Greg's general guide to rock drums for NEWBIES!

Yup, he does. His voice is naturally classic NY lowlife. I've spent a lot of time in NYC, lots of people talk like him and it's awesome.
 
Quick question about placement.

I've not recorded drums before so I'm gonna start off with the 4 mic placement that Greg suggests at the start using an SM57 for the snare and an SM58 for the kick (they're what's available).

My questions is about the overheads - I'm gonna borrow a pair of cheapish condensers.

Obviously I'll experiment a bit - but I need a starting point. Whereabouts over the kit should they be placed? How far above the kit? and is angle important?
 
JDOD said:
Quick question about placement.

I've not recorded drums before so I'm gonna start off with the 4 mic placement that Greg suggests at the start using an SM57 for the snare and an SM58 for the kick (they're what's available).

My questions is about the overheads - I'm gonna borrow a pair of cheapish condensers.

Obviously I'll experiment a bit - but I need a starting point. Whereabouts over the kit should they be placed? How far above the kit? and is angle important?
Click to expand...

If you go through the thread, there are some pics that give you a good idea of overhead positions for starters. I also suggest using two mic stands and not an X/Y type holder to get better mic placement and separation.
 
DM60 said:
If you go through the thread, there are some pics that give you a good idea of overhead positions for starters. I also suggest using two mic stands and not an X/Y type holder to get better mic placement and separation.
Click to expand...
Cheers, I will be using stands - I just couldn't be arsed to read through 20 pages 'cos I'm at work. Maybe I'll do it when I get home later.
 
I've gone through hitting "record" and frantically hauling ass to the drum kit...
knocking shit over, stumping my damn toe, putting the headphones on crooked.....
and when the track starts I forget what the hell I'm supposed to play.
lol
or I forgot to turn the monitors off.

Great advice to put enough blank space at the front of the track to leisurely get to the kit and be ready.
 
jimistone said:
I've gone through hitting "record" and frantically hauling ass to the drum kit...
knocking shit over, stumping my damn toe, putting the headphones on crooked.....
and when the track starts I forget what the hell I'm supposed to play.
lol
or I forgot to turn the monitors off.

Great advice to put enough blank space at the front of the track to leisurely get to the kit and be ready.
Click to expand...

Haha yeah. You know my biggest facepalm moment is? Doing an entire bad ass drum take and realizing I forgot to arm one of the tracks. Wait? Where's the floor tom track? Doh. I didn't arm it. :facepalm:

I start every song many many seconds or beats in.

Another thing I do is do a count in before the actual count in. For example...I usually track drums to a throw-away guide scratch track of guitar or bass. I track that scratch track to the click. What I do is record a palm mute 1-2-3-4 on the scratch track before the actual count in so when I'm sitting at the kit ready to track, I'll hear the mute-mute-mute-mute, then a silent 1-2-3-4 with just the click, then it's blast off.
 
If you have a WiFi enabled tablet, you can try something like this:

OSC-Commander | OSC-Controller for Android

It lets you do some basic remote-control of your DAW. So you could actually hit the record button from your drum throne and not have to race back and try to get settled before the 4-count.

I've only used the trial version, but it did work. The setup is a little confusing, but it didn't take too much monkeying around to get it working. It might be worth a try, or I think there are a few others like it on various app stores.
 
Or just leave yourself some space and take your time. Hopefully you've practiced and know your part well enough to nail it in one take.
 
Greg_L said:
Or just leave yourself some space and take your time. Hopefully you've practiced and know your part well enough to nail it in one take.
Click to expand...

This is true of guitar parts too. I know its easier to do re-takes with guitar, but that's no reason to do take after take and go stitching together the best bits. If you keeping cocking up your takes, practice for a bit and even write down where the changes are. I did that with the acoustic piece I stuck in the clinic on the weekend - I can never remember boring acoustic chord sequences, so I just practised the picking pattern, and wrote down the chord sequences on a bit of paper. I don't know if this is easy to do when you're playing drums.
 
I also do a scratch track of me playing guitar to a click with the palm muted count off. It seemed like the only way to track drums by yourself and not lose your place in the song.
 
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