How many tracks do you use to record drums?

[TelePaul]

Just one channel. One midi channel And it sounds great.

 

[TamaSabian]

I started with four. Then I borrowed a few mics from a friend and now I track up to 8 mics. Need more stands, I have to improvise.

 

[Sound & Vision]

How many tracks(channels) do you use to record drums and still a very good decent sound?

Normally 5:
Kick
Snare
2 Overheads
Room (Heavily compressed and quiet in the mix)


Now, "a very good decent sound" is quite debatable

 

[crankz1]

As many as I can, damnit!

Right now ... 14 mics to 14 mono tracks.
sm81 x2 OH (Recorderman)
Octava mk319 behind me noggin
mk012 snare bottom
sm57 snare top
d112 internally mounted
Home brew subkikk
akg c418 x3 rack toms
akg c419 over the ride
nt5 over hats
some cheap d12 copy and a Radio Shack branded shure omni over the floor toms

Fartin' with some lightning rods

Just a quick sample to see what my kit is gonna sound like facing the wall.
I just flipped it around, to make for more room in my little jam room.
Ignore the fact I suck .... I kinda think the sound ain't to bad, though.
Need to find me some other idiots to jam with ...

 

[dodgeaspen]

I've started to use 4 mics

 

[LDS]

Tracked some drums yesterday, and got some surprisingingly good results.

Started with ten channels:
2 overheads
3 toms
2 snare (top and bottom)
hat
kick
another mic further in front of the kick

It sounded good, but kinda, I dunnno, cluttered.

Doing a quick preliminary mix to check for phase and bleedover, I made an amazing discovery. With just the two overheads and the kick, the set sounded great! Did a couple more takes and ended up only using those three for the final drum mix. MXL 603s overheads and a Samson QBass on the kick. Nice, broad soundstage, all the drums and cymbals where they belong in the stereo field. I may add some snare mic back in after we track the vocals, but damn! More isn't always better!

 

[Ronfurburgundy2]

I would use 8 tracks...

1 kick
1 snare
1 hi hat
3 tom
2 overheads

 

[JG96]

For my last album we used 4 tracks and got a pretty good result but on the next one i think were going to add 2 tracks for the toms.

 

[antichef]

My theory is that the more confident you are in the playing, the drum sound, and the room sound and the desired result, the fewer tracks you need (although more tracks don't hurt - you can just discard them if not needed). Any dip in confidence in the the playing, the drum sound, and/or the room sound means you probably want to add more tracks - specifically what needs to be added depends on the concern.

So, it depends.

If you record yourself, know what you're going for, and you have a decent room and good sounding kit and you practice enough to be sure you'll play well, and/or don't mind re-tracking or punching in, then you can get away with fewer tracks (maybe even three or four, or conceivably even one or two, depending on what you were after, but not likely).

If you're recording an unknown drummer with an unknown kit playing a style of music you don't know well in a room you don't know with not very much time to set up and test, then break out the mics and cables, because you'll want as much of a safety net as you can get (and good luck with that).

Between those two extremes, I think experience and the particular circumstances have to be the guide.

 

[Dogbreath]

Over the past year I guess, I've started using more mics than my usual 4 set up in a recorderman-ish style.

I made a subkick
Kick
2 OH's
2 for toms
1 snare

So a total of 7 including the sub. Sometimes all 7 get used, sometimes not but I've found I like having the option.

 

[recordman]

Usually 16 on a 5 piece kit.


Overhead L
Overhead R
Kick
Snare
Tom 1
Tom 2
Tom 3
Kick Trigger
Snare Trigger
Tom 1 Trigger
Tom 2 Trigger
Tom 3 Trigger
Hi Hat
Ride

+Couple room mics

Heres my drum shots, Gretsch kit is mine, usually use it to record

 

[nonrate]

Hi brandrum,

I recently recorded a drum project with, unfortunately, less than ideal equipment. But, i did have the luxury of having 8 digital tracks to work with.

I used two pairs of overhead condensers, using a spaced-pair configuration. I spaced them far enough apart to get a stereo image, but not overdo that image as I had no mic specifically ont he hi-hats and did not want them to sound *too* far to the right.

I used one dynamic mic on the snare and one inside the bass drum.

I also miced up the four tom drums I have.

Total of 8 tracks, which I am editing in adobe audition.

Note, when I play live with my band and we record rehearsals, I only use 4 tracks.

 

[bassman1441]

I use 7-9

Either
kick
Snare Top
Snare Bottom
Rack Tom
Floor Tom
Left OH
Right OH

or:
Kick
Snare Top
Snare Bottom
Rack Tom
Floor Tom
Hi hat
Ride
Left Crash
Right Crash

 

[WarDrums]

about 8 mics. My drum set looks worse than anime octopus **** haha

1.snare
2.kick
3.tom1
4.tom2
5.tom3
6.kick trigger
7.overhead
8.ride mic

 

[Mark7]

Yes, but how many tracks do you use?

It's perfectly possible to use 8 mics but only use 2 tracks. That's why we have mixers

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Eight. Snare, four toms, kick, two overheads.

 

[Guitargodgt]

Lately it's been:

2x OH
2x Snare
3x Tom
2x kick (d6 and subkick)

With my 10th ch being used for scratch guitars. If it's larger than a 5 piece I sack the subkick. If the drummer is comfortable playing to a pre recorded click and guitar track I add a high hat mic.

I want to up my I/O so I can start playing around with room mics and spot cymbal mic'ing. Perhaps (probably not though) some triggers.

 

[loslobos9461]

@RezN8 - I really like the sound of the snare on your blues jams recordings. Nice jams too.

 

[Omar08]

I think it would depend on the set up of your drums and your genre as well.

 

[Mark7]

My new band had its first practice session yesterday. Maybe I'll actually get to record drums after all

In which case I'll be using four mics in the Glyn Johns style submixed to two tracks.