How do you record drums with a 4 track?

[timandjes]

From some of the advice I've received, I can assign some effects to my toms, stare, & cymbals but I should not assign any effects to the bass drum. Considering I have a 4 track Tascam 414 MKII, how can I have effects on some parts of the drums & not on others without using more than 1 track? (I have to have tracks available for the piano, guitar, & two singers...) Or, is the answer to go ahead and use more than one track but then bounce them together onto a single track? Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

Also, I like a lot of PUNCH on the bass (I want to feel it) but I'm not getting that from my recordings. How can I obtain this? Experiment more with bass drum mic placement?

 

[Ziller]

it's tough to get stereo drums on a 4 track. if you just do mono drums, you can do a couple of things.

record flat onto tracks 1, 2 and 3, then mix those down to 4, applying the effects as you bounce. this means a bounce but better control over effects and levels as you mix

or

pre-mix the mics and apply the effects as you record onto 1 track. no bounce, but you get what you get on the levels.

how many mics are you using?

 

[dr.colossus]

pre-mix the mics and apply the effects as you record onto 1 track. no bounce, but you get what you get on the levels.

i am assuming the effects you are talking about are reverbs and the like? this would be pretty scary if you were doing anything other than light dynamics processing (ie compression, gates)....i always compress my bass drum on the way in....

as far as getting a decent bass drum sound, you must use a real bass drum mic.... i had the same issue and no amount of tweeking on a regular dynamic mic ever gave me the real punch my at 25 pro gives....(these are really cheap in the u.s. i think)

 

[timandjes]

Ziller-

Thanks for the reply. In option 1, when I record flat onto tracks 1, 2 and 3, then mix those down to 4, applying the effects I bounce, will this mean I'm assigning effects to the bass also or is there a way to seperate it from the effects I'm assigning the rest of the kit? In option 2, when I pre-mix the mics and apply the effects as I record onto 1 track, will I be assigning reverb to bass as well as the rest of the kit?.. Is reverb assigned to bass really that bad anyway? Also, is it ok to adjust eq upon completion of each track or is it best to keep all tracks flat until mixdown? How many mics am I using? I have a 3 pc Nady drum mic kit; one kick mic & two snare/tom mics... one placed between the snare & high tom, and one placed between the mid & low tom. I also have one overhead Bearinger ECM8000 condenser.


Dr. Colossus-

Thanks for the reply. (I think) the effects I am talking about are reverbs and the like... I'm a bit new at this. I particularly like, "chamber," "dual delay," & "rever & delay," although I'm not sure more professional recordist's would agree these belong assigned to drums. What are compressions and gates and when/how do I use them?....Also, how do I compress my bass drum on the way in....

Sorry for so many questions...

 

[Ziller]

the 414 has 2 effects sends. you could record say the kick on track 1, and the other 2 mics on tracks 2 and 3. plug the effect into the jack on the back that's labeled 'effect 1 send' and the effect return into the jack labeled '5/6'. there is a knob on each channel labeled 'effect 1'. this will adjust how much of that channel to send to the effects, and the 5/6 knob will adjust how much overall effects to mix back in. so, if kick is on 1, keep the 'effect 1' knob on channel 1 all the way down, and adjust the others to add effects to those mics.

ideally, as Dr. Colossus says, you would record everything flat and dry and add eq and effects after. however, if your gonna bounce or premix, you have to be willing to live on the edge. once you bounce down, you can't apply anything to the individual sounds that were once seperate, only to the overall mix. if you put all the drums on 1 channel flat, you cannot then add effects to just the toms and not the kick.

you may want to try recording the drums flat, bounce down without any eq or effects, then apply the effects and eq after, once all the other instuments are recorded. if it works for you, that may be your best bet. if there is some rule about not reverbing the kick, well that's plenty reason to at least try it .

 

[timandjes]

Thanks Ziller- That makes much more sense than what I planned on trying. (I'll keep it to myself to hide my recording ignorance as much as possible). One more question; how do I get my monitors playing while I'm recording? Right now, they only play @ mixdown & I can only listen w/headphones until then....

 

[Ziller]

are your monitors hooked to the L-R outs, or the monitor outs? if you hook them to the monitor outs, you can select what goes out using the push buttons next to the 'monitor' knob. if you push in the 'effects 1 /tape cue' button, you can then adjust each individual track by using the 'effects 1' knob on each channel. this allows you to change the monitor levels of the tracks without changing the fader levels used to record.