Newbie Drum Miking

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guitarguy101

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Hey guys,
I thought it might be good to get a thread going about drum kit miking. I've read a couple guides on it before, and I've had to deal with it in the past, so I'll post what I know, and hopefully you all will to :D
Currently, I know several of the "best" positions (I know this is completely open for interpretation and thus subject to change) based on how many mics you have. This is all jacked from the Shure Microphone Guide btw, this isn't just crap I've made up.
1 Microphone: Overhead
2 Microphones: Overhead, Kick
3 Microphones: Overhead, Kick, Snare
4 Microphones: Overhead, Kick, Snare, High Hats
5 Microphones: Overhead, Kick, Snare, High Hats, Tom-Toms
I've never had the pleasure of dealing with more mics than that, (Same with most newbies, I'd assume.)
Also, I'd like advice from the drum miking aficionados on what to do with my set up. I'm dealing with 2 Shure-SM 57s, a Sterling Audio pencil condenser, and a Sterling Audio large diaphragm condenser. I'm planning on doing the Overhead/Kick/Snare/High Hats placement with them, but which mics should go where? Currently, I was thinking of putting the S/A large diaphragm as the overhead, the pencil on the high hats, and the SM-57s on the Snare and Kick, respectively.
 
Seems to be your best option so far.

Why not expand your microphone locker. Just a wee bit.
 
guitarguy101 said:
What should I get next, if I were to get a mic solely for the purpose of drum miking.
Click to expand...

if it were me, I'd look at a kick mic like a Beta 52 or a D112 (only cuz that's the only 2 I've used so far), use a 57 on snare and I'd try the Sterling LDC as a mono overhead to start.
Better would be to get a pair of the same LDC's as OH's.
I've been using the Studio Projects B1 as OH's and they're doin fine.
Check out the Recorderman Technique or the Glyn Johns method for miking drums. You can get a good sound from just 4 mics. It's a matter of placement.
:drunk:
 
Another thing to consider is that the basic job of the overheads in drum mic technique is to capture the aggregate sound of the entire kit. From a pure listening perspective, drums will sound quite a bit different from out in front or off to the side of the kit than they will from the drummers' perspective. If you've ever been in a room where someone is playing drums versus switching positions and playing them yourself you already know this.

I'm not sure if there are very many people that generally listen to a kit hanging from the ceiling over the drums. This isn't to say that it's wrong to put mics there, but it's important to consider experimenting with different capture techniques and try to come up with something that sounds good regardless of whether or not it conforms to x/y this or recorderman that. If you have a good, well tuned drum kit with good sounding drum heads on it in a decent room you might be surprised at what kind of results you can get from a single well placed microphone. I tend to like the sound from in front somewhere, but the decision to place mics should be based on the sound you get vs. the sound you want.

Then you move the mics until you get what you want.

Once you go beyond one mic (on anything) then odds become great that the low end is going to become shot due to phase cancellation between the mics. The most effective way to deal with it is to listen for it from the monitors in the control room or after you've done a test print.

Then you move the mics until you get what you want.

Hitting the drums with due authority for the situation can be a big help. Not bashing the living crap out of the cymbals can also be a big help. This includes the hihat.
 
Bangin' the drum....

Wow, it seems to be drums week or something, after relatively little activity after Offcentre's summer outburst. Suddenly, everywhere you look, threads about drums, real ones, sampled ones, miked ones, panned ones........
 
I just used the Glyn Johns method on a band that was in my studio a couple days ago, and I was honestly shocked at how good it sounded (they were too!) Thanks a ton for the recommendation, it really helped me out a lot. I'm also happy to pay tribute to the Clash in my own small way :D
 
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