simple 3 mic drum set up, help.

bstarstudios

bstarstudios

Useless Thoughts
so my studio is picking up, and in going to record a friends band. i hadnt planned on recording drums so my mic collection doesnt really include any good drum mics.

ive used a 3 drum mic set up at my schools studio a few times and will be doing the same in my friends garage.

so i have an sm57 for the snare

the overhead will be my mxl v88 or a 991.

not sure what to do for the kick, suggestions?

heres what i own mic wise
-MXL V88
-MXL 990- 2
-MXL 991
-Sennheiser e835

or maybe i should pickup a cheaper cad or comprable cheap kick mic.


also open to other suggestions besides a 3 mic technique, maybe 2 overheads for stereo imaging?
 
okay so i went ahead and picked up a cad kbm412, was a good deal of ebay.

so ill use that for kick, and the sm57 for snare.

still open to any suggestions.
 
Buy more, better mics.

Unless your room is really good (your friends garage probably isn't), the drummer is really good (maybe), the drums sound really good (maybe), and your skills are really good (which they aren't), then you're most likely gonna end up with a mess.
 
I'd go mono OH, kick and snare. Get the OH mic placed so that the balance between drums and brass is suitable and close enough to the kit so that you're not getting too much room. Be patient.
 
Greg_L said:
Buy more, better mics.

Unless your room is really good (your friends garage probably isn't), the drummer is really good (maybe), the drums sound really good (maybe), and your skills are really good (which they aren't), then you're most likely gonna end up with a mess.
Click to expand...

i dont have the budget for that. hes a decently good drummer, his drums are fairly good and no my skills aren't pro by an means but they are not that bad thanks.


Supercreep said:
I'd go mono OH, kick and snare. Get the OH mic placed so that the balance between drums and brass is suitable and close enough to the kit so that you're not getting too much room. Be patient.
Click to expand...

thanks for the tips, ill try out the mono oh.
 
thanks, i had only seen a few of these. the recorder man method is something i might try, on top of my mono oh and dual oh set up
 
If you get your overheads just right you may not even need the snare mic, I almost never use the snare mic except for effects.
 
I have pretty much the same mics as you and I've found that just using the MXL 990s as left and right overheads sound pretty good for the price. Just remember to pan them 50% left and right to get a good stereo sound and then just leave the kick drum in the middle.
 
xcrunner28 said:
I have pretty much the same mics as you and I've found that just using the MXL 990s as left and right overheads sound pretty good for the price. Just remember to pan them 50% left and right to get a good stereo sound and then just leave the kick drum in the middle.
Click to expand...

thats on my list of things to try, one of my 990s is away with a friend for a bit but when it returns im going to work with that set up till i can afford some nice sdc's.
 
I use a 990 and love it for the price. I personally like miking the snare because it gets rid of the room tone and badness a snare gives to a bad room a lot of the time.
 
bstarstudios said:
hes a decently good drummer, his drums are fairly good.
Click to expand...

If he isn't a killer and if his equipment is "fairly good", you've got stuff to work out before hitting the record button. Make him practice until he does kill. Have somebody with an ear for detail coach him on the groove of the performance and relative volume of the kit pieces (hit the snare harder, hat softer, etc).

How are the drum heads holding up? Are they the right drum heads? Have you put thought into coated vs clear vs double-ply or are you rolling with what happened to be on there?

Set aside a good 3 hours to tune the sucker before thinking of hitting record.

All of that will be much more important than anything you could possibly do with the mics.
 
Chibi Nappa said:
If he isn't a killer and if his equipment is "fairly good", you've got stuff to work out before hitting the record button. Make him practice until he does kill. Have somebody with an ear for detail coach him on the groove of the performance and relative volume of the kit pieces (hit the snare harder, hat softer, etc).

How are the drum heads holding up? Are they the right drum heads? Have you put thought into coated vs clear vs double-ply or are you rolling with what happened to be on there?

Set aside a good 3 hours to tune the sucker before thinking of hitting record.

All of that will be much more important than anything you could possibly do with the mics.
Click to expand...

thanks for the tips. ill tell him to practice practice and tune the shit out of his drums.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top