3 mics and a tiny mixer for drums?

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DrJosh

DrJosh

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I'm thinking of getting a minimalist setup for tracking drums: 2 OH condensers, a dynamic kick mic, and that little vlz3 mixer with two mic pres.

What are the pros and cons of using an XLR to TRS cable for the dynamic mic and running it into a balanced/unbalanced line in jack on the mixer?
 
DrJosh said:
I'm thinking of getting a minimalist setup for tracking drums: 2 OH condensers, a dynamic kick mic, and that little vlz3 mixer with two mic pres.

What are the pros and cons of using an XLR to TRS cable for the dynamic mic and running it into a balanced/unbalanced line in jack on the mixer?
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Does the vlz3 have phantom power? You also wont have a preamp for your dynamic, which is necessary to bring up the signal to line-level.

I think this setup will be good if you'v got a nice big room to record in. It will be a really natural sound, with a lot of the room. You might be better getting a 4 channel interface and have a 4 mic setup though.
 
Thanks for your post. The vlz3 has phantom power for its XLR ins. Until just now I thought preamps provided phantom power, now I realize the preamp amplifies the input signal. Makes a lot more sense now. Thanks for that! Indeed it's starting to look like a 4-channel interface is the way to go...

BTW, my room is tiny - 8x7.5x13ft =(
 
DrJosh said:
Thanks for your post. The vlz3 has phantom power for its XLR ins. Until just now I thought preamps provided phantom power, now I realize the preamp amplifies the input signal. Makes a lot more sense now. Thanks for that! Indeed it's starting to look like a 4-channel interface is the way to go...

BTW, my room is tiny - 8x7.5x13ft =(
Click to expand...
Mine is even smaller.

I'd suggest acoustic treatment (you can read about itn the studio building & display forum, and here) and at least 4 mics.

I like to have a large dynamic on kick, an LDC(large diaphragm condenser) on snare (although most people use an SM57), and 2 SDCs (small diaphragm condensers) for overheads.
 
Using a minimum amount of mics does make much of the recorded sound very dependent on the room - so you have to have confidence in your room sound......or spend some time and money on room treatment.

Normally when using overheads (or "area mics") - the approach is to capture the majority of the sound with those mics and then simply dial in a little more of what you need with close mics. As a general rule, the two sounds that may need to be dialed in are the snare and the kick (the most important drums for the groove/backbeat). This can capture a great drum sound.....but if the room has a lot of nasty sound reflections, etc. - it can also make capturing a good sound very difficult.

I would suggest a 4 mic set up - using 2 SD condensors for overheads with a close mic on the snare and the kick (I still prefer dynamic mics for snare and kick - but some people do use condensor mics for snare & kick - there are no right or wrong applications....whatever works) - this then allows you to dial in the kick and snare as needed.

Regarding a small mixer.......limiting yourself to only two XLR inputs may not be the best choice. If you go with a 3 or 4 mic method.....it is best to have XLR input rather than using converters to go from XLR to 1/4" (every extra connector/converter is one more potential source of trouble/noise).

There are so many low cost mixers (you can find used Mackie 1604's for $100 and the Spirit Folio Notepad mixer have for XLR inputs and it can almost fit in the palm of the hand). As indicated, make sure you know if the mixer provides phantom power for the XLR inputs (most mixers do).
 
Or if you like the room sound you can also just put one Large Diaphragm condenser mic up and get the whole kit. But you will have to experiment with placement and the sound can depend on your Genre of music a bit too.

I do know in the past that people like Trent Reznor and Lenny Kravitz Have done this to get a huge sound out of a minimal setup(Trent in particular use to use a PZM mic stuck to a wall in front of the kit. Did this a bunch on "The Downward Spiral" and "The Fragile" albums....).

Just a thought otherwise go for a three or four mic setup and if you need another Pre Musicians friend has Tube MP's for $30.

Cheers.:D
 
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