Critique my drum micing please

S

ssseals

New member
I'm working on my drum micing & would like some input on good or bad things that you hear with this track please. It's a pretty short song, but you'll get the idea. I didn't mix in any instruments, so that will change how it sits in the mix, but I'm just looking for feedback on stuff that I might be missing.

I'm using Shure kick mic, MXL603s for the overheads & a Shure on the snare. Recorded on ADATxt20, transferred by lightpipe to Adobe Audition 2.0 & dry mixed for this mp3.

Thanks in advance.



 
You're probably aware of this already by now, but the snare needs some work. The kick could definitely come up a little. Overheads are fine. It sounds decent for something done with only four microphones. Just tweak it all a bit.
 
yeah....how are these panned? seems right heavy.

the snare just needs to be tightened or something. i think the tracking was done okay...maybe redo the kick placement. seems kinda mid-rangish.
 
You might want to try to boost the kick up @ 200 to 500 on your EQ and maybe a little at 2k for a sharper 'attack'. Try compression ratio about 3:1 and Threshold about -30db and attack 50 ms.

Mics should be crossed in an 'x' pattern for the overheads to eliminate phasing.

Just a few suggestions...Hope it helps....Good luck
 
Panned hard left & right.

My drummer has used a piccolo snare for years, so I intentionally wanted to get away from a high snare because I'm tired of hearing it on our songs. Maybe overdid it, huh?

Thanks for listening.
 
Actually, yeah... the snare mic is shifted to the right about 30 degrees. Overheads panned hard left & right, kick in middle.

The overheads are measured equal distance from the center of the snare, so I didn't think phase would be an issue. Wrong?

I like a wide pan on the overheads, so I'm afraid the the xy wouldn't give me as much depth on rolls. If I did it that way I would pan them opposite because they're crossed, right?

Thanks again.
 
I can't listen because I'm at work right now, but just to comment on what you just said. If the overheads are equal distance from the snare, they might be in phase with EACH OTHER. But they might be out of phase with the snare mic. Flip the snare mic or nudge it if that's the case.
 
I would like to hear less cymbals, their sound is much more intimate than the drums. Try moving the overheads so that they are more equidistant between the drums and the cymbals. The tuning just isn't working at all IMO, but that's another issue. Is there compression on the snare? Kinda sounds like it. Either that or the drum is being overplayed and maxing out. The overall imaging seems pretty good aside from being a little right heavy as was already mentioned.

on a scale of 1 - 10

Recording - 8
Drum sound - 3
 
Gamelan - What do you suggest for the tuning, cause I could use some help there too. These were new heads for this session & I thought I got the intervals to sound pretty good, maybe I was wrong. What are you hearing that I'm not? Thanks for the help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top