Single AT 4040 for overhead mic'ng?

C

Codeseven

New member
I've heard some recordings using a single overhead to capture the drums and it sounded great! I like the idea of not having to deal with XY, YX, scooby doo, whatever, and phasing issues. I've heard good things about the AT 4040. Would that make a decent single OH mic?
Or, would you guys recommend another in that price point? Thanks
 
That's a good mic. I'm sure it would be fine for one overhead. Or better yeat, more like an out front mic so you can get better kick presence.
 
Codeseven said:
Cool, thanks, that's what I was thinking, right out front.
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Yeah it's gonna take some trial and error, but there's a sweet spot out front somewhere. I'm a stereo overhead guy myself, but I've had good results with the mic about 4 feet in front of the kit at rack tom level. Point it at your chest or somewhere in the general vicinity. You can get a nice balance of everything somewhere in that area. Supplement with close mics on the kick and snare and you can get some really nice drum tracks done.

Keep in mind that the room sound is gonna play a big role here. A small, boxy, bad sounding room is really gonna show up with the out front mic.
 
Greg_L said:
Yeah it's gonna take some trial and error, but there's a sweet spot out front somewhere. I'm a stereo overhead guy myself, but I've had good results with the mic about 4 feet in front of the kit at rack tom level. Point it at your chest or somewhere in the general vicinity. You can get a nice balance of everything somewhere in that area. Supplement with close mics on the kick and snare and you can get some really nice drum tracks done.

Keep in mind that the room sound is gonna play a big role here. A small, boxy, bad sounding room is really gonna show up with the out front mic.
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Thanks.

Ya, my drum room is about 10ftx10ft in roughly a pentagon shape with an 8ft ceiling, pretty small. It's a classic 'box within a box' in the corner of my garage. Right now it has a carpeted floor and acoustic foam wedges on about 75% of the ceilings and walls, mostly to kill echo. But I've been contemplating changing it to a wood floor and taking out some of the foam try to open it up.
 
Greg_L said:
Lol. Right. A 10x10 room is a death sentence for drums.
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Ya, at the time I was brand new to drumming and decided to build a 'drum room'. I spent whole summer building it to as soundproof specs as I could. Works fantastic, soundproof wise, but ya, shoulda built it bigger :)

Given a space like that, can you guys give me some tips (other than build it bigger dummy! :)) to make it better for playing/recording? Thanks
 
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Got this from Wiki recording techniques...


Kick, Snare and Overhead

This techniques uses 1 cardioid condenser microphone placed two feet above the cymbals and pointed down at the set. Another cardioid dynamic microphone is then pointed at the snare from a distance of about 2 inches. The third microphone is a dynamic cardioid microphone inside the kick and positioned to personal taste.

500px-Drum_recording_3_mics_kick_snare_overhead.jpg
 
Codeseven said:
Given a space like that, can you guys give me some tips (other than build it bigger dummy! :)) to make it better for playing/recording? Thanks
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Comb filtering and quick reflections are gonna be a bitch in a room like that. Since using the room for ambience is probably a losing proposition, I'd say deaden that motherfucker as much as possible. Make it a dry tomb. Bass traps in the corners, clouds, and broadband gobos everywhere. Put the drums somewhere near the middle of the room and give it a whirl. You can add reverb later.
 
dasbrodie said:
Got this from Wiki recording techniques...


Kick, Snare and Overhead

This techniques uses 1 cardioid condenser microphone placed two feet above the cymbals and pointed down at the set. Another cardioid dynamic microphone is then pointed at the snare from a distance of about 2 inches. The third microphone is a dynamic cardioid microphone inside the kick and positioned to personal taste.

View attachment 70553
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Nice find DasBrodie, thanks!
 
Greg_L said:
I'd say deaden that motherfucker as much as possible.
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Lol, ya, I agree Greg. That was my impression as to what to do. That's the reason for the carpet and acoustic foam all over the place but I was getting the impression from this thread that I shouldn't be doing so?

Also, I started a new thread about acoustics in the Studio Building & Display Forum.
 
Codeseven said:
I like the idea of not having to deal with XY, YX, scooby doo, whatever, and phasing issues.
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You only have phase problems when there are different arrival times (drum into two mics, direct sound from drum arrives before reflection etc.). X/Y mics are coincident (very close together) and won't have phase problems in and of themselves, but if you're using any other mics besides the overhead you will have some degree of phase interaction to deal with. On top of that the reflections in your tiny space will give you trouble.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
You only have phase problems when there are different arrival times (drum into two mics, direct sound from drum arrives before reflection etc.). X/Y mics are coincident (very close together) and won't have phase problems in and of themselves, but if you're using any other mics besides the overhead you will have some degree of phase interaction to deal with. On top of that the reflections in your tiny space will give you trouble.
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Thanks. I have a 4pc kit all have mics currently. A Shure SM57 on the Snare, Shure PG56's on the Toms, a Shure PG52 in front of the Bass and two Shure PG81's for overheads. I agree, the small space in a pentagon shape with a concrete floor is pretty far from ideal but unfortunately it's what I have to work with. I'm just happy to have a place to go to bang on my drums :) I was hoping that going to a single overhead would simplify things over using the two PG81's.
 
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