Drum Mic suggestions

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Live drum kit recording.............2 Mics
Beta 52 on kick (drum sounded bad with no front head so replaced it with a
Drumogog plug in sample)

Overhead was Audix ADX51

Kit was Kick, snare, floor tom, Hi hat, and ride.

Was very happy with the way it came out.

 
I have the CAD Pro-4 Drum Microphone Pack and the mics work great! The quality is amazing. Still I don't have overheads which are much needed!
 
loudyouth said:
I have the CAD Pro-4 Drum Microphone Pack and the mics work great! The quality is amazing. Still I don't have overheads which are much needed!
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So you're satisfied with the kick mic? That's the only one that really concerns me. And yeah, the overheads look awesome!
 
dintymoore said:

If it doesn't sound great with only one mic, there's something wrong that you need to fix before you add any more mics!
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On the HC forum there was a fellow who posted a clip of his kit where he just used one SM57 and, it was pretty solid. Though as in this video, his kick was also a bit weak in tone. Aside from that though it's pretty damn good, less certainly can be more.

guitaristic: The kick mic in the seven and four set isn't bad. I wasn't overly content with it but, perhaps that's due to the sort of sound I wanted. I ended up having the kick mic sit a few inches back from the porthole on the kick drum and, I set up one of the dynamic tom mics inside the kick to try and capture some more mid tones to compliment the lows on the kick mic. Perhaps it was overkill.
 
Bitter Dawn said:
I ended up having the kick mic sit a few inches back from the porthole on the kick drum and, I set up one of the dynamic tom mics inside the kick to try and capture some more mid tones to compliment the lows on the kick mic. Perhaps it was overkill.
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Yeah, I had thought about sticking one of the tom mics down on/in the kick as well. I doubt I'll use the tom mics for actually recording toms :D I might just go with putting mics on the kick, snare, and then the overheads.
 
guitaristic said:
Yeah, I had thought about sticking one of the tom mics down on/in the kick as well. I doubt I'll use the tom mics for actually recording toms :D I might just go with putting mics on the kick, snare, and then the overheads.
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May be worth a try for you to put a mic in the kick, if nothing else you can at least say that you've tried it. I never bothered to mic the toms for a few reasons, a) overheads should catch the toms, b) didn't have enough xlr ports on my old mixer (MW12) and c) I didn't use the toms that much for the music I was recording.
Could be just my experience but, I found when I used those two CAD OHs that they caught the hats pretty well and, thus I had to have the snare mic pointed away from the hats or else the hats became overbearing.
 
The Project Hell Cow Home Studio

Looks like you've got the same setup as we do (tascam 1641, shure sm57, cubase)! Here is the drum mic kit we're using:

Digital Reference DR-DRM7 7-Piece Drum Mic Kit with Case and more Percussion Microphones at GuitarCenter.com.

You can see it set up on my kit in this video:
NSFW language! I'm sure everyone will love (read: have something to say) about the egg cartons!


and you can hear it Here:
don't mind the file name lmao

Here's what I did to the sound:
Eq'ed all mics (pretty much had to)
compressed only the overall stereo output
panned the toms


It's not a bad kit, plus I got $20 bucks off which sealed the deal. My band (see link in sig) is just starting to record our music and this kit is a thousand times better than the video camera we have been using. I'm sure it's not up to par with the big boys... nor will it ever be... but I'm okay with that :)
I have changed a few things since that clip and video: I now use an sm-57 on the snare now, and I changed my bass drum head. It really is a lot more about the sound of the kit and the player. Make sure your heads are in tune!

Let me know if you need any help setting up, or have any questions! Oh and check out our site ;)
Mike
 
ProjectHellCow said:
you can hear it Here:
don't mind the file name lmao

It really is a lot more about the sound of the kit and the player. Make sure your heads are in tune!

Mike
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Mike, that actually sounds quite nice man. Cymbals/hats are at a nice medium level (not overbearing at all), the kick is solid and the toms sound really great, I'm actually surprised at how well they pan in the mix. Snare is a bit weak but, that's just personal preference I'm sure as, I like my snare a bit higher in the mix.
I actually haven't heard of that mic set before, and although it is a cheaper site like the CAD seven piece, I'm rather curious about it. Thanks for sharing man.

I also very much agree with your comment about the sound of the kit and the player, good heads and proper tuning are absolutely crucial! The egg cartons.. I didn't think people still used that.
 
