help me find a way to set up my drum mics

[Ben P Music]

okay, so i only have three mics, and their all... okay mics, but i need to record my drum set, its a very very nice set with three cymbals, three toms, snare and a high hat, the usual, my microphones are 2 c1000's and 1 akg perception 220. where should i place them to get the best sound? thanks

 

[tmix]

If I were you I would look up the "recorderman method" or the Glyn Johns method of micing up the drums.

I have used the C1000s a lot in past years and they tend to be an extremely bright mic.
Unless you have very dark cymbals I would not use them high above the kit nor directly over the cymbals. You will need to think of them as "drum mics" that happen to capture some off axis cymbals.

The basic gist is the perception will go out in front near the ground about 2 feet out to capture the kick and low end of the toms and snare, while one of the C1000s will be about 40 inches straight up above the snare pointed down and slightly toward the kick pedal strike zone. The other C1000 needs to be either 8-10 inches above the floor tom pointed across the kit towards the snare or between your right shoulder and the floor tom about ear height pointing across the kit towards the snare. In both cases both C1000s need to be the same exact distance from the strike zone of the snare, in order to minimize phase issues and keep the snare centered in the mix.(use a string or something to match the distance from snare head to mic screen.)

If you are using the hypercardiod caps on them and the off axis sound is too funky, try it with out the hypercardiod caps.

 

[RAMI]

I wasn't going to post this, because I already started a thread where I posted 5 drum tracks a few days ago in the Recording Techniques Forum. And then I posted this track again in another thread today.

But since you mention 3 mics, and 2 of them are C1000's, I'll post this, because it's exactly what I recorded my drums with for this clip.

I used 2 overheads (the C1000's) and a kik mic mic (AKG D-112), 3 mics. I have the overheads set up in a cross between the Recorderman and Glyn Jons method. One mic is 36" above the snare pointing striaght down, the other mic is abut half-way between my sholder and the floor tom, pointing at the snare and the same distance from it as the first mic.

 

[jono77]

Pretty bad ass sound for 3 mics, doesn't hurt that it's some pretty nasty playing as well.

I wasn't going to post this, because I already started a thread where I posted 5 drum tracks a few days ago in the Recording Techniques Forum. And then I posted this track again in another thread today.

But since you mention 3 mics, and 2 of them are C1000's, I'll post this, because it's exactly what I recorded my drums with for this clip.

I used 2 overheads (the C1000's) and a kik mic mic (AKG D-112), 3 mics. I have the overheads set up in a cross between the Recorderman and Glyn Jons method. One mic is 36" above the snare pointing striaght down, the other mic is abut half-way between my sholder and the floor tom, pointing at the snare and the same distance from it as the first mic.

 

[RAMI]

Pretty bad ass sound for 3 mics, doesn't hurt that it's some pretty nasty playing as well.

Thanx alot, Jono. It's a pretty simple track, with a lot of repetition. But it's what the song I'm playing to needed.

 

[Rimshot]

Thanx alot, Jono. It's a pretty simple track, with a lot of repetition. But it's what the song I'm playing to needed.

That is like damn near perfect. Great solid drumming with some "killer" flair to a repetitive beat (ya made it real interesting with those flam like fills) and the recording is equally solid.
I love the balance between the kick and the top end and the timber of the drums sound great.
I sure hope that the song deserves that track.
Well done!