Brainstorming session for drum overhead positioning:

  • Thread starter Thread starter chessrock
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Chess,

I am leary of placing the mics by those type of drummers heads. They hit cymbals hard because thats what sounds good to them. Hearing loss you know. Thats why I said XY where YOU think the kit sounds balanced. An angle greater than 90 (I meant greater eariler too) will keep the stereo image slightly narrower but you'll get less on axis cymbals. Who wants a super wide kit anyway?

With drummers that can't control their dynamics well I found that the less I ask of them, while quietly finding my own fixes, is best. If I give them any more to worry about they play unbalanced AND poorly timed.

Kirk
 
One More

I read of a similar micing scheme in another forum (Ibelieve) where the studio was having great results putting the 2 "Overheads" just behind the drummer about 30-34 inches off the floor outside of elbow reach slightly towed inward. It supposedly gave a beefier tom sound(acoustic coupling of reflected floor sound) with less cymbol volume.

I personally use a Beta 52 on kick a Studio Projects B-3 on snare in cardiod mode about 3-4 inches off the shell with the diaphragm just peeking barely over the rim and get the majority of my sound this way. I have added 2 Cad E-100s with the same placement as the snare but on the toms just to bleed maybe 20% of that into the mix to give a balanced tom sound. Some times when I need more low end off the toms I place a couple pieces of 3/8 plywood (4ft square) on end in front of the toms leaning slightly upward (leaning against some chair backs) until I can hear some of the refected sound in my face (sitting as drummer)so that it feeds my tom mics with a little warmer sound. It actually makes for a pretty simple (but ugly) set-up.
I also use small drum sizes (18-20" kick / 8,10,12,13 toms / 13" wood snare) and the lightest crashes I can find (also a 13"zildjian A mastersound hi-hat)

I like it!
 
Well, this is a kind of expensive idea, but I will through it out there. I always liked using a single Neumann M50 (or TLM 50 or M150) for an overhead mic. It works wonders. The design of the capsule (a small diaphragm capsule set in a sphere) creates a pattern which is very omnidirectional at lower frequencies, but extremely directional at high frequencies. I would put this just above and just in front of the drummers head. The pattern of the mic would naturally attenuate the cymbals.

It works for me. I frequently would end up using no other drum mics, or add only a kick mic. Unfortunately, all of the mics which have this style of capsule are VERY expensive. You can also get spheres to modify DPA and Schopes omnis, but they do not work as well as the Neumann’s (to my ear), and again those are expensive mics.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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