drum micing

[nopainkiller]

I have a 4 peice cad drum mic set. I use the snare and the kick drum mics, and then one radioshack mic for the overhead, since I can only record 4 tracks at a time onto my 8 track tascam 488mk11. I'm getting a set of nady cheap condesser mics, the scm900 and the cm90. i will use the cm90 for the overhead when i get it. But Being a drummer, and having to play and record and then stop and rewind and listen, then try to mess with the eq on all three mics is rediculous.

Anybody with tips on EQing the drums before recording? I can't get a good sound. doesn't sound like drums. Should I just record it all with normal eq and then mix it later? Or are there tricks for the snare mic and bass mic and overhead? Any advice please. except to buy new mics or a new porta studio.

 

[Minion]

Generally you should record your mics dry (No EQ or Effects) and then EQ them when Mixing....

If you are going to use Overheads then you should use 2 Overheads with each Panned Left/Right to get a proper stereo image , the overheads will also pick up your Toms..So One Mic on Snare, one on Bass, and 2 overheads....

Also it is better to record your drums with your levels set low than set high as with your mics gain up high you will get more noise and more clipping and you can"t really fix this in the mix but if you record to quietly you can easilly fix this in the mix.....

I usually use a compressor on my Snare and bass drum, this really make it stand out and makes the bass More punchy, I then EQ after the compressor and I usually for the bass drum do a 100hz-200hz Boost and with the snare do a 1k Boost and do cuts as your ear tells you to....


Cheers

 

[Dogbreath]

Yup...start at the source. Make sure they sound good in the room. Tuning is critical. (sorry if you already do this)
Also, check out either the Glyn Johns or Recorderman methods. I use the R-man and get really good results but I make sure my drums are tuned up first, then spend a little time (used to be ALOT of time til I got it dialed in) setting up the mics. I start with my OH's and get the whole kit sounding good there first. Stereo image etc. Then I bring up my kick and snare mics to taste.

Any EQing is done at mix time (for me) to help everything sit in the mix.

Hope it helps man.....

 

[line6man]

I agree completely with the responses above. when I first started recording it was into a marantz four track tape machine and i was feeling a bit limited with my inputs and my cheap mics.

First thing is to get one of my good drummer friends to come over and tune up my kit really good. find a good spot in my house. maybe the kitchen or garage.
I'd take my best 2 mics (preferably condensers) and use them as overheads. making sure that they weren't placed to close to the cymbals (2-3 feet above).

since you're using a cad drum mic set the one for the kick isn't that bad for what what your doing. so get a friend in the other room monitoring with a set of headphones while you move the kick mic around in the shell with yet another friend hitting it as hard aas it'll be in the song till you find the best spot for it. maybe you won't need any eq or at least too much. good luck

 

[drossfile]

I have a 4 peice cad drum mic set. I use the snare and the kick drum mics, and then one radioshack mic for the overhead, since I can only record 4 tracks at a time onto my 8 track tascam 488mk11. I'm getting a set of nady cheap condesser mics, the scm900 and the cm90. i will use the cm90 for the overhead when i get it. But Being a drummer, and having to play and record and then stop and rewind and listen, then try to mess with the eq on all three mics is rediculous.

Anybody with tips on EQing the drums before recording? I can't get a good sound. doesn't sound like drums. Should I just record it all with normal eq and then mix it later? Or are there tricks for the snare mic and bass mic and overhead? Any advice please. except to buy new mics or a new porta studio.

yep, it is ridiculous, and it will be forever. once you get a sound you like, you'll use that for a few weeks and then decide you could do better so you start doing it all over again. welcome to the world of recording yourself on drums.

don't worry about eq until you get a good dry sound. eq should only be for tweaking after tracking. as for tips, i've seen a million different "starting points," and i always end up trashing them and letting my ears guide my choices. every mic, drum, and preamp is going to give you a different signal anyway, so generalities are of minimal use. ymmv, as they say.

all the above posts definitely have useful info, though.

good luck--you have your work cut out for you.