Drums (Tips Needed)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Disposable
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I'm working on all that now...
The snare... I like it tuned low: so that won't change much.
I have the separate mics, so I can play around with it a bit.

I've got the toms sounding better, though.
 
I'm listening to the raw track.
How many mics did you use for each piece? Did you use any overheads or room mics?
Make sure that when you're recording each part of the kit, you at least add in the overheads or a room mic. That is where your transients and overtones will help the kit to sound a lot more natural (I found this out the hard way).
 
Well, no I didn't use overheads
Due to the fact that I don't have any suitable mics for overheads.
I have one condenser, which is a cheapo one.
I know I should have used it but I have a really tough time using overheads.
 
I'll be honest... my recording chain leaves a lot to be desired.
I don't have any good preamps, don't have great mics.
The drum kit itself is "budget" and I am not a drummer.
The odds are against me in every possible way,
but I think I did well for what I have.
 
Do you have an SM57?
Or anything equivalent? Any mediocre dynamic mics?
What's your signal chain?
Most of the time, it's all about placement. I use $119 Samson condensors (yes, $119 for the pair) and at first I thought they sounded horrible. Then I played with the placement, and my overheads now sound amazing. If you have a condensor, use it! Even if it's not the best quality - as long as it's not introducing artifacts into the mix, it can really only help.
For the "budget" aspect of the kit, a lot of the time some decent heads can make a $300 kit sound like a $1000 kit. It's alllll about experimentation and not limiting yourself to just one sound.
 
I have, in the way of mics:

1 Samson Q-Kick Mic
1 Audiotechnica Kitpack Kick/Tom Mic
3 Audiotechnica Kitpack Snare/Tom Mics
1 Audiotechnica ATR30 Vocal/Instrument Mic
1 Audiotechnica Condenser Mic (Distributed by Radio Shack, I got it used)

( Can you tell I like Audiotechnica??? :) )

A Behringer Mixer (Eurorack MXB1002)

Into Delta 44 soundcard.

The Kit:

Standard 5 piece (I think these sizes are correct)

22x16 Kick - Remo Powerstroke 3 Head
12x10 RackTom - Remo Pinstripe
13x11 Rack Tom - Remo Pinstripe
16x16 Floor Tom - Remo Pinstripe
13x5 Tama Rockstar Snare - Remo Ambassador Coated Top, Tama Stock Bottom

Cymbals:
Zildjan ZBT
15" Crash
20" Ride
18" China

I really do appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this.
Drums have always been really hard for me to record.
The main reason I am doing this sampling is to gain the experience.
 
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What I usually do, in terms of sampling, is get the overhead in the position you'd use if you were recording the full kit live.
Your mics aren't too horrible. Pop that vocal/instrument mic on as an overhead and see if it sounds any better than the Radioshack one. If not, oh well, you can still probably get pretty good sound out of it.
I haven't really heard AT mics other than my 3035 which sounds great as a room mic, so I can't really give any subjective advice on that.
Your heads are pretty good for recording. Pinstripes kind of kill a lot of the resonance but that's not always BAD. Just put some overheads into the mix and it should help it out a whole lot.
 
I dunno about using a dynamic as an overhead...
I'll try it though... Never hurts.

So did you listen to the little bit of snare (higher tuned) I PM'd you?
 
Funny thing is... I used the Q-Kick and the Radio Shack.
Ah... The quirks of recording.

I set them up…

Q-Kick - 6 inches above top head. 3 inches out from rim… Aimed across the snare.
Radio Shack – 3 feet above center of snare, aimed straight to the floor.
 
If you want to hear the Radio Shack mic in all it's glory...
Check this out.

"Propaganda Demo"
http://www.fronder.com/bands/116/music.php

The only mic used to record this entire song was the Radio Shack.

The guitar and drums were recorded together
With the mic not so strategically placed between my amp and the drum set.
The vocals were added afterwards.

Same drum set, same room.
 
SEE! It just takes tons of experimentation.
The overall balance of the Propaganda demo is pretty decent considering it's just one mic. The kit has a ton of presence (which is very surprising to me), the high hats are just a little overpowering. This would sound pretty damn good if it weren't for that and if the kick were miked. But yeah, like I said, experiment, and get amazing tone that makes people think you used $1xxx equipment. It's nice when people start asking if you use valve pres and you can just say "no, I used a mixer." Good luck man!
 
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