how many mics do I need for drums?

[adolescentsfan]

How many mics do I need to record drum tracks? Could I do it with 2? Would 1 work, or would that be basically impossible. I've never done this before so I need some expert help.

 

[Anomaly Design]

Any number of mics is possible, it only depends on the quality.

If you use 1 or 2, you'll just have to mess around with mic placement to get the best sound.
The standard is 4; 1 for the bass drum, 1 for the snare, and two overhead mics. If you'd like more info, be more specific.

I use 7; Each drum gets mic'd plus 2 overheads. But I play metal and it just works for me.

 

[Gidge]

How many mics do I need to record drum tracks? Could I do it with 2? Would 1 work, or would that be basically impossible. I've never done this before so I need some expert help.

yep you could do it with one....won't sound as good as more mics but its possible.....

if ya can, get a LDC....have someone play the kit......walk around it, get up on chairs, go everywhere with your ears that you can....find the spot where you are getting the most well balanced sound out of the kit and put the mic there......

 

[SRR]

One over head could work, two would be better so you have a stereo image, after that adding a kick and snare can help the final sound. If it was me 4 would be the minimum, but two can work, just don't expect a lot of slam or snap with just two overheads.

 

[SRR]

Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh I be posting in time the rest of the scurvvy clan, aarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh.

 

[kojdogg]

yeah one is the minimum (obviously ), but i have heard of folks using many more-- both sides of each drum close mic'ed, overheads in various positions, kick, hi-hat, "tchad blake" mic, ribbons 4 ft. off the ground and + towards kick - towards snare, room mics, boundary mics taped to drummers chest, subkick mics), "crotch mic'ed", etc.
some people can do a great job with one quality mic positioned right (if the room is good and your drums are tuned right), some people do a great job with four as anomaly design pointed out ("andy johns" technique i think? may have the wrong johns bro), often rock drum mic kits are set up to close mic the tops of all drums and have a couple of overheads.
If you have two mics, find the best acoustic space you can, tune your drums and experiment with mic positions til you find something that works.

 

[kojdogg]

Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh I be posting in time the rest of the scurvvy clan, aarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh.

+ 1 again on "arh"

 

[pohaku]

Well, you do need at least one Despite the current predeliction to use at least one mic on everything in sight, lots of great albums in the 60s and 70s were recorded using the 3 mic technique. Perhaps most notably by Glynn Johns (e.g., The Who's Tommy and Who's Next). See the following article for elaboration:

http://www.mercenary.com/3micdrumstuf.html

 

[Solafide]

What mics do you have?

What is your room like?

What do you have for a preamp?


Also what style of music are you recording?


I have ended up using only overheads (two mics) several times. Propper use of compression really helps here.

 

[RAK]

1 Omni is sometimes all you need, particularly if you have well tuned drums, a good room, and somone who is actually a musician sitting behind on the throne.

 

[adolescentsfan]

I don't have any mics yet I want to know what get before I get it. I'm recording punk music. My question on the other board is, do I need a mic pre-amp? I was thinking, could I play the drum part multiple times with a mic in different places to get a strong sound? I could also play one part of the beat and then add the other track, first snare and cymbals, then bass and toms. Just bounce down tracks until I have one coherent drum part.

 

[NL5]

yep you could do it with one....won't sound as good as more

Not always - mixes get muddy and messed up with more mics, unless you really know what you are doing.........Although 3 is a good place to start......

 

[kojdogg]

Not always - mixes get muddy and messed up with more mics, unless you really know what you are doing.........

plus the more mics you use the more you have to worry about phase problems

 

[Gidge]

well if you can keep a mix from being muddy with 3-4 mics or know how to deal with phase problems with the same, then either

a- you shouldnt be recording drums

or

b- it'll be oone hell of a learning experience

 

[RAK]

I don't have any mics yet I want to know what get before I get it. I'm recording punk music. My question on the other board is, do I need a mic pre-amp? I was thinking, could I play the drum part multiple times with a mic in different places to get a strong sound? I could also play one part of the beat and then add the other track, first snare and cymbals, then bass and toms. Just bounce down tracks until I have one coherent drum part.

Well, you will need a mic pre-amp for every mic you want to use.
Personally I wouldn't recommend splitting up the kit and playing different parts as different tracks, I don't think it will ever really sound cohesive enough.

If you do only have 1 mic, you could different takes placing the mic in different spots to see what you come up with. If it sounds right to add them together, then you can certainly choose to do that.

Part of your decision will depend on your budget and how versatile you want to be for the future, but a few basic setups could be:
1 Room Mic (I recommend an Omni)
1 Room Mic + 1 Kick Mic
2 OH Mics
2 OH Mics + 1 Kick Mic
2 OH Mics + 1 Kick Mic + 1 Snare Mic.

These are just a few configurations I'm throwing out there. Really the posibilities are endless.

 

[gcapel]

I don't have any mics yet I want to know what get before I get it. I'm recording punk music. My question on the other board is, do I need a mic pre-amp? I was thinking, could I play the drum part multiple times with a mic in different places to get a strong sound? I could also play one part of the beat and then add the other track, first snare and cymbals, then bass and toms. Just bounce down tracks until I have one coherent drum part.

holy cow thats alot of work and very difficult. Maybe if you were into industrial rock but punk?

 

[NL5]

well if you can keep a mix from being muddy with 3-4 mics or know how to deal with phase problems with the same, then either

a- you shouldnt be recording drums

or

b- it'll be oone hell of a learning experience

Agreed. I think a less is more approach is good to start out with for newbies though.

plus the more mics you use the more you have to worry about phase problems

Where much of the muddiness comes from.

 

[Gidge]

and dont get me wrong, im the guy that cant deal with muddiness problems......i can deal with phasing though.....but i did give up trying to record and mix real drums long ago......

but when i did, i needed that kick drum for the thump and the snare drum for the crack....the rest was one or two overheads......

so yes you can do it with one mic but without a kickass drummer, a well tuned kit and a beautiful sounding room, you are not gonna be happy with the results.....

 

[adolescentsfan]

I'm a better guitarist than drummer, but I can pound out some pretty damn good beats, if I do say so myself. The room may suck, but I keep the kit in pretty good shape. I'm not doing any super tough beats. A little higher level than The Ramones(which I'm sure you know are extremely elementary), I'm not going Terry Bozzio on this.

 

[mrface2112]

IMO, the fewer mics you use, the better the room (as well as drums and drummer) needs to be.

and IMO, the more mics you use, the more likely you'll run into phase and comb filtering issues.

for punk on a string, here's two ideas:

1. i'd start with 2 mics. one inside the kick and the other as a mono overhead, pretty much right overtop of the kit aimed straight down. add a 3rd mic to close-mic the snare if desired.

2. put a pair of mics in front of the kit, maybe 4-6ft off the ground, at the points of a triangle (with the drummer as the 3rd corner). add a kick mic to taste.

two completely different drum sounds, but both work real well.

i'm a big fan of mono drums, especially on a smaller kit. what kind of stereo image (and therefore panning) do you really have on a 4-piece kit anyway?


cheers,
wade