Drum Recording

[SteveCPerrino]

I feel so stupid. but....

Normally I've been just plugging my drum mics straight into a firepod and into my computer.

Many people have just said "wow...that sounds pretty good for just using a firepod as a preamp." and other stuff of that nature.

I feel very stupid asking this because it's probably common knowledge amongst recording engineers, but what's the best way to record your drums with multiple drum microphones?

 

[TylerDrums109]

It all depends on what sound your after...how many mics you have to work with...WHAT mics you have to work with...ect. Recording is an abstract art. There is no RIGHT way to do something. There are guidelines which to work from but thats pretty much it. So yeah give us some details on your set up and what you have to work with. But the easiest way to get a good sound using minimal mics is one mic in the kick, one mic on the snare, and two overheads panned left and right to create a stereo image. Please provide us with some more information if you wish to get more and better responses. Thanks

 

[SteveCPerrino]

Here's my current setup:

-AKG D 112 on the kick
-SM57 on the snare
-Sennheiser e604's on the rack toms
-Audix F12 on the floor tom
-2 Audix F15's for the overheads (stereo)

 

[WhiteStrat]

Better yet, post a couple more times (get to 5 posts) so you can post a link to an MP3 of your drums.

Bottom line is this: if it sounds good, it is. Lot's of folks get all uptight about this preamp vs. that preamp, but assuming you're running your mics through something better than a Radio Shack mixer (and you're safe there) the preamp isn't going to make a "wow" difference.

We could argue about the exact order of some of these, but the aspects of a good recording flow something like this:

Performance > Instrument > Room > Mics/Mic placement > Preamp

So if you're a good player, and your kit sounds good, and it sounds good in your particular room, and you have decent mics (which you do) and you've got good placement on the mics--then you should be able to get great recordings--yes, even with a firepod.

Do everything else really well first, then a serious cash outlay for killer preamps might add 2% - 5% to your sound. In other words, keep working on the other stuff--and who knows, you might be there. We'd love to hear a sample.

 

[SteveCPerrino]

alright lemme get 2 more posts and I'll get you a link, thanks!

 

[SteveCPerrino]

okay, here's the link to a sample of a band I recorded:

 

[jmorris]

For my ears I'd like to hear stereo overheads,I don't hear that,sounds like one but you did list 2 OH. The toms also sound mono,I'd rather hear them spread out, but it sounds good! Here is link I just posted elsewhere.It is live gig I did last weekend. For drums jus kick, snare and 2 overheads spreadout.

http://www.livebandrecordings.com/Video3.html

 

[RAMI]

For my ears I'd like to hear stereo overheads,I don't hear that......The toms also sound mono

I agree with this 100%. The kik sounds pretty boxy, too.


As long as everyone's posting their drum clips , here's a track I did with 3 mics; One kik and 2 overheads, no external pre-amps, just straight into my TASCAM 2488.

This is a drum track to a song, so it doesn't have mental rolls all over the place:

JMorris, I can't get your video to play. It might be a problem on my end, but you might want to check it out just to be sure.

 

[TylerDrums109]

I agree with this 100%. The kik sounds pretty boxy, too.

The kick sounds extremely boxy i agree...and like everyone said...broaden the image of the drums. The high hat was also dead center as i heard in addition to the toms.....also you can pan the drums based on the drummers perspective or of the audiences perspective. Good start though

 

[SteveCPerrino]

I did mic the overheads in stereo, and doing toms in stereo would sounds pretty good too.

what's a good way that I could go about making my kick less boxy?

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

-Steve

 

[WhiteStrat]

I did mic the overheads in stereo, and doing toms in stereo would sounds pretty good too.

what's a good way that I could go about making my kick less boxy?

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

-Steve

You mic'd the overheads in stereo, and yet everyone's saying they sound mono--sounds like something needs some looking into.

When you say you recorded them in stereo, I'm assuming that means you used two mics. So did you record them to two separate tracks and pan one left and pan the other right?

 

[SteveCPerrino]

No, I recorded them onto one track as a stereo track

 

[RAMI]

I'm assuming that means you used two mics. So did you record them to two separate tracks and pan one left and pan the other right?

No, I recorded them onto one track as a stereo track

Do you mean "No, I didn't use 2 mics"??? Or, do you mean "No, I didn't put them on 2 seperate tracks and pan them"????

Either way, if you didn't do either of these things, you have a mono track, not stereo.

I'm trying to make sense of your answer.

 

[SteveCPerrino]

Oh sorry, I used two mics and recorded them into 1 stereo track

 

[Rust E-Z]

can you pan each mic when you do that? Usually a stereo track uses one pan for both channels, its mainly used for tracking synth sounds that kick out pre-panned stereo sounds. Unless your software is different than mine, you'll need to put each overhead on it's own mono track, that way you can pan the right one to the right and the left one to the left.

 

[SteveCPerrino]

nawh, mine pans left and right

 

[EddieRay]

I agree with this 100%. The kik sounds pretty boxy, too.


As long as everyone's posting their drum clips , here's a track I did with 3 mics; One kik and 2 overheads, no external pre-amps, just straight into my TASCAM 2488.

This is a drum track to a song, so it doesn't have mental rolls all over the place:

JMorris, I can't get your video to play. It might be a problem on my end, but you might want to check it out just to be sure.

Rami that sounds great. How do you arrange the OHs?

 

[RAMI]

Rami that sounds great. How do you arrange the OHs?

Thanx alot Eddie.

I use a hybrid Recorderman-Glyn Johns configuration. The first overhead is right over the snare, about 36" up. The second one is about halfway between my shoulder and the floor tom, also pointing at the snare, same distance away as the first.

Other than that, I have the kik drum mic a few inches inside my kik, pointing right where the beater hits.

 

[EddieRay]

Thanx alot Eddie.

I use a hybrid Recorderman-Glyn Johns configuration. The first overhead is right over the snare, about 36" up. The second one is about halfway between my shoulder and the floor tom, also pointing at the snare, same distance away as the first.

Other than that, I have the kik drum mic a few inches inside my kik, pointing right where the beater hits.

Interesting. In my more recent recordings of bands at their gigs I had taken to pointing one of the OHs at the snare, the other at the floor tom. But I like what you did and will try it next time out. Seems to pick up toms and cymbals nicely. I only have 8 tracks to work with and can hardly spare 3 for drums so I 'm eager to make it work.

Has that arrangement shown to be sensitive to phase issues?

 

[RAMI]

Has that arrangement shown to be sensitive to phase issues?

No, quite the opposite, since the 2 mics are equal distance from the snare.