 and it is a really great mic. I use it for snare when I am recording brushes or for my hi-hat when I want a brighter sound than an SM57. To try and record your whole kit with just that one mic is asking a bit too much from that little trooper. It is meant as a bright vocal mic, but it works well on snare and cymbals. I also own a mid 60's Slingerland set (as well as two other sets) and it is a great kit.

You will need a mic that will pick up your lower frequencies,and a mic that can pick up an overview of your whole kit, there's no way around it. You'll need more mics. There are a few really good threads here on doing "bare bones" mic'ing of a drum kit, check them out. It is possible that you can get by with only two more mics, a wide pattern cardioid condenser as an overhead and a lower frequency mic for kick. You can use your e835 on snare. Though if your room isn't great you'll need more mics to do close mic'ing on your drums. .....I know....I'm poor too. But there are some things that you just have to "bite the bullet".

[Drummer706]

i think tryin 2 get the entire set with one is pretty much hard 2 get a good sound from all of them. my friend uses 2 audix F15 that sounds good if u get a 2nd one it might come out better.

[alien]

I know....I'm poor too. But there are some things that you just have to "bite the bullet".

What he said

And Rimshot, I can summ that statement up in four assignments too lol.

Remember that kit I was going thru hell mic'ing and finally got it?

Antex Studio Card 2000 (four XLR inputs) -
Input 1: Kick
Input 2: Snare (I prefer to apply verbage to the snare post recording)
Input 3: brass
Input 4: toms (again, verbage after)

So, that leaves me without the ability to hard left/right my overheads nor off center the toms accordingly :'(

Gonna have to bite the bullet and get an 8 input system

[Tim Brown]

Well, you can get a good drumsound wityh 1 mic, but you are going to have to do a LOT of work.

#1. The drumkit is going to have to be extremely well tuned.
#2. The Room is going to have to be fairly decent.


Put the Mic directly over the drum throne and point it down at the top of the drummer's head from BEHIND the drumkit, and have the mic about 12" above the drummer's head.

The drummer will have to adjust their drumming so that the kick and snare are about the same volume level in the mic.(most will do this naturally)

I would tune the toms up a little bit, and tune the bottom heads tighter. Since you aren't close micing them, they can be tuned a little higher, so that they will sing in the overhead....otherwise they will kind of sound box-like.

For EQ, I would just roll off a little midrange, essentially centered around 400-800hz, that will help tighten up the drum sound.

Then, you could go in with MIDI, and add kick drum and snare strikes to help fatten up the kick and snare of your audio track.



Tim

[mutok]

Awesome! Thanks everyone for your input. I'm going to give Tim's suggestions a shot, since not spending money is much more feasible and easier than spending money right now. :^) I did read the article on micing with 3, and it was also helpful.

[jake-owa]

I disagree with Tim because I really don't think you'll get much kick in htat position.
I would try a spot between the kick and snare in front and above the kit a bit pointing down at the spot between the two.

One thing I do agree with though Tim is that is will take a lot of work to get a decent sound.

Place, record, playback, move, repeat...about a hundred times and you'll be close to getting close.

[Jblount]

Sounds like a daunting task. Tell us how it works out.

[indiGo]

Lots of folks have recorded drums with one mic! Here's how I'd do it:

1) Have someone play the drums.
2) Walk around the room until you are in a spot in which the drums sound great.
3) Don't forget up and down as well as near and far. . . squat down, climb on a chair, whatever!
4) When you hear the perfect sound, place your mic right there in the "G" spot.
5) Listen back and repeat as necessary.

Happy Recording

[Tim Brown]

Originally posted by jake-owa
I disagree with Tim because I really don't think you'll get much kick in htat position.
I would try a spot between the kick and snare in front and above the kit a bit pointing down at the spot between the two.

One thing I do agree with though Tim is that is will take a lot of work to get a decent sound.

Place, record, playback, move, repeat...about a hundred times and you'll be close to getting close.

Jake-owa,
Do you hear the hi-hat and kick while your sitting on the throne playing drums? The Mic will "hear" exactly what the drummer hears.

Will it sound like a nu-metal drumkit or something along those lines? Not a chance - those aren't real drums half the time anyway, but you can definitely gety a decent drumsound with 1 mic.

Listen to the first Led Zeppelin release, that was recorded with 1 mic directly over Bonzo's head, approximately 3 "stick lengths" (about 48")away from the snare. I find it funny, because that is my favorite Zeppelin release.



Tim

[mekkab]

Originally posted by jake-owa
I disagree with Tim because I really don't think you'll get much kick in htat position.
I would try a spot between the kick and snare in front and above the kit a bit pointing down at the spot between the two.

One thing I do agree with though Tim is that is will take a lot of work to get a decent sound.

Place, record, playback, move, repeat...about a hundred times and you'll be close to getting close.

I'm with jake. I've got some crappy mica-sonic (?) drums and I use a regular mic stand at its lowest level and point a Shure at the kick (from the side where the drummer sits because its up against a wall!).

Due to that position i get great kick sound (obviously) but snare, hi-hat and cymbals are good, too. (although you should oil/graphite your kick beater- mic'd like that you can sometimes pick up the squeaks during quiet parts where only the kick is playing!)
So this was recorded on a crappy fostex 4-track cassette (I have since gotten an MR-8 but done only drum machine work on it so far), burnt to CD, and played back in my car with the Bass and Treble slightly boosted (factory preset "POWERFUL" eq). At a nominal volume you feel the kick, the hi-hats are clear, and the snare is tight. MIND YOU- car listening can cover-up some hiss.

Is this the best Mic setup in the world? No. but if you aren't doing pro work, then this will get you through.


P.S.- oh yeah, some info about the room- I'm in the corner of a concrete basement. Extra hiss provided by the washing machine!

[mutok]

Hmm! This gets more interesting! I tried suspending the mic from above the throne to emulate what the drummer hears, and it came out decently, but the kick was pretty weak. I'm going to experiment with several different methods and if I come up with anything spectacular I'll share it with you.