Drum Recording Questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter drumrguy
  • Start date Start date
D

drumrguy

New member
Okay, im new to the forum and have a few questions.
IM doing some home recording, and have a korg d1200 recorder, and PA head, which i use as a mixer sometimes if i need that many tracks. For my drum recording i use 2 samson condenser mic's over head, and an SM 57 on the snare, and SM 58 or EV 500(i think) for the bass drum.
oh yeah also, im recording in a room that is about 12X18 have padding up on the walls. Am concidering building a drum booth but dont have the resources right now to fund that.

Anyways, back to the question:
First question: with the mics i have mentioned, can there be any better placement?of them, or would i be better off only using one of those condensers over head, and use one for something else.

2. When i listen back on the play back the 2 condensers pick up the bass drum, alot, and produce a bad recording, is there anything i can do to limit the amount of bass that is bled into the microphone

3. Any one who wants to help me in any way, i am very appreciative, im getting into this recording stuff, and im having a hard time figuring drum recording.




Final THought?
Does the room i am recording in need to be padded up all over the whole thing? And Will recording in room with a whole lot of natural bounce from the walls produce a bad recording? (as far as drums go)
 
If you're using a mixer, you can cut the low frequencies on your overheads while tracking. If your Korg has parametric eq you can further cut anything below 100Hz on the overheads.

I wouldn't go crazy padding your room or you'll suck the life out of the drum sound. Sometimes just a rug and a few strategically placed cushions or bookshelves will give you enough damping
 
u wanna put 1 condensor on top of the snare and high hat. and it should be up really high about 2 1/2 to 3 feet on top of the snare it wont sound bad. my church those that and the condensor picks up the bass drum at the right sound volume and it sounds awesome.
 
I think successful drum micing on a budget depends on many factors:

• How much channel bleed your mixer/PA head has
• Room physics
• How many and what type of mics at your disposal
• Cross micing or phasing
• Type/volume of drums/cymbals being used
• Playing technique

Sometimes it's not about how much padding you can stick on the walls as it is in other less obvious details.

For instance, are you using heavy, loud cymbals that you would normally gig on instead of thinner, lighter cymbals that might record better in a close situation when mixed with the kit? Do you have any mics that might be facing each other (check your kick and snare!) that might be phasing each other out? How hard or soft do you play and should you adjust?

I would also suggest getting a dedicated mixer when you get a chance because most PA mixers aren't very good for recording. You can score a pretty decent deal on a Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro on Ebay for a little over $300...

Good luck!
 
Omai. That sounds AMAZING BBS :( Are the Toms really necessary to mic?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top