Please forgive me?

N

nezpierce

New member
Some friends of mine were doing some recording this past weekend. They knew a guy who is just getting into it, so I went to help out with setup and my 2 cents.

I got there to find Rolls headphone amps, Bellari tube preamps and Behringer EuroDesk mixers as the preamps/phantom power to go into a MOTU 828 (the firewire one) and G4.

Gasp!

Anyway, I helped him with the drum mics, he had c1000's , I had my ECM8000's and we had a collection or assorted LD condensers (AT3035, an older black AKG LD with no number on it, some other one)and SM57's. All drums were Sonor Force custom.

We ended up with:
18" Kick:AKG D112
5.5 x 14:snare: 57 on top and some unknown AT condenser on the bottom
12" rack: AT3035
14" floor: older black AKG LD with no number on it
Hi Hat:ECM8000
2 crahes , a ride and a china: first we went tight XY but it sounded bad so we went to split overheads
Overheads: c1000 pair (going through the Bellari tube preamps !)
and get this a Rode NT1 as a room mic (at first @10 ft away and later a good 30 feet away)

The room was pretty big, we set up in the middle of a 400 seat theater, mostly square with a wooden floor, and probably 2 stories high.
We baffled the drums to get a tighter sound and used the overhead more as cymbal mics since the room was soooo live.

And you know what? The drums sounded GREAT! So sometimes the room can save you, even if you are using gear that people snub their noses at.

The other guy has the tracks but I'll see if I can post some audio later...

nP
 
The drums sounded GREAT! So sometimes the room can save you, even if you are using gear that people snub their noses at.
Click to expand...

I agree.

Of course, it helps if the drums sound nice and are played well- but the room, your ears, mic choice and mic placement seem to be the key issues.

Don't get me wrong..I drool over fancy mic pres, converters, compressors and tape machines. And I will certainly plop down the dough for that stuff when I can and I love tweaking stuff and really 'making it shine'.. But, for me, the real magic happens in the room.
 
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You've got me drooling over the thought of a room like that. I never get to record drums outside of a basement.
 
*slurp*

Yeah I wish my basement was anywhere near that nice. The sad part is I didn't get to actually play the drums that we recorded. It was the third nicest room I've ever recorded in, and the nicest non-studio room.

For the record, the other two were the old Idful studios (Chicago) that was an old warehouse and the room was like 3 stories (maybe) tall and all cement so every beat sounded like Bohnam and the A room at the old Chicago Trax (on Halsted). That room was also nice and big with a wood floor and was quite tasty.

nP
 
Ever go into some of these big beautiful office building lobbys and the reciptionist asks "May I help you?", I want to say "Yeah, can record some drums in here?"
 
LOL, gotta try that.....excuse me....I know the queen lives here but she's out most of the time.....now I was wondering....you do have a balletroom do you.......ah yeah...well listen....
 
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