Best mic placement

[-passenger-]

My band is going to be recording a demo next week. This is what I have to work with and was wonderin the ideal placement for the mics:

(1) AKG D112
(3) Shure 57's
(2) Yamaha mic's (not sure of the model) I believe the frequency range is similar to a 57


Here is what I want to do:
Record an (8) piece drum kit.

This is my layout if you are sitting behind the kit:
I have a 13" Brass snare to my left, A 14" Maple snare in front,
On my rack I have an 8",10" and 12" tom place in front from left to right. On my right side I have a 14" and 16" floor tom.

I have cymbals radially placed all around the kit. I think I can get away with (3) 57's on the toms and use the (2) Yamahas for overheads. Where should I put these not to get phase problems?

[AudioWebs]

At first I didn't realize you had the quantity listed I thought geez it can't sound too good! But here is my input:

I'm not sure you covered your set properly.

You didn't list if it's a double bass or not - and I assume one of your cymbals is the hi-hat?

This is difficult.

You need a mic on the bass drum and a mic on the snare.

The snare mic can possible cover the hi-hat as well.

I would try to get away with just 2 mics on the toms - especially if all the toms aren't used in each recording.

Because you're gonna need two mics to cover the cymbals, Since they are spread out otherwise some will sound distinctly further away.

One more mic would do it - otherwise I think there might be somewhere you come up short....

[-passenger-]

I agree that I am asking alot out of (6) mics to cover such a lot of ground.

However I am only playing a single kick with a double pedal. I have toyed around with placing the mic in between the primary snare and hi-hat, however when I go to master there won't be much level control between the two.

My problem is I only have six tracks to work with since I am using an M-Adio Delta 1010LT card. The remaining (2) tracks will be used for scratch guitar and bass tracks. Unless someone has a better suggestion.

I could break my kit down to a basic (5) piece and just use a couple of cymbals including the hats. This just limits the way we play the songs live.

Do you think it is better to have more of a live representation of what I am playing, or should I be more concered with the how well I can control the final mix?

[Jblount]

The delta has 6 channels, right? You could probably get away with a snare, kick, and one really good overhead. Depends on the room and how your toms are spread out. That would free up 3 channels. Are the yamaha mics dynamic? If so, you may want to invest in a condensor mic to pic up the toms/cymbals. Trust me with the hi hat, a good overhead and bleed from the snare mic, you will hear it.

[-passenger-]

The 1010LT has (4) stereo inputs. I'm just running everything mono and panning. This way I get (8) tracks mono. This way I can have up to 6 drum mics. However After buying a board, an AKG D112 and the sound card I am left with no more money to buy condensor mics.

If I can dig up some more cash, what would be a descent condensor mic to use on overheads? What is a ballpark figure?

[sirmillardmulch]

I could break my kit down to a basic (5) piece and just use a couple of cymbals including the hats. This just limits the way we play the songs live.

Do you think it is better to have more of a live representation of what I am playing, or should I be more concered with the how well I can control the final mix?

I highly recommend simplifying for the recording. Higher quality, better separation, and some good space in the mix are all good things.

In addition, when you play live with all your extra stuff, it will give the audience a little something more than what was on the record.

You should check out a band called Victims Family, a Jazz / Thrash band who's drummers were notorious for getting every conceivable sound from just one crash cymbal and hi-hats. Kick, Snare, 2 Toms, a Crash, and a Hi-Hat.

Here are a couple mp3 files of them -- listen...

http://www.sirmillardmulch.com/mp3/yeah.mp3
http://www.sirmillardmulch.com/mp3/august6.mp3

I have found that the more stuff you try and cram into a small space, the smaller the sound you will get.

Half of all music is the spaces in between the notes. Binary. On / Off.

Good luck.

[Jblount]

You can get a good condensor mic for under 200. What is your budget?

[FattMusiek]

I would do anything to be able to mic toms and hi hat. I'm stuck with a Delta 44 (4 in/out). I have a Behringer mixer too, goddamn I suck.

[coplinger]

If you place the overheads properly, you should get plenty of tom & hihat from those. Maybe try the '2 sticks' method (http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthr...threadid=39030) with the yamahas for oh, a 57 on each snare, d112 on kick, and maybe mic the bottom of your main snare with the other 57. If the yamahas don't sound good as oh's, pick up a pair of 603's, b1's, or mk012's (all of which can be had for about 160/pr. Or even cheaper, pick up 1 or 2 ecm8000's for oh's at $40 a peice. These are omni, so you could get by with just 1, but they will pick up a lot more of your room, so keep that in mind.