Getting good drum sound with this setup

F

FZmontanaDF

New member
We deadened a lot of stuff in my basement cause it was really boomy, that helps the drum sound but it is still not up front at all. The mics we have are....one Audio Technica 4033, Rode NT3, 2 Shure Beta 58s, 1 radio shack mic...(its actually close to decent, heavy mic). WE have a Mapex 5 pro M 5 piece. I tried putting the mics close...but it is really hard to get the levels right(too many ups and downs)...I am running all those mics into my Aardvark Q10 and recording on Sonar. If you could please help with this it would be great.
Thanks,
Daniel
 
Maybe you could give us a bit more information. How do you put your mics? near the edge, or near the center? Do you mic the bottom of the snare? How is your basement treated (any acoustic material on the walls)?

Concerning the levels, it is obvious that you use compression to solve that problem..

greetingz

Brett
 
in your case...I would use the AT 4033 and the NT3 as overheads, making an X formation, then pan them left and right to a certain extent to give a stereo sound. I would put the 58 on the snare, and whatever you think would work best in the bass drum. Becuase you havent mentioned any way of mounting the other mics to your toms, i'm assuming you wont need to do so... In that case you should use single ply heads.. I've tried using the overheads to pick up the toms (with 2 ply heads) and cymbals, but the toms arent loud enough. And if the levels are inconsistant...then..use..compression..
 
You can't get decent Tom sounds in your overhead in my opinion. It is better to get one tom great than 3 toms weak in your overhead.
 
If you could add even one mic to your collection it might drastically improve your chances. I would go for a dedicated kick mic like the AKG D112 or ATM 25. You might also, given your lack of mics, go for a mono drum sound - one overhead only.

Since the snare and kick are (assuming you are doing pop music of some kind) the most important elements, you could then try padding the AKG or RODE and seeing what gives the best sound on the snare. Since you aren't mic'ing top and bottom, you may find that the best sound comes from mic'ing the snare from the side (aimed at the shell) to pick up more of the springs. You'll need to experiment to see which position works best. Use the other one for the overhead. Then you've got three mics left over for toms. With your D112 or ATM25 on the kick, you should be good to go.

There seems to be no reason why you couldn't get decent drum sounds close mic'ing with a set-up like that. Next step: Pick up an SM57 or two when you have a chance. They're cheap.
 
may be a bit late

jusy a few questions to ask yerself.

1 is the kit sounding good in the room?
2 is the drummer a good consistant hitter?
3 is he realy familiar with his material?

I would just like to say that if the kit sounds o.k. than that is how its gonna sound if the kit sounds killer than you are getting closer.
having the drummer play as consistant as possible will reduce the amount of compression you will need. try new heads its the best thing to do.In many cases the big record company's will get a sesion drummer in as the live on the road drummer may not be as good in the studio . it comes down to good room sound and a consistant hitter who is comfortable with what he/she is doing .getting a good performance is more often than not better than a killer sound
 
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