cheapest way to record drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Singtall
  • Start date Start date
Hey guys, I've been watching this thread for a while and someone a while back brought up genre (style) and I think that may play the biggest part in all of this (OK, maybe not the biggest, but certainly important). So with that in mind, and on the subject of two-mic'ing a drum kit, I have this song I am working on that I figured I'd toss it into the discussion.

It's relevant because, well for genre/style: I was going for a 1950s/60s sound for the drums to match the 1950s/60s sound of the song. So I decided to go MONO. And it's home recording indie rock, so it doesn't need to sound like Nickelback (ooof, can you imagine trying to sound like Nickelback?).

To answer the mail on "cheap," well this uses two mics (cheap mics at that - an AT2020 out front and a PRO 37 on top) into a <$100 PreSonus Audiobox USB. So long and short, if I were to have used the StudioOne Free version, this recording would run me in the neighborhood of $300. Wouldn't have to be MONO either, if you wanted to do weird panning, although panning a top mic and a front mic might sound awkward.

Anyway, I figured an example might help the OP and keep the conversation moving. Never mind the rough mix and muted vox.

https://soundcloud.com/gregorygmixes/two-mic-mono-drums
 
Sounds pretty excellent! But I couldn't hear the muted vocals???? :D
The first of the lead section doesn't sound very 50's. But for a rough mix, it's fairly impressive. And focusing on what the post is about, I'd like to say the drums sound pretty darned good for 2 mikes.
 
Here's what I do when I record my drums. I only have one mic to use (because my band and I are very broke), so I was forced to get very crafty. What I do is many different takes of the track (all to a click track.) I start off with a reference track where I am playing the whole kit. I then mic the kick, and play the track over only playing the kick part. Then snare, tom, cymbals, etc. I then run it through Drumagog (because the mic doesn't sound incredible) and it triggers perfectly! Yes, it is a tedious process; but if you are very solid on your drum part (and you can play with a click) then you will be fine! Hope I helped a little, I'm new here!

James Wilson
 
BroKen_H said:
Sounds pretty excellent! But I couldn't hear the muted vocals???? :D
The first of the lead section doesn't sound very 50's. But for a rough mix, it's fairly impressive. And focusing on what the post is about, I'd like to say the drums sound pretty darned good for 2 mikes.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Yeah, kinda veered off that 50s path at some point and the song became more "inspired by" than anything. I'll make sure to crank those muted vox up next mixdown! :laughings:
 
i knew that there where some crafty engineers in here. i like the drum sound you got, especially for that song, very appropriate.
 
How far do you have to push the fader to get a muted voice to sound really good...
Sometimes I think mine would sound better muted! :D
 
BroKen_H said:
How far do you have to push the fader to get a muted voice to sound really good...
Sometimes I think mine would sound better muted! :D
Click to expand...


It's really the only way to go with mine. I have it saved as a preset. I thought about just not tracking vox, but they just sound soooo much better muted! :)
 
First, take off the heads, clean off all that dusty goop from the bearing edge with a barely damp rag. Then put the heads back on and tune the drums. Look online for tutorials. Use a small diaphragm condenser mic for an overhead, and a low frequency bass drum mic like the Shure beta 52 for the bass drum. Put them on separate tracks, play, then listen to each track back. (do not eq) Move the mics until you get the sound your want. I suggest putting the overhead above your head out of your way in the center pointed at the snare. The ass drum mic should be either as close to the front head as you can without touching or shoved into the hole in the head. (you might consider a drum port for the bass drum front head.) Keep working with it until the tuning, the mic placement and the result work well. Good Luck.
Rod Norman
Engineer

Singtall said:
i have a small shed that i turned into a studio and i want to record my drum kit. i am looking for the cheapest way to get it done decently. i tried triggers but was quickly frustrated with triggers falling off, false triggering, no triggering and don't get me started on triggering cymbals. so that's out of the question. i may play with kick or snare triggering, but never cymbals.

