Does anyone know how to get good drum sound from crappy microphones

K

King_Steve

New member
I know that you shouldnt use RS mikes for stuff but i have a tone of em. Can anyone tell me some tricks to get a good or decent drum sound from these things? I have but one actual good mike so anything would be appreciated. Also , if it helps , I go all digital. Thanks all
 
Make sure the drums are tuned well, record in a good room. Thats all I can say.

Radio Shack has taken another victim. :(
 
Sorry to have to say this! Trash em. Better
yet, see if you can sell to some other unsuspecting joe! I gave one to my daughter
for her 6 year-old birthday for her karaoke
machine and it still sounds horrible!
 
Stick them all into a large styrofoam ball pointing outwards in different directions. Pour on charcoal lighter, lite it and throw. You have your own shooting star. Sorry but you can't give those RS mics away at a yard sale.
 
King,

I agree with CJ on this - get the drums sounding as good as possible in the room you have and run with it.

I think the goal here is to use strengths of the mics you have to achieve the best outcome. For example, if you have a mic that has an extended high-frequency response, I would try it on the hi-hat or as an overhead to pick up more of the "sizzle" of the cymbals. If a mic has a so-so sound but can handle a lot of sound pressure without distortion, you may want to try it on the snare of kick since these are very dynamic (loud!) sources and many mics fail to capture the sound without crapping out with distortion. Bottom line is to use the mic that is best suited for the job.

Let me know what types and models you have and maybe we can work out which ones would work best.

sb
 
What's your one good mic? I'd say try to pick up as much of the kit as you can with that and then use the RS mics to fill in the sound. But good drum sounds can definitely be had with just one mic, a friend of mine does it all the time. You just have to spend some time placing the mic. It helps if you have some of the other instuments on tape so you can see how the drums are balanced in terms of the whole mix. If you're listening to the drums themselves, the kick can seem awfully loud, but as soon as you put bass, guitar, keys, etc it can disappear. And the other guys are right, well tuned drums in a good room (played well!) will sound OK no matter what you record 'em with.
 
Thanks Y'all. I definitley need some actual drum mikes but due to all the stuff i have bought recently i cant afford them.I guess I will have to stick to my electronic pads and digital alteration of the acoustic drum tracks. I like the idea of burning the RS mikes though. They totally cant translate my energy. If anyone knows where I can get good drum mikes for a good price let me know. Thanks again
 
Here's an idea--tape the mics to the tips of your drumsticks. That could be the start of a whole new recording technique...
 
I you are operating on a tight budget and want to upgrade your mikes (N-E other brand other than Radio Whack is an upgrade),why not
purchase some Shure BG1.1's or BG2.1's. They
go for about $40 and $50.00 respectively, These mikes are pretty decent and with enough
tweaking,you can probably find the right amount of color to suit your drumming needs.
Good luck!
 
steve, check out some of what steve albini has written on using "particularly bad mics in bad positions" for stereo miking.
also, for drums try experimenting with some heavy compression.
those mics may turn out to sound great.
i agree with the others- tune the drums and put them in a good room, especially when using alot of compression.
also remember, that click track can polish a recording more than any mic if you're patient.
 
Although I haven't had the misfortune to have lots of Radio Shack mic's... I do have experience with P.O.S. equipment.

My first home recorder was a Vestax el-cheapo 4 track unit that was horrible.. horrible. It came with a mic that was... well.. i guess it would be called horrible too. It was a 58-style microphone. I used that one mic for everything though.
I also have used broken headphones to record drums, and although I wont be doing it again, it was interesting.

Well, anyway, basically, I just duct-taped the mic to the ceiling above the drums and got a pretty darned good sound from that. Previously I used to wrap the mic around my neck with the mic resting on my chest, but i found that a) hanging the mic above the drums sounded better and b) its plenty more comfortable than wearing your mic!

Good luck!

Joseph M

Jason and the Argonauts
[email}j-a-t-a@home.com[/email]
 
If you have any of the RS PZM mics, thorw a fresh AA battery in, and use it as a room mic. It you have two PZMs, do it in stereo!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top