tom micing/mixing

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nascentjunkie

New member
well, basically i have the stupid question of what everyone asks... how do you get "good" tom sound in a drum set in a mix...

now, before i go any further i just want to say that I am already experienced in recording and have spent countless hours in the studio recording all sorts of things. So this question may seem very odd to most people. However I write it because I like to re check my work against others. Not to steal their ideas, but to add on too what I know. Because lets face it, even if you are the most experienced engineer/producer in the world you still run into some weird times/things you don't understand. I have used this forum numerous times and it has 75% of the time helped me in some way or the other, hence I use it again. I just want some opinions/facts on micing toms. Ya know, mics, placement, eq(if nesassary) compression, and things of that nature. Rooms/actual drums i guess I don't need so much, however I will accept it of course! Thanks again all.
 
well, the proper mics are pretty important. also, fresh heads and tuning even more. so i would start there. i personally use sennheiser e604's. i do mount them on a stand as opposed to using the clips. i point them almost staight down toward the rim. i have found that the 604's have a generous low end. they can be muddy and boxy if pointed toward the middle of the drum. honestly though, 90% of my drum sound comes from the overheads, with a bit of individual mics blended in..
 
Start with well tuned drums. Garbage in, garbage out. I usually stand the mics back about 6" from the shell. Regardless of the mics I've used, backing the mics up as opposed to right overr the top of the drum has made the biggest impact. I agree that the majority of the sound comes from the overheads. As far as mics go, I waffle back and forth between 57's and C-1000's.
 
after getting a drum sound you like, check frequency curves of the mics your using. most of these will tell the response of the mic at a certain distance. look for something that will respond very well to your mid frequencies and mic fairly close. i actually use claps right on my rims and some sm57s, they sound fantastic.

when mixing... USE YOUR EARS. try panning in drummer's perspective for starters. maybe experiment by widening the mix or making it a bit tighter. find a good volume between the OHs and your tom mics and if you need to try a little EQ... but remember: a good mix comes from a good recording. that being said, spend some extra (tedious) time finding your best mic placements first.

good luck, hope i helped a bit and have fun!
 
getupkid0717 said:
try panning in drummer's perspective for starters.
Click to expand...

Woah, now there's a can of worms :D (I'm a "pan it from the audience's view" guy...but then I mainly work in live sound, where having the tom on the audience's right come out of the left speaker is a bit strange)

Anyway, on this subject, can anyone gimme some tips on getting more 'slap' out of the toms? I'm mainly recording metal bands, and using Pinstripe heads close micced with 57's (soon to be e604s I hope); I'm after a more open, kinda 'BANG' sound rather than 'TUM' sound. At the moment the attack is kinda too quick and quiet compared to the slap of the kick (which is triggered). Is it the heads? I just can't seem to get any oomph out of them no matter how much I play with the EQ and compression. And I ain't about to trigger the toms coz' I don't like machine guns ;)
 
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