How many tracks do you use to record drums?

How many tracks do you use to record your drums?

  • 2 Tracks?

    Votes: 39 8.5%
  • 3 Tracks?

    Votes: 51 11.1%
  • 5 Tracks?

    Votes: 67 14.6%
  • More than 5?

    Votes: 303 65.9%

  • Total voters
    460
brandrum said:
I voted three.

me too

two for stereo overheads and one for the kick

toms and snare get picked up by all three mics

having a mic on kick allows you to add umph to it


I recently recorded some drums with just two mics on the overheads but you have to be really creative with parametric EQ to pull up the kick
 
I use 7 or 8 ,You need one for every Drum so on a 5 Piece that is 5 Mics and you need a 2 or 3 Overhead Condensers for the Cymbals (one Panned Left and One Right and One Centered).....

I never thought or even tried to use Less than 5 mics....

Cheers
 
phaqu said:
I mic/track all my drums, but, I try to get my overheads (X-Y usually) and kick sounding as good as I possibly can first. Then,if I absolutly have to,start adding snare and tom( in the mix). The tracks are there if I need them. More offten than not, I just end up using 3 tracks. Less phase problems that way to.

absolutely. i'd FAR prefer to use only OH and Kick mics in the mix if that's an option. and i always get the OH and kick mix bumpin before i add in the other mics. the OH and kick are the "foundation", if you will, of the entire drum part. the rest of the mics are just "sweetening".

it's funny too......"inexperienced" clients who come into the studio to record drums seem to think they're getting short-changed if you've only got 3 or 4 mics hung. kinda like in the mixerman diaries. :D


cheers,
wade
 
Synkrotron said:
me too

two for stereo overheads and one for the kick

toms and snare get picked up by all three mics

having a mic on kick allows you to add umph to it


I recently recorded some drums with just two mics on the overheads but you have to be really creative with parametric EQ to pull up the kick
actually I use 6 mic's.....overheads and tom mics to channel one, and kick and snare mics going to channel two and three.
 
this thread has got me wondering.......I have a yamaha mg 12/4 mixer and a presonus firebox....is there any way that I could for example have two mic's go to one channel and have two different mic's go to another?
 
brandrum said:
this thread has got me wondering.......I have a yamaha mg 12/4 mixer and a presonus firebox....is there any way that I could for example have two mic's go to one channel and have two different mic's go to another?

Well, yes! I just looked up that mixer and it says that is has 4 busses. 2 stereo and 2 grouped. There should be seperate outputs for each. The input of the computer doesn't know how the mixer is panned, just what input its coming in on. You should be able to group whatever mics you want to any given output. My current mixer has 20 channels and 4 busses. I group channel 1 (kick drum) and channel 11 (subkick mic) to bus 1 and send that to the first channel of my sound card. If it were just a stereo card, it would be the left channel. So long as I can split the stereo track to two mono tracks I could pan them however I want. With my current sound card I have 8 analog inputs. I group the toms (channels 3 through 7) to busses 5 & 6 of the sound card as a stereo group, with the toms panned.

You should be able to have 4 seprate outputs and group the channels together as you like.
 
One

ONE mic ........or 4 but these aren't in the poll are they. Just seems like if you have a good song with strong melody, the drums could just be Ringo kickin the door, right?
 
myparents said:
ONE mic ........or 4 but these aren't in the poll are they. Just seems like if you have a good song with strong melody, the drums could just be Ringo kickin the door, right?

If you like the sound of a door.

Somehow I don't think "When the levee breaks" would sound quite the same with a sneaker on framed mahogany...
 
Some of my favorite drums have been recorded with 3 tracks. I usually record with 4, but sometimes that Mono just "gets me".
 
Currently, seven. Kick, snare, toms 1-3, and a pair of overheads. I close-mic the toms 'cause my room if kinda dead.
 
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coolsoundman said:
How many tracks(channels) do you use to record drums and still a very good decent sound?
Using direct outs for snare, kick, HH then left and right toms, then left and right crash, then ride = 8.
Gives you alot of room for creativity on each isolation.
 
Boy I have learned a lot just by reading through this. I have always miked the kick, snare, toms, 2 overheads, hihat, and ride usually to 7 tracks. A track for each drum and then the overheads, hihat, and ride on 2 tracks panned in the spectrum. I can't wait to try just kick and two overheads and get the best sound I can and then maybe sweeten. I've always thought when it came to drums "more is more". Where was this internet and website when I was tracking hours upon hours in my younger days.................
 
Hey Rezn8, what's your opinion on the Peluso CEMC6's as overheads? Are they worth the $600 for the pair, seeing as you've used them?

Edit: Yay 100 Posts!
 
8 right now,

2 OH in XY
Snare
Kick
3 Tom Mics
1 HiHat

In the mix, I'm primarily using the OH's, Snare, and Kick. The HiHat track is used to accentuate the hats if necessary, but it's usually picked up pretty well. Toms are gated and used only to fine tune the balance and accentuate the attack. If I had a better sounding room, aka not my laundry room, I'd probably be using another 2 tracks for my room mics.
 
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