straightup
New member
My band records at home. Our mantra is capture the live sound of us playing with minimal or no effects. We are a trio: guitar, bass and drums. We invested in some decent mics, stands and an all in one "old school" early 2000's digital recorder that has 8 tracks-at-once-recording, and all sorts of other mixing functionality. We worked on a new batch of tunes for about a year, meeting once a month. "At home" for us technically means a comfortable A Frame high ceiling studio space built into the back of a two car garage. My friend uses it as his art studio the other 29 days a month. I did a ton of research on mics and even more on drum recording techniques. During the course of my research I read over and over again the term 'drum overheads'.
What I'd like people to do moving forward is when they talk about 'drum overheads' to clarify in which setting they use the term, by adding for "full kit" or for "cymbals only". So, I propose when discussing drum overheads we can use short code: OH-FK to mean "full kit" and OH-CY to mean "cymbals only".
Why is this important? Well, there's a lot of knowledgeable people out there that have a lot to offer, but each recording situation is different. My recording situation is I have 4 tracks to record the kit. That is it. So, I have to maximize the drum overhead mics, via placement, type, etc. To those that have the luxury of micing the kit with more than 4 tracks, I am very jealous and envious by the way, these folks use the drum overheads for cymbals only. Mics work differently in each capacity. Clarifying any discussion about how you use your mics would be very beneficial to all.
I ask all of us in the community to try to use this short code moving forward: OH-FK for full kit overheads and OH-CY for cymbals only overheads. Get into it! If you've ever made a post in the past, edit your post with these details, it will really help the knowledge base we are sharing and building.
To wit, our situation - Warning: gritty details ahead! We started using Rode M5 matched pair as overheads in the Glyn Johns set up. While they were great at getting all the drums, the hi hat and cymbals were just too harsh and overpowering. It was for two reasons: we had not put any sound padding up yet, and I had the inputs on the recorder too high. So, I swapped out the 1/2 inch diaphragm M5s for 1 inch diaphragm CAD GXL 3000s. They weren't a matched pair, but I got two and used them as such in cardioid pattern. We added padding to the ceiling and walls, and I lowered the inputs on the two channels, and BAM! we got great well rounded drum sounds and cymbal crashes were perfect, not overwhelming and not lost either. But, the one drawback: the toms were lost in the shuffle with GXL 3000s. Man those M5s really did pick them up nicely. But for the record we just made, the GXL 3000s worked well enough and with the kick and snare mic'd separately, we got a huge drum sound - which is the centerpiece of our full band sound.
I read a lot about the most recommended overhead mics out there: AKG C414, Neumann u87, Oktava MC-012, Audio Technica ATM450, Beyerdynamic MC930, Shure KSM141, etc. etc. etc. I just hope that moving forward people can clarify their recording situation when describing what mics they use.
OH-FK for full kit overheads and OH-CY for cymbals only overheads. Get into it! We will all benefit from the clarification.
Thanks everybody.
What I'd like people to do moving forward is when they talk about 'drum overheads' to clarify in which setting they use the term, by adding for "full kit" or for "cymbals only". So, I propose when discussing drum overheads we can use short code: OH-FK to mean "full kit" and OH-CY to mean "cymbals only".
Why is this important? Well, there's a lot of knowledgeable people out there that have a lot to offer, but each recording situation is different. My recording situation is I have 4 tracks to record the kit. That is it. So, I have to maximize the drum overhead mics, via placement, type, etc. To those that have the luxury of micing the kit with more than 4 tracks, I am very jealous and envious by the way, these folks use the drum overheads for cymbals only. Mics work differently in each capacity. Clarifying any discussion about how you use your mics would be very beneficial to all.
I ask all of us in the community to try to use this short code moving forward: OH-FK for full kit overheads and OH-CY for cymbals only overheads. Get into it! If you've ever made a post in the past, edit your post with these details, it will really help the knowledge base we are sharing and building.
To wit, our situation - Warning: gritty details ahead! We started using Rode M5 matched pair as overheads in the Glyn Johns set up. While they were great at getting all the drums, the hi hat and cymbals were just too harsh and overpowering. It was for two reasons: we had not put any sound padding up yet, and I had the inputs on the recorder too high. So, I swapped out the 1/2 inch diaphragm M5s for 1 inch diaphragm CAD GXL 3000s. They weren't a matched pair, but I got two and used them as such in cardioid pattern. We added padding to the ceiling and walls, and I lowered the inputs on the two channels, and BAM! we got great well rounded drum sounds and cymbal crashes were perfect, not overwhelming and not lost either. But, the one drawback: the toms were lost in the shuffle with GXL 3000s. Man those M5s really did pick them up nicely. But for the record we just made, the GXL 3000s worked well enough and with the kick and snare mic'd separately, we got a huge drum sound - which is the centerpiece of our full band sound.
I read a lot about the most recommended overhead mics out there: AKG C414, Neumann u87, Oktava MC-012, Audio Technica ATM450, Beyerdynamic MC930, Shure KSM141, etc. etc. etc. I just hope that moving forward people can clarify their recording situation when describing what mics they use.
OH-FK for full kit overheads and OH-CY for cymbals only overheads. Get into it! We will all benefit from the clarification.
Thanks everybody.
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