3 Mics on Drum Kit Test.

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VOXVENDOR

VOXVENDOR

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Gidge mentioned the "Three Mic, Drum recording technique", the other day....
I didn't do a search, so Im not sure of the exact techinique he was talking about..., but nevertheless the idea of it made me want to do a few tests..

And,, I just happen to be moving into the new studio/ Band rehearsal space which is in the loft of an industrial bulding..... 15 foot ceiling and huge room, yet it is totally acoustically dead....

This was a nice way to have fun and break in the recording space and see how it sounds..

I'm waiting on my MXL 603's... to come,, so for this I used a AT 4033 about 5 feet above the kit, straight stand in front of the bass drum, and a Yorkville Apex 125 On the bass drum, and a SM 57 on the top of the snare.....

I'm pretty happy....But I think the toms could use some work..... maybe I have to get that overhead down lower and closer to them... but then I might get much more bleed from the snare in there... so it's sort of tough....

I would love to close mic them, but then it wouldn't be a "3 Mic Technique":D

So, if you have any Ideas about enhancing the toms.. please tell..

The song was thrown together just for the purpose of this test..... Just bits of un-recorded Voxvendor-Songs I put together.

Drums are totaly live..... No pastes or seperate tracking. Except for I grabbed the tom hits and pasted them on another track and eqed (without much luck) them a bit differently from the original OH track....


I play Tama Rockstar, Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute Snare, Sabian B8 Brass. Evans Heads..... Incase anyone was wondering what I had to work with, Drum Wise.......

Not the best kit, but decent enough.

Enjoy... And please if you have any advice on how to better the toms... speak up... I need help with them!!!!!

Joe

"DRUM TEST"
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/rockpop/voxvendor/singles
 
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Ignore the drum machine thing at the beginning... It was only supposed to be a rough test and I started getting a bit overzealous in adding stuff.. LOL
 
C'mon..? Is that really three mics? Sounds great to me. Really cool for a quick mock up.
 
thats awesome already...if you throw those 603's up overhead it will be incredible.......


or maybe you are a lying sack of shit and this wasnt 3 mics?....ill bet you a Taco Bell dinner it isnt......
 
LOL....

I swear on my kids life...... 3 mics.......... Even Chris Tondreau was there and saw it all.....

But, don't take my word for it........You can hear it.... The OH is mono..... and theres the Snare and then The Bass Drum Mic and the OH is picking up the toms....

But you can buy me taco bell anyways.

Joe
 
Let me clarify the toms a bit.....

Maybe it;s the "panned" toms that are making me look like a fibber..

The reason some of the toms might sound "stereo" is cause I cut them from the original OH track and put them on a seperate track so I could eq them and pan them...

For instance in the intro there is a tom hit in one spot... I cut that out of the OH track and put it on it's own track and panned it....

It's a cool way to make it sound a bit stereo, with only 1 overhead... But Like I said... I still don't like the boxy sound the Toms have....
 
The drums sounded cool... was weird hearing the ride/crash in the center... the snare sounded a bit brite for my tastes... otherwise, good stuff.

Gidge said:
maybe you are a lying sack of shit and this wasnt 3 mics?....ill bet you a Taco Bell dinner it isnt......
Click to expand...

:D "Everytime you lie, you will lose a friend" :D

All your stuff on NWR is sweet, Joe. Use the Waves S1 stereo spatializer much? You must have great rooms, signal paths, and luck :)


Chad
 
Hey Vox,
I would call that 3 mic technique a success. Sounds pretty damn good to me. I agree w/ chadly re: the cymbal panning... but generally speaking, the kit dont sound too bad. .....Live drums are damn refreshing after hours of trying to milk feel out of my steenking drum machine :(

......a nice economical drum mix:)


g
 
Not too bad at all. The times I've fooled with this technique I've had the overhead much lower than 5'. I put the mic stand behind the drummer and the mic was centered over the snare about the length of three drum sticks and it did a better job on the toms but the cymbals could cause sterility in young adults. I went from a 4033 to an Octava 319 which is darker mic to try and tame the cymbals. Just as a matter of taste though, I still like the tight mics on the toms to sweeten the overheads. What can I say. I'm a child of the 70's when they used to use 14 mics on a kit.:D
 
I think that sounded pretty damn good. I may just have to switch out the AKG D790 I've been using on the snare for the SM57 to see if that works any better. It seems to sound pretty good on your test.

Song reminded me of an old Replacements tune.:eek:
 
Geez.... Been trying to reply to this all morning.

Just getting a "Page Not found" page :(

Thanks everyone who replied so for..... Yeah Definately the 603's will be much better than the 4033......

Get them cymbals going stereo...


I think 2-4033's would be the optimum, but I don't want to shell out the cash for another one to make a pair



Rats which Replacements tune???
 
I want 15 foot ceilings! I want acoustically dead space! I want your drum kit! And I want you playing the drums! It sounds great!
 
Hey man, that sound really sweet for just 3 mics. The toms sound fine for the song. I REALLY like the cymbal sound you got going. Especially that ride. The only thing that I can think of about doing with the toms is what you already did. Just eq the shit out of em. Eq it like you would a kick. Give it a little bass, take out as much low mid as you can, and raise some hi's. I think you're just be a paranoid drummer like the rest of us. Cool tho... later..

Donnie
 
Thanks Man........

I actually retried the whole thing and hit the toms about twice as hard and the sound worked itself out.

Thanks for the tips.. I Wonder how the cymbals will sound with my MXL603's...... I'm supposed to be receiving them today... so I will most likely do some experimenting tonight.

I wish I could get another 4033 so would have a pair.. but they are $475 up here, and I can think of a million other things to spend my $475 on, so the 603's will have to do...

Joe
 
Those drums sounded really good, punchy as hell with that sm57 on the snare. I can only speak for live micing on the drums, but overheading about 15 " above the toms and just enough back so the drummer don`t get caught up in the mic worked really well doing the 3 mic techn'q and the cymbals were in there but not really too harsh. The sm57 and 58's do a nice job on live drums, they sound meaty, even though economical.
 
i think the drums sound awesome........very nice..........not a bad sounding song either

i also like the little production trick with the drums hard left at first.......it reminded me of 'heavy metal drummer' by wilco.........
 
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