bets website for drum set up or ideas

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buryher17

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ok, im happy with my drum sound but i definately feel it could be better. Ive read a combination of about... 200 pages on setting up drum mics and i've trie da bunch of different things but i still think it could be a lot better.

here's what i have if you have any idea's


Audix D6 kick mic [kick]
Samson 5 peice drum mic kit [4 tom/1kick] [toms only]
2 at 2020 condensors [overhangs]
1 at2021 condensor [hihat... only cause i dont have another dynamic]
sm 57 [snare]

and it all runs into a tascam fw1082 through sonar 6 pro.



does anyone have sugestions? or a website for good way to set it all up or compression idea,s or wahetever




other equipment i have to work with.....
bbe 362 sound maximizer
alesis 3630 compressor
art 15 band eq
alesis midverb 3
sennheiser e609 mic
3 basic shitty dynamic mics
studio projects vtb1 pre
 
You REALLY need a great sounding kit (properly/professionally tuned) and a great sounding room. With those two things, you should be able to get great drum tracks.

I know that is oversimplifying... but really, the room and the sound of the drums are the most important thing. If you can't improve those two things, then sadly there really is no way to improve the quality of your drum sound.

I hope this helps!
 
songwritten said:
You REALLY need a great sounding kit (properly/professionally tuned) and a great sounding room. With those two things, you should be able to get great drum tracks.

I know that is oversimplifying... but really, the room and the sound of the drums are the most important thing. If you can't improve those two things, then sadly there really is no way to improve the quality of your drum sound.

I hope this helps!
Click to expand...


yea my room isnt too bad actually. its a 14x15 ' room. and its carpeted, veyr little amount of stuff in it except the vocal booth made of mdf wood. but no real acoustics up :-\ just the moving blanket si set up as a barrier alomst around the set in the right position.

and yea, the set i know definately makes a big difference. its unfortunate a bunch of the bands that come in here dont understand that... and dont know hwo to even tune them lol.
 
what kind of sound are you going for? what kind of music will it go with? what drummers do you want to emulate?

i hate the close-miking with lots of mics and gates

the best sounds i ever got were with a single large condenser about 4 feet off the floor and 3 feet in front of the kit

you dont listen to drumset playing with your ears 1/4" off the drumheads. why would anybody think that thats where the best sound is?

close miking with gates isnt done for the best sound its done for the best mixing flexibility later. less bleed and every drum and cymbal gets at least one mic and then room mics and all that. you can turn each drum and cymbal up and down in the mix.

with a single condenser the whole kit sounded more natural like you were in the room with it. less proximity effect means you need less EQ to make it sound good. the drum tracks sat in my mixes better.

the sound i got sounded more like the drum sounds on my favorite recordings - beatles stones zeppelin hendrix etc
 
the best advice i ever heard about drum tuning came from the drum guy at ace music. i used to go there to buy stuff and the drum guy would every once in a while sit down at one of his kits and do a little riff and i would just about die from how good all the kits sounded.

i asked him how he went about tuning his drums and he said "i just twist em up til they sound good"

i used to get the drums where i liked them then i would make my keyboard play a tune in whatever key i wanted and i would turn one lug up or down a little and it was amazing how fast i could find a sweet spot.
 
Go to your news stand and get the July issue of Recording magazine - great article on salvaging/tuning drums.

Also, carpet??!? moving blankets? Lemme guess, your drum sound (among other things) is dull and boxy sounding.

Carpet and moving blankets will ONLY absorb highs and high mids - this leaves the sound bottom-heavy with no life to speak of, even if everything ELSE is OK.

If moving blankets is all you have, at least move them AWAY from the kit and hang them about 6" off the walls. Also try setting your kit up on a couple sheets of MDF or plywood (short term) and if it's better, consider removing the carpet (mites and things LOVE to live in carpet if you leave it under the plywood)

Best would be to get some 2" or 3" rockwool or 703 and hang it a few inches off the ceiling over the kit so your overheads don't suffer from phasing problems, and more of the same across all your room corners.

There's a lot more to this, but the above should be the first thing you do... Steve
 
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