cheapest way to record drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Singtall
  • Start date Start date
yep, i'm set to go now. i can take the signal from the input gain section or after the eq/dynamics and send it to the daw, while using the entire main output or auxes for headphone mixes.
 
Right off the bat : first things first : this may seem obvious, but start off with some nice solid shells, new heads, and tune and tune and tune. This way you got a solid foundation to start building on. You really can't start off with EQ'ing and comps and gates, yea there nice but use them at the end of your signal chain, start off with something you can work with. Hell as far as Mic's and a budget goes, a hand full of Shure SM57's and a AKG D112 or a Shure Beta 52....plus if you vibrate nails or screws loose in your shed you can always use one of these bullet proof/nuclear proof Mic's as a hammer.
 
Stereo.webp

Cheapest way to record drums!
 
First, don't use cheap and decent in the same sentence. Try use=ing an iPhone and connecting that to a computer to upload it for adjustments in a free audio program. Otherwise try one condenser mic out in front at about siz feet up and pointed toward the bass drum.
Rod Norman
Engineer
 
i went ahead and replaced all drum heads with a set that a friend claims to be the "ultimate" for rock/metal drums:
toms: Evans EC2 SST Clear Batter Drumhead
kick drums: Evans EMAD Coated Bass Batter Drumhead
snare: Evans EC1 Reverse Dot Coated Snare Drumhead

the toms and kick drum do sound really good with these heads (for rock/metal), but i don't think i like the snare head....it sounds a little muffled on this particular snare. i may change the head out soon. i like a little more crack and ring to my snare.

i spoke with my friend at a large Dallas music store that deals wholesale and he told me that the audio technica mics were surprisingly good for the money. he told me to also get a pair of Rhodes condenser mics.

i ordered the audio technica mics:

MB/Dk6 Drum-Microphone Pack || Audio-Technica US

MB/Dk4 Drum-Microphone Pack || Audio-Technica US

i also ordered a 10 pack of mic cables, two boom stands and two kick drum mic stands. when it was all said and done, i spent about $430 on all of it. not bad for that many mics. i'll listen to this set before i get the Rhodes mics. i also have one sm57 that i can throw into the mix, especially if the snare sound isn't working for me. i tend to favor the direct drum sound over the overhead/room sound. i came up in a different era i guess.

once i get them all setup, i'll record a few takes and see what the mics will do for my kit. i'll post some clips here for some opinions.....so be gentle. lol.
 
Singtall said:
i went ahead and replaced all drum heads with a set that a friend claims to be the "ultimate" for rock/metal drums:
toms: Evans EC2 SST Clear Batter Drumhead
kick drums: Evans EMAD Coated Bass Batter Drumhead
snare: Evans EC1 Reverse Dot Coated Snare Drumhead

the toms and kick drum do sound really good with these heads (for rock/metal), but i don't think i like the snare head....it sounds a little muffled on this particular snare. i may change the head out soon. i like a little more crack and ring to my snare.

i spoke with my friend at a large Dallas music store that deals wholesale and he told me that the audio technica mics were surprisingly good for the money. he told me to also get a pair of Rhodes condenser mics.

i ordered the audio technica mics:

MB/Dk6 Drum-Microphone Pack || Audio-Technica US

MB/Dk4 Drum-Microphone Pack || Audio-Technica US

i also ordered a 10 pack of mic cables, two boom stands and two kick drum mic stands. when it was all said and done, i spent about $430 on all of it. not bad for that many mics. i'll listen to this set before i get the Rhodes mics. i also have one sm57 that i can throw into the mix, especially if the snare sound isn't working for me. i tend to favor the direct drum sound over the overhead/room sound. i came up in a different era i guess.

once i get them all setup, i'll record a few takes and see what the mics will do for my kit. i'll post some clips here for some opinions.....so be gentle. lol.
Click to expand...

I am looking forward to hearing what you get from the gear man. No gentile tho...just honest. :)
 
i got half of the mics in and the mic stands today. still waiting for mic cables though. gonna go back and do some retuning after i just watched another how-to video on tuning. hoping to get everything up and running this weekend and record a little something to test my new budget setup.

what should i record? the whole kit? individual drums?
 
i got all of the stuff in.....finally. i had to cut a hole in the front kick drum head on both my kick drums, so i ordered some aquarian hole stick on templates last week. i got them done and retuned. i spent a couple hours setting up the mics and tuning drums last night, but didn't get a chance to record yet. one of my kids must have been beating the drums to death while i was gone, cause they were way out of tune.

some interesting things i noted while mic'ing up the kit:

1) the kick drum mics are physically smaller than any other kick mic that i've used. don't know if that's bad or good yet.

