Drum recording test sample

S

solo169

New member
OK, here is my first sample of recorded acoustic drums. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Please don't be too critical of the playing as I am not the drummer. I just played on here for the test.
Equipment used:
OH's - JM27 (one over the snare pointed down, one over my right shoulder pointed at the snare... equal distance)

Kick - Shure Beta52 (slightly off center, pointed toward the beater about 4" away) front head removed with a blanket pressed against the head

Snare - SM57 (about 2" above and at the 10:00 position)

All into a Firepod, into Cubase.

I compressed the kick and snare with an Alessis 3630 compressor (UGH! I know) during tracking.

Then compressed again during mix down.
The room is a rectangle shape 14x16, drums are on a 8" carpeted riser, I have some office partition material on the walls for dampening.
I'm not real happy with the drum sound, it seems very "loose" for lack of a better term. When I add guitars and bass it seems worse. This is the first time I've ever recorded acoustic drums, usually we have recorded with Roland V-drums and I don't have to worry about all of this.
I really would like to figure this out though. Thanks in advance.



If anyone is interested here is a complete song recorded with the V-drums and a Yamaha MD-8
 
The snare and kick, inparticular sound very boxy. How have you EQ'd the kick? Usually usual cuts in the 200Hz - 400Hz area get rid of that real "boxy" sound.

Maybe have a look here for some tips. It may help.

P.S I downloaded the other song with the V-Drums, the drums sound really nice. :)
 
solo169 said:
Thanks for the info. What exactly do you mean by cuts in the 200Hz - 400Hz area? Thanks again.
Click to expand...

When you are EQingn, you are "cutting" or "boosting" frequencies

These links might help
1
2
3
:)
 
You should also compress the kicks to get the dynamics a little more even. It really doesn't sound bad but the final sound of everything will depend on the rest of the instruments around it.
 
Having the Beta 52 4" from the beater (I'm pretty sure thats what your implying) is too close. If you back it off a bit, the kick will sound fuller. Should be at least 6-8 inches away.

How high are the overheads? Might wanna bring them down a touch. I hear a lot of the room.
 
i have the beta 52 and the way i get my kick sound is with tons of compression and eq without those my kick sounds like crap
 
The overheads are about 42" away. The only problem with bringing them in closer is the drummer hitting the mic, it never fails.
Do you the overheads sound somewhat decent? Position aside, I feel like I should buy something a little better. I picked these up from an Ebay store for new dirt cheap. I think I paid $140 for both. The problem I don't have anything to compare them to. The cymbals don't seem to be "bright" enough.
 
solo169 said:
The overheads are about 42" away. The only problem with bringing them in closer is the drummer hitting the mic, it never fails.
Do you the overheads sound somewhat decent? Position aside, I feel like I should buy something a little better. I picked these up from an Ebay store for new dirt cheap. I think I paid $140 for both. The problem I don't have anything to compare them to. The cymbals don't seem to be "bright" enough.
Click to expand...

Have you tried miking the O/H, with the XY technique, out infront of the whole kit, That should prevent the drummer from hitting the mics, instead of the mics being above the kit.

Good O/H mics are; Studio Projects C4, Marshall MXL603, Beyer M260 i've also heard good things from the Behringer ECM8000s.
 
I haven't tried in front of the kit. I tried the XY technique above and slightly behind the kit but I seem to get a better overall sound with the technique I'm using now (see first post). I'm not sure what its called but I found the thread on this board somewhere.
Anyone have any other suggestions on getting a better sound? Thanks.
 
punkorama said:
i have the beta 52 and the way i get my kick sound is with tons of compression and eq without those my kick sounds like crap
Click to expand...
Is it me... I only compress a kick maybe 1.5:1 or maybe 2:1 at best. Maybe different mic placement would let you back off compression? Although you may get a real good sound it just that it nevered worked for me :)
 
call me cazy but on the compressor in adobe there is a setting called power drums...and it uses 999:1 compression maybe be drastic but sounds amazing on my bass drum
 
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