Bitter Dawn said:
Mike, that actually sounds quite nice man. Cymbals/hats are at a nice medium level (not overbearing at all), the kick is solid and the toms sound really great, I'm actually surprised at how well they pan in the mix. Snare is a bit weak but, that's just personal preference I'm sure as, I like my snare a bit higher in the mix.
I actually haven't heard of that mic set before, and although it is a cheaper site like the CAD seven piece, I'm rather curious about it. Thanks for sharing man.

I also very much agree with your comment about the sound of the kit and the player, good heads and proper tuning are absolutely crucial! The egg cartons.. I didn't think people still used that.
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I think when we recorded this there was only one mic on the snare on top. We now use one of the kit mics on the snare bottom, and an sm57 on top. We will hopefully be releasing some music soon so you can hear how that sounds in the mix but don't hold your breath we're still learning too :D.

The egg cartons don't do too much. I believe they block high frequencies well. We also have a layer of ceiling tiles underneath those. The main purpose was to cheaply keep the rest of the house happy ;)
 
I would stay away from the tempting and "cost effective" drum mic packages. For live stuff, sure go for it, but since you already have a 57 which is a perfectly acceptable snare mic I would say just look for some decent overheads. There are tons of pros and cons for both the LCDs and the SDCs so basically it comes down to taste. Just a word of advice, if you plan to be recording seriously for years to come take the time (and the money) and invest in some nice Overheads, because as soon as I realized how important they were I was so pissed that I wasted money on a drum mic package. I can get a way better sound with one nice overhead than I can with an entire 7 mic drum mic package.

The Shure ksm mics are pretty good for overheads and if you buy used you might be able to get one for 300-400. I use Groove tube gt 67's but they're pretty costly...

This is actually extremely decent

http://cgi.ebay.com/Groove-Tubes-GT...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f27cc613

As for kick drum I for some reason always get a good sound from my overheads and room mics and rarely mic the kick, but I wouldn't necessarily suggest leaving the kick mic out of your expenses because I think the sound I get is largely because of my room and the way I position the drum set. I have a d112 which to me is a little clicky but I can get an acceptable sound from it. 80 bucks on ebay.

Sorry for the lengthy reply, it's just I'm a kid (college aged person) too so hopefully you won't make the mistakes I did and do it right the first time.

Do what sounds good, trust your ears, may the force be with you, etc.

-Barrett
 
ez_willis said:
I've used one of these for probably 6 years. still use and love it. you can get 'em all day long for well under $200.
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I've never seen one of those before. The digital out could be useful for me. Does it have direct outs as well? Can't seem to find any specs on it.
 
ProjectHellCow said:
The egg cartons don't do too much. I believe they block high frequencies well. We also have a layer of ceiling tiles underneath those. The main purpose was to cheaply keep the rest of the house happy ;)
Click to expand...
Placebos ;) are known to be an effective tool :cool: in the home recording sphere :D
 
Yonce N Mild said:
I've never seen one of those before. The digital out could be useful for me. Does it have direct outs as well? Can't seem to find any specs on it.
Click to expand...

two pairs of digital outs. xlr and rca coax.

manual

part of the video tutorial:

[video=youtube;<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/YOkvCN58j4U&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/YOkvCN58j4U&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>]video[/video]
 
Those mics seem good for the money, also how are you liking the tascam? I am considering getting one soon.
 
ez_willis said:
how does who like the tascam? and which tascam are you refering to?
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Both the original poster and I have it. I really like it. I chose it because it has 8 xlr inputs, and was in my price range (read: cheap). There are also 2 trs inputs on the front for guitar or line in. I don't remember how they say you can do 16 at a time, but there aren't 16 physical inputs on the device. It's some sort of marketing scheme. Either way, we love the damn thing. It was a cheap interface, has 8 inputs with pre's, and even came with cubase le4. We're very happy with it.
 
ProjectHellCow said:
I think when we recorded this there was only one mic on the snare on top. We now use one of the kit mics on the snare bottom, and an sm57 on top. We will hopefully be releasing some music soon so you can hear how that sounds in the mix but don't hold your breath we're still learning too :D.

The egg cartons don't do too much. I believe they block high frequencies well. We also have a layer of ceiling tiles underneath those. The main purpose was to cheaply keep the rest of the house happy ;)
Click to expand...

What ever works best for you guys, I think it sounds pretty good myself. Just checked out your guys home page, looks like you lot are having some fun. It's good to see some fellow metal heads on board :D makes me wish we would have documented our studio antics as well, good times man, good times.
 
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