How many drum mics do you record with

How many microphones do you use when recording drums

  • 4

    Votes: 70 23.6%

  • 5-6

    Votes: 51 17.2%

  • 7-9

    Votes: 136 45.9%

  • 10-12

    Votes: 32 10.8%

  • 13+

    Votes: 7 2.4%
  • Total voters
    296
Right now I've been using this setup for my drums:

(2) Peluso CEMC6 for Overheads
Audix d1 for High tom
Audix d3 For Middle tom
Audix d4 for Floor tom
Beyerdynamic Opus 87 for Snare top
Shure Beta 57 for Under Snare
Shure Beta 52 for the Kick
and I also trigger the kick right now, but am looking to get all the drums triggered to have a fatter sound and more flexibility of sounds.
 
I used 12 on this kit:

Snare Top: Beta57
Snare Bot: MD441
Kick In: Heil PR-40
Kick OUt: NS10 Woofer
Toms 1-2: MD421's
Hi-Hat: AKG C451EB
OverHeads: Coles 4038's
Room Stereo: AKG C414B/ULS
Room Mono: BLUE Baby Bottle

drums_001.jpg


drums_002.jpg


drums_003.jpg


drums_004.jpg
 
Muyukiguki said:
Not trying to hijack the thread, but how does the sub woofer thing work?
Click to expand...

The woofer is wired to a 1/4" plug that is plugged into a DI box. The DI goes into a mic pre just like a mic. You're using the woofer as a microphone. It gives you this great low end that is hard to get otherwise. It sounds like this:



You mix that in with the mic signal. Sounds great.
 
For some reason the Mp3 clip doesn't work here on my work computer. But either way, that's pretty cool. Does it make much of a difference what kind of sub you use? I have an old generic Walmart bought sub I'm not doing anything with, perhaps that'll work...
 
Hmm. The mp3 is fine. Oh well.

You can certainly use any speaker. The results will surely vary. Give a try and see what happens. I have heard of people using 15" speakers from a bass guitar cabinet as well. I haven't heard that firsthand though.
 
Right now I'm working with 5 mics. They are all pretty cheap except for a
Sen. 609 and a AKG 535.

None are really meant for drum mic'ing, but I'm lucky enough to get a great
recording sound with some EQ'ing, placement, and tuning.

If you heard my recording, you'd never know the snare and tom mics cost
about $30.00 each :p

ETA: Here is a compressed file of a drum track recorded recently. The master
file sounds even better, but this is a decent representation.

Oops, wrong file! Correct one:

http://procision-auto.com/music/constit_drum_track.wma
 
Last edited:
I plan on using 4 mics tonight.

2 overheads
1 kick
1 snare

I am thinking about using the recorderman method for my overheads, but I'm not sure how it will do in a live setting. Any thoughts?
 
Currently running 10 mics but will ideally go to 14 when the remodel is done.

Bass (1) - AKG D112
Sane (1) - Sure PG something
Toms (4) - SM57
Hi Hat & Ride (2) - Carvin CM 90
Overheads (2) - MXL Large Diaphram condensers turned at opposing 45 degrees, panned one left one right
 
Am I the only person here who uses triggers on their acoustic kit?:confused:
I plug the triggers directly into the Us 1641 and set the levels. Triggers are the best way I have found to pickup only the drum with no other background noises or other drums/cymbals on the track, makes for much cleaner and sharp drum tracks and much easier to edit this way IMO.
triggers are basically peizo pickups, you can even make your own if you are into DIY projects and handy with a soldering iron.
 
Roguetitan said:
Am I the only person here who uses triggers on their acoustic kit?
Click to expand...

I was just talking about this with my drummer a few days ago. I mentioned how I saw a guy do this with some cardboard boxes, and the triggers.

So you use triggers, and then use sampled drums? I'd like to hear more about this. We're low budget, and can't always afford the instrumentation that we want, so I was thinking we could expand our drummers sound by putting triggers on his kit.
 
BenignVanilla said:
I was just talking about this with my drummer a few days ago. I mentioned how I saw a guy do this with some cardboard boxes, and the triggers.

So you use triggers, and then use sampled drums? I'd like to hear more about this. We're low budget, and can't always afford the instrumentation that we want, so I was thinking we could expand our drummers sound by putting triggers on his kit.
Click to expand...

I don't use sampled drums I tape the triggers to my acoustic drum heads and cymbal domes and they work better than mics IMO especially when it comes to cleaning up the seperate tracks. triggers work exactly the same way a peizo pickup works on a acoustic guitar they pickup the sound wave from the drum head when it is struck. you can plug the triggers directly into a mixer or recording interface without any additonal equipment.
 
Hmmm

2 AT 4033's as OH (or a pair of Shure BG 4.1 sdc)
1 AT 2021 on hat
1 SM57 on snare top (or i5)
1 AT 2021 on Snare bottom
2 AT tom mics on rack toms
1 AT floor tom mic on floor tom
1 AT3035 on ride
1 Shure SM7 on kick (close)
1 GT55 on kick (outside the shell)
1 Rode k2 as a room mic

That's 12 if my math is correct.
 
Roguetitan said:
I don't use sampled drums I tape the triggers to my acoustic drum heads and cymbal domes and they work better than mics IMO especially when it comes to cleaning up the seperate tracks. triggers work exactly the same way a peizo pickup works on a acoustic guitar they pickup the sound wave from the drum head when it is struck. you can plug the triggers directly into a mixer or recording interface without any additonal equipment.
Click to expand...

Ok, now I'm intrigued... Do you plug them into a line input?
 
12

Beta 52A in the kick
SM57 on Snare
5 SM57s on each of 5 toms
4 CADs one each on HH, 2 crashes and ride
1 Rode NT1-A room mike (sometimes)
 
Aren said:
Ok, now I'm intrigued... Do you plug them into a line input?
Click to expand...

I run the triggers directly into the 1641 XLR inputs and EQ the separate tracks
I do however use a 6" woofer stuffed right up inside the drum shell it works better than any drum mic I have ever used for the kick drum. and for the snare I use triggers on the top and bottom head to get the full effect of the snare. I can also cut the bottom snare trigger out of the track for a totally different drum tone.

you can get really good tones with triggers on the cymbals if you tape them underneath in the bell of the cymbal right where it makes the transition to the surface.

and you can really brighten them up with various VST effects

what I like most about using triggers is the drum you hit is the drum you hear in the track and nothing else like simultaneous drum hits from another drum, it also eliminates any room ambiance or background sounds that would get picked up by overhead mics like guitars or other instruments in the background in the drum tracks. which makes it really great for easeier editing
I think triggers have a little more versatility for drums than mics, (YMMV)
Here is what you want for the drums


These here work really well for the cymbals. convert Hi Z to low Z with an inline converter.
 
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