Recording Drum Sounds with unspecific mics

[Deleted member 182840]

Hi guys.
I'm trying to get a nice sound out from drums, these are my gear:




- sterling condenser S50
- sterling condenser mic S51
- sterling condenser sp30
- shure beta 87A
- shure SM57

- focusrite 2i4 audio interface
- komplete audio 6 audio interface


do you guys know any technique i could apply to record drum sounds using these mics?

cheers!

luis

 

[Ripthorn]

Those are some nice mics, should be sufficient to record drums. If it were me, I would put the SM57 on the top side of the snare, beta 87 on the kick, the two large diaphragm condensers as overhead, and then the small one probably on the under side of the snare or between the two mid toms. You will have to do plenty of auditioning. If you have a really great room, then maybe forget having one on the under side of the snare and have a room mic, but with it being a cardioid, it may not sound as good as an omni.

I used to do 4-mic drum recording frequently back in college. The room makes a big impact, but the one thing I always wished for was a mic on the bottom of the snare, because sometimes you just need to get some extra snap in there.

 

[Deleted member 182840]

Those are some nice mics, should be sufficient to record drums. If it were me, I would put the SM57 on the top side of the snare, beta 87 on the kick, the two large diaphragm condensers as overhead, and then the small one probably on the under side of the snare or between the two mid toms. You will have to do plenty of auditioning. If you have a really great room, then maybe forget having one on the under side of the snare and have a room mic, but with it being a cardioid, it may not sound as good as an omni.

I used to do 4-mic drum recording frequently back in college. The room makes a big impact, but the one thing I always wished for was a mic on the bottom of the snare, because sometimes you just need to get some extra snap in there.

got it, ripthorn.
thanks for the advice.
actually, i was thinking the same way you did. i only have 4 inputs on those audio interfaces, so i may go with the 4-mic technique.
i never tried the beta 87 for kick, since it is made for vocals. do you think it really might work better than the large diaphragm ones?

have a good one.

 

[Ripthorn]

The main reason for my suggestion is because if you use the 87 with one LDC for overheads, they will be really mismatched. You want the overheads to sound as similar as possible. That left the 87 to the kick, unfortunately. But, experiment and see what happens.