Tchad Blake drum method

Schaddaddy

Schaddaddy

New member
There is a method of micing the drums where you only use one mic called the tchad Blake method. If you've never seen it look it up. Do u think u can really get a good drum track if u only use one mic?
 
Schaddaddy said:
There is a method of micing the drums where you only use one mic called the tchad Blake method. If you've never seen it look it up. Do u think u can really get a good drum track if u only use one mic?
Click to expand...

I've tried everything before, the typical close mics on everything with overheads, the Recorderman technique, the Glyn Johns method, and various other mic combinations, and I've found the Tchad Blake method with a snare mic & kick mic to be my favorite.

With all the others I couldn't stand or justify the pre and post setup involved. Because I used all my different mics for different things. So recording drums meant not recording guitar, or vocals, etc. Not to mention all the stands, clips, cables, etc. all over. It just seemed overkill in my normal room.

It really hit me one day when I isolated the SM81 above my snare and realized it sounded way better alone than it did in combination with 5 other mics. So, I copied and pasted that track, isolated things with EQ, compressed according, blah blah. And convinced myself I was doing something wrong because it was in mono. Drums are supposed to be stereo after all. I felt weirdly guilty about it. And the visual of seeing the drum bus on my screen just the same waveform copied and processed differently didn't help. But then I closed my eyes, listened, and realized that there aren't any rules to recording. Then I started thinking - It's widely agreed upon that the drum kit needs to be tuned and played so that, in theory, you could put one mic up and capture the sound you want. So, I decided to roll with it.

Eventually I looked up other one mic methods and found TBM. So I dusted off an old LDC, put it up and loved it! Eventually I added a mic to the snare, and kick so they would be easier to isolate if I need to chop them up or use them as triggers or something. But I've started mixing them in with the Tchad Blake mic now instead of duplicating and isolating elements in that same track. (I've got one on the hats too but haven't used it yet.)

So I'm actually using 4 mics. But I'm confident that I could get a good drum track with one mic again if I need or want to. Maybe I will once I get something better than a Studio Projects mic :)
 
Schaddaddy said:
There is a method of micing the drums where you only use one mic called the tchad Blake method. If you've never seen it look it up. Do u think u can really get a good drum track if u only use one mic?
Click to expand...
It really depends on the sound that you seek. If the recording calls for a thin, airy, one-mic sound, then yes, it is possible to get a good drum sound with one mic. If you are recording a band like Disturbed or Metallica, I seriously doubt this method will deliver results that will make the client happy.

To me, the TBM seems somewhat unbalanced, hollow, and flabby like a room mic. It can also create as many problems as it solves. What if the drum kit includes subtle percussion pieces that are too far away from the mic? What if a tom is ringing and it's not discovered until after tracking? What if there is no room for a mic at the center of a large kit? What if the 24" ping ride cymbal is extremely loud and very close to the tom? What if you want more attack on the toms, but not the snare?

If you can make it work, fine. But I wouldn't walk around telling everyone that it is the best method since sliced bread.
 
Last edited:
Schaddaddy said:
There is a method of micing the drums where you only use one mic called the tchad Blake method. If you've never seen it look it up. Do u think u can really get a good drum track if u only use one mic?
Click to expand...

I recommend you follow your own advice: if you've never heard it, hook it up.
 
RawDepth said:
It really depends on the sound that you seek. If the recording calls for a thin, airy, one-mic sound, then yes, it is possible to get a good drum sound with one mic.
Click to expand...

I don't know about this.
I've haven't found it to be thin or airy at all. I've found it to be a fuller sound than when I have 6 mics. And less flabby than typical overheads since it picks up less of the room. Probably has to do with my placement & signal path though. Maybe if someones just using a pre-amp it would sound thin and airy, but I've found that to generally be the case with any overheads/room mics. Throwing a compressor and EQ on it brings everything to life.

But, the fact that I'm using it with a kick and snare mic really disqualifies me from defending it further.
I could even lose the kick mic honestly. But I don't want to ditch the snare mic at this point simply because the snare attack just isn't there with the mic by itself.
 
It's funny how using one mic on a drum kit is credited to some shmoe as a method.

We used to mic our kits like that back in the day because it was all we had. Then we found better ways.
 
Greg_L said:
It's funny how using one mic on a drum kit is credited to some shmoe as a method.

We used to mic our kits like that back in the day because it was all we had. Then we found better ways.
Click to expand...

LOL. I hear ya. From now on using more than one mic should be known as, "The RawDepth Method".
 
I've done one mic over head combined with a bass mic and had "decent" results.
I prefer an overhead or 2, kick and snare mic.
 
You and John Bonham..... You're in good company :)

He never had a mic technique named after him either.
 
RawDepth said:
LOL. I hear ya. From now on using more than one mic should be known as, "The RawDepth Method".
Click to expand...

I've got this new, outside-the-box guitar amp recording method that involves a microphone pointed at a speaker. It's called "The Greg Method".
 
Greg_L said:
I've got this new, outside-the-box guitar amp recording method that involves a microphone pointed at a speaker. It's called "The Greg Method".
Click to expand...

The GREG (Guitar Radiating Energy Gathering) Method.....

There you go...it's official you have an acronym.
 
I gave this a shot for the first time the other day. Its a pretty fat sound. The drums on the song were super simple so it worked but I'm not sure it would have translated well in a very busy mix.
 
kidkage said:
So I'm actually using 4 mics. But I'm confident that I could get a good drum track with one mic again if I need or want to. Maybe I will once I get something better than a Studio Projects mic :)
Click to expand...

Well...I don't know about the the TB one-mic method....but 4 mics is my favorite way to go.

Kick/Snare/OH Pair

That seems to give me a nice kit sound, and allows for a nice stereo spread (or I can make it mono, it's an M/S OH pair)....and the spot mics on Kick and Snare allow for those two key elements to be adjusted to taste in the mix.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top