Drum Mic Separation

  • Thread starter Thread starter dturcotte
  • Start date Start date
dturcotte

dturcotte

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Hello all,

I was just wondering how you guys place your mics for good separation? I pretty much mic everything. I use Sennheiser for all toms and Bass drum, SM57 for snare and hat, and cheap Nady condensor for the overheads. I would like to place them right to try and get good separation. I get some hat bleed into the overheads. Some snare bleed into my 10" tom, etc...

Thanks in advance for your replies
 
The overheads are made to pick up everything, so your not really getting 'bleed' from anything. Infact, you probably dont even have to mic the hihat, but that doesnt mean that you shouldnt. Try to use the cardiod pattern as best as you can, move the mics around until they both sound good, and dont have too much bleed.
 
Think of a drumkit as a unit and accept bleed as a natural occurrence. Even if you gate every mic, you're still going to have bleed. Gating will help, but it can also sound very unnatural if not done carefully. The overheads are supposed to give an overall image of the kit, so I would never gate them. How are you positioning your overheads now? I like an XY right over the bass drum for a tight image, or a spaced pair for a wider image. There are some good tutorials here and here.
 
Right now I am setting the overheads spaced but maybe the XY would help. I wasn't even considering gating really anything on the kit. I do like that the overhaeds pick up some anyways cause it gives it a little better feel and fullness. I will try playing with the mic placement a little and see if I can get a little more separation.

Thanks for your help.
 
I would recommend not using a dynamic mic ( sm57) on your hi hat .

They don't work real well on cymbals . Let the overheads pick them up unless you have another condenser to use on the hats .

Cymbals need to " breath '" and sound better if captured from a few feet away , IMO .
 
If you're going to gate, do it during mixdown, not tracking. Gates will stay closed if you don't hit the threshold, and you'll record nothing.
 
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