Drums Recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter Euan_Fox
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@ Dogbreth: Thanks for your reply! I have looked at the the Glyn John technique, and that is pretty much the sound I want. Thanks man, I'll be looking into that!

@ Greg_L: View attachment Wild Thing.mp3 that should be the mix I did (last year) using all standard techniques. hopefully.
 
It is actually quite simple.
You need a great sounding room, a great sounding drum kit, great mics, great pres, a great dynamically and timing consistent drummer and also good mic placement.
Mic placement is the least of your worries, get the others right first then try out different mic placement techniques to taste.

If you can't get all of these factors right then you can use drum samples with a programme like Drumagog.

G
 
Euan_Fox said:
@ Dogbreth: Thanks for your reply! I have looked at the the Glyn John technique, and that is pretty much the sound I want. Thanks man, I'll be looking into that!

@ Greg_L: View attachment 70114 that should be the mix I did (last year) using all standard techniques. hopefully.
Click to expand...

I like these drums, reminds me of the drum sound on the Pixies song "Where is your mind".
Nice sounding snare and loads of OHs in the Mix.
I would use a little less of the OHs and more of the close mics to get a more close up sound so they don't sound so distant. But you are on the right track to a good drum sound.

G
 
Euan_Fox said:
@ Dogbreth: Thanks for your reply! I have looked at the the Glyn John technique, and that is pretty much the sound I want. Thanks man, I'll be looking into that!

@ Greg_L: View attachment 70114 that should be the mix I did (last year) using all standard techniques. hopefully.
Click to expand...
The drums are too weak and roomy. Where's the kick? I'd say it's too much overhead, not enough close mic, and the ambience of the drums doesn't match the rest of the instrumentation. The guitar sounds dry and up front and the drums sound like they're off in another building.
 
I agree with that... the kick took the day off i guess.... and it does sound way too roomy.
 
Euan_Fox said:
...despite the problems with the recording environment, there was anything I could do with the mic's, that are general improvement's over what I've been doing so far.
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Use your ears...
You've received the best advice (over and over) that any of us can give you... Great room, great tuning, great player = great drum tracks.

Move the mics around and use your ears to determine what is going to work for what you are going for.... A combination of close micing with overheads or a mic pulled back may be what you're looking for. Pulling the mic away will give you 'bigger' drums but closeup will capture more attack as the stick/beater strikes the head. Experiment and listen!

Some real incredible drum recordings were done with minimalistic mic techniques with them placed in the perfect spots...

:)
 
Drum recording

Euan_Fox said:
This is probably the most asked question, but I want to get really amazing drum sounds, from the recording. Just to make the mixing easier. I would love to hear all the crazy ideas; I don't want to just do the standard micing on every part, I want to do something to make my drums sound special! Any ideas at all would be awesome, and any pictures of mic placements would help a lot! Not too sure about how to place overheads, and I have a way that I do hi-hats but I would love some ideas! Kick is especially problematic, because I want it to really bounce and thump. Any advice would be great, and this is just for the recordings, not so much the mixing, and ANYTHING will help! :)
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I have written a book on the fine art of drum recording called "Drum Recording Handbook". It has been published by Hal Leonard Music and is available everywhere. I will answer all your questions about drum recording. Hope this helps! Dennis www dot dennismoody dot com
 
If I'm having trouble with the kick its normally tuning or drummer (99% of the time anyway) but with some creative EQ and a pretty bloody heavy handed compressor I get a lovely sound that thumps out like a mad yoke
 
Russ home recordist

When recording drums for jazz I usually put the overheads in omni pattern which seems to get a true to life sound and adds some room. If your mics are not pattern changeable then listen to the kit from above and choose a sound suitable to the song being recorded. Also I have recorded a "special effect" drum sound by putting a distant room mic through a compressor and a spring reverb, and adding some into the mix. Also just recently I purchased some cheap Mann condenser microphones (MD 11) which sound surprisingly good as overheads and on acoustic guitars. I was previously using AKG 414 EB's.
As for the kick drum I was using an Electrvoice RE 20 dynamic but my mate bought a cheap ISK BDM 1 dynamic and that sounds great with little eq. It has fantastic rejection of other sounds in the room.
 
Reverb and Gates

I think the most important sound of you kit is the snare drum. The snare drum gives you set it's personality. I use the Glynn Jonns technique which isolates the kick and snare with close mic's. Then two overheads. I would experiment with effects such as Reverb, Flanger, and echo. Lot's of producers used a type of gated reverb on the snares in the 80's that I hated, but gating the reverb on the kick or the snare might give you different possibilites. You could even try a phaser, or even a flanger.
Just food for thought anyway.
If you have electronic drums you could trigger your snare and mix the sound of one of the many snares, or kicks with you kit too.
 
Haha, the Drum Recording Handbook is one of my Amazon Wishlist items... No way is Dennis chillin' on HR.com.
Welcome, sir!
 
Drum Triggers, you can change the tones and sounds that each drum puts out.
 
Just get Triggger By Steven Slate (www dot SlateDigital dot com)It will take the sounds of your own kit and replace it with serious studio quality samples. its one of the only way to get that pro sounding tone out of a sub par drum kit. Also look into parallel compression on the drum buss to give the entire thing a big bombastic sound while you keep your transients. Seriously though Trigger is a fantastic tool if you record in less than ideal rooms, on less than ideal drums, with less than ideal mics. With it you can have the sound of multiple professional kits, not just the one setting in your practice area. No joke, it is the real deal.
 
Like dogbreath I used a modified glynn johns approach.adding upper tom mics to the mix,I mic the snare and bass drum but I was never happy with the tone of either,I end up using the overheads with maybe a little bass drum mic.I never liked the D112 or similar BD mics they give a dull thud that's hard to work with.Now when I mic the BD I used a D112 and an SM58 side by side ,one for the deep thud and the 58 for the tone of the drum.I record to separate tracks then blend or use a Y cable if enough tracks aren't available. Both work fine to my ears.Next is try putting the snare 57 through a PREAMP or an ultramizer
 
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