a solution involving overhead mics and a crappy room

[Nick The Man]

.. well here's the story, my room does not sound good at all and it does not do my kit justice when it comes to recording, my toms were never clear and present and my snare was very boxy .. cymbals were OK but not crisp .. so finally i decided to just lower the overhead mics real low .. they are cymbal height now. I couldnt believe the difference it made .. the toms are defined now the cymbals are all crisp sounding, the snare is better but still not perfect .. but i thought id share this with all of you just incase someone else is having a similar problem


even if not give it a try .. cant hurt

 

[Elton Bear]

Hmm, are the rest of the drums close mic'd? Do you have any audio clips you can put up? I'm about to face the same problem as you were having...

 

[Nick The Man]

My mic set up is:

Snare Bottom: Shure SM-57
Kick: Audix D6
Overheads: Rode NT5 Matched Pair

and then i placed a MXL V63M in between the 2 rack toms


ill try to get some clips up but im having some problem converting to mp3's

 

[Elton Bear]

That config is a new one on me... Snare bottom without top?? Be v. interested to hear the results of that one...

 

[Nick The Man]

That config is a new one on me... Snare bottom without top?? Be v. interested to hear the results of that one...

lol yeah i know the real reason for no top mic is because im short one standbut aaaaa it sounds ok

i really like the D6 it sounds good

 

[MadAudio]

Nick, you indeed are the man. When working with less than ideal environments, it's all about positioning. And that's not just my opinion. An old friend of the family (who also happens to be a Grammy-nominated engineer) was over at my house recently and I was showing him my studio and mic collection, etc. At one point he said to me, "You know the longer I do this, the more I'm convinced that placement is crucial. Even with cheap mics you can still get a great sound if you take the time to find those sweet spots." Granted, being both engineer and drummer makes it a lot harder to do that, but I'm impressed you took the initiative to try something different.

 

[Nick The Man]

thanks MAD, im also a drummer and ... engineer .. well i want to be. but yeah ive been recording drums in the same room for a while now and i never just thought to lower them, beacause its kinda unheard of. but it fixedat least 3 of my problems with drum recordings. your friend was right .. ya just gotta find the sweet spot. and thanks for the compliments im very flattered

 

[dgatwood]

That config is a new one on me... Snare bottom without top?? Be v. interested to hear the results of that one...

I've always miked the bottom of the snare without a top mic. I mike it with a cardioid mic (AKG D190E) at an angle. The position and direction gives more emphasis to the snare crack and less to the tone of the air space between the heads.

Then again, I also mic my toms from the bottom, but they're very forgiving. The snare was the one that took a while to get it to sound good (had to use a different mic).

 

[Nick The Man]

I've always miked the bottom of the snare without a top mic. I mike it with a cardioid mic (AKG D190E) at an angle. The position and direction gives more emphasis to the snare crack and less to the tone of the air space between the heads.

Then again, I also mic my toms from the bottom, but they're very forgiving. The snare was the one that took a while to get it to sound good (had to use a different mic).

very cool (10 char)