i have a presonus firepod, and i was thinking about getting some CAD Pro series drum mics.....and yeah, i know that you get what you pay for, but i actually heard a recording done by a professional that made those mics sound great, so it is possible (although it could be a lot of work). my kit is really big and would require at least 10 mics to mic it the way i want to (direct plus stereo overheads). i could get another firepod and simply record all drums into the pc, then spend time on each channel with eq, compression and etc to make them sound good. the problem will be monitoring that mess. if i add a couple other musicians to record at the same time, i don't know that i could make a headphone mix from the raw mics to be worth listening to.

the other option might be to get a digital mixer like the presonus studiolive 16.0.2 or 16.4.2 and that way i could record multitrack with eq/compression/gate direct to pc if i wanted to, plus generate a decent headphone mix(s).

budget for the first option would be somewhere around $300-400 for the mics, maybe $150 for a used firepod.

second option might be $800-1000 for a used mixer, plus $300-400 for the mics.

i have a bunch of expenses (4 kids) coming up, so i hate to dump a lot of money into something that won't be making money (just a hobby). any ideas would be welcome, especially if some one could tell me how to make a decent headphone mix with the first option. if there are more options, please chime in. thanks guys.
Click to expand...
 
i got new heads tuned up perfectly. new drum set, so no goop on bearing edges.

i bought two sets of Audio Technica mics to mic both kicks, snare, 5 toms, and 2 overheads. maybe overkill, but i wanted options.

i also got a presonus studiolive 16.4.2 mixer to record multitrack to DAW. i just replaced all faders on the mixer, so it's dead quiet and in perfect shape.

having issues with a whining noise now. it seems my new superfast pc is noisy as hell. i'm working on isolating the source and getting my signal path clean right now.
 
Rod Norman said:
First, take off the heads, clean off all that dusty goop from the bearing edge with a barely damp rag. Then put the heads back on and tune the drums. Look online for tutorials. Use a small diaphragm condenser mic for an overhead, and a low frequency bass drum mic like the Shure beta 52 for the bass drum. Put them on separate tracks, play, then listen to each track back. (do not eq) Move the mics until you get the sound your want. I suggest putting the overhead above your head out of your way in the center pointed at the snare. The ass drum mic should be either as close to the front head as you can without touching or shoved into the hole in the head. (you might consider a drum port for the bass drum front head.) Keep working with it until the tuning, the mic placement and the result work well. Good Luck.
Rod Norman
Engineer
Click to expand...

'ass drum' is the key point! :)
 
i was gonna comment on the old ass drum mic, but i figured that he might take me the wrong way since i'm new hear and all.
 
Do you prefer the D112 or the original D12 on your ass drum?

Alan.
 
i like the AKG D12E on just about any ass drum that you want to hear a lot of click on. it was THE mic we used in the 80's.
 
i FINALLY got a chance to try out the Audio Technica mics for my drum kit today and i am beyond pleased! yeah, i'm gonna post some clips. i was really surprised by how well the mics sounded without any compression or eq.
 
i just recently mic'd up my cheap drumset with some cheap audio technica mics and i'm attempting to get a tone worthy of recording. the drums have some basic eq and compression on the kit. the mix itself has too much compression though.

this is clip is to document where i am with the drum tone as of today (day 1).

any feedback is welcome.

https://soundcloud.com/singtall/fall-away-drum-test

mics: MB/Dk6 Drum-Microphone Pack || Audio-Technica US

drumset: Pulse 4000 Series 8-Piece Double Bass Drum Shell Pack | Musician's Friend
pic: http://soundpercussiondrums.com/images_prod/SP8P_RDWN_Chr.jpg

cymbals: Zildjian ZBT Pro Cymbal Pack with Free 14" ZBT Crash | Musician's Friend
 
i'm fairly rooted in the 80's, so my drum sounds kinda sound that way too. lol.

on the clip i just used a little eq/gate/compression on each drum, so i have room for much more if need be.

my first goal was to capture the natural sound of my drums. from there i can mangle the tone until it works for what i want to sound like. right now, i'm not sure what i want the drums to sound like. the big reverb is definitely an 80's throwback sound for sure.
 
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