2) the mics themselves feel and weigh like they are built well.

3) the overhead mics and the kick mics have a little ball end (like a vocal mic). weird for a pencil condenser mic or kick mic.

4) the tom mic clips are probably one of the best and easiest to use, with one exception: my toms that i have have a mount that goes around the head and is attached to the tom lugs, which gets in the way of the mic clip. i had to move the mics kinda to the side of each tom, which i don't like.

5) all of the mics (with exception to the condensers) have a 90 degree arm on them to help position them and aim them any way you could want. this was helpful in getting the toms mics out of the stick strike zone.

will post a video and audio clips as soon as i get the time.
 
All you need is a decent interface think the firepod got discontinued but the Firestudio Project is decent, and the mics to boot. How many you need is up to you and your budget. Shure makes a decent drum mic pack that would give you something to play around without breaking the bank. Mic placement can go a long ways and you might be surprised that you might not need to close mic every part of the kit. Start with the OHs get them sounding good and listen what you need to add from there. Think of the drum as one instrument instead of a collection of individual parts. Depending on the type of music you could probably get by with Kick, Snare, Toms, 2 OHs, maybe a Hi-Hat. I think you're biggest challenge really is not the mics you use but the shed. Do the drums sound good in the shed? If there are issues with the acoustics there you may be hard pressed to get a good sound even with the best of equipment. But with some treatment you can address that to an extent.
 
the sound of the shed is fairly dead. i sprayed open cell foam on every wall and ceiling. carpet floors. the sound is not reverberant at all. i should be able to capture the raw sound of the drums and add a good reverb.
 
I've been at this thing for fifty years. You would be shocked- shocked to learn how few mics are necessary to get a good drum sound. Save your money on quantity and extraneous outboard gear and get at most three of the best mics you can afford- for kick, snare and overhead. Unless you're using every drum on every recording ( defined as "over indulging") you will be astounded at what good mics and judicious placement will do. Really good engineers have recorded full kits with a single u47 for fantastic results. Of course, that's one reason the whole world wants a U47.
 
Keep in mind, that is totally genre dependent to be possible...
 
jimmys69 said:
Keep in mind, that is totally genre dependent to be possible...
Click to expand...
exactly! i've heard some records where the engineer used 3-4 mics....and i wouldn't want that tone. it was fine for that style, but not my cup of tea.

my background is live sound, so close mic'ing to lessen feedback issues (before we could afford gates) was how i started. when i finally got a chance to record in a big studio, they close mic'd, plus overheads, plus HH and ride mics. granted, we were doing metal music, but that's how it was done. having engineered several small projects for some churches, i used the same methods....but even less mics.

my method of recording heavy handed drummers leaves most engineers shaking their heads;
i close mic all toms (no gates). kick, snare, ride (top bell), and HH bottom......no overheads. i find that the tom bleed over does a good job of picking up cymbals. i favor the Bonham heavy drum/light cymbal style. here is a recording i did way back in the day using this mic method: https://soundcloud.com/singtall/purple-heart-who-cares

i've been too busy to record my kit. i gave my daw to my son, and i need to build another one. and i have a channel out on my presonus mixer......plus laziness. once i finally get home, it's hard to work again. lol.
 
Yeah man, couldn't see recording that with 3 mics.

I typically use 12 or more depending on size of kit. Was that posted actually done without overheads?
 
no overheads at all. ride mic'd. HH mic'd under the outside of the HH.

mix compression brings out the highs, and therefore the cymbals.

i recorded those drums on two tracks! kick mics were sm57's, cause that's what i had. i think all mic's were sm57 accept for the cheap radioshack condensers that i used on the ride and HH.

mixer was an old 16 channel Biamp brand mixer....junk. out of the mixer into 2 tracks on a fostex 1/4" eight track reel-to-reel. i still can't believe it sounded that good. it ain't great by any means, but it is better than you would expect from the junk i used. the key was that we jammed in that room and recorded every practice, and we would tweak the channels every week. this recording was done once we couldn't tweak it any better.
 
That is an amazing sound for no OH mikes. Great vocals and amazing guitar sound BTW.
 
i was the guitarist and vocalist on that project, and because of the budget (none) i ended up being the engineer too.

guitar was done using a rocktron chameleon direct.....and a lot of eq.

vocal mic was an sm57. yep, that's all i had.
 
Is a drum machine! :) Seriously, do you guys know any plugins for Reaper? I tried to download but failed. Best!
 
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