i recorded an entire drumset with one sm58

[KonradG]

i know your laughing at me right now. and i was laughing too when i did it. started as a joke, but my studio has raised wooden ceilings with concrete floors and with the mic hanging from the ceiling fan pointed off to the side of the kit, i got a sound out of the kit that was unbelievable. call me crazy. (ill try and post the track on here later)

 

[Nick The Man]

please do

i wanna here it

 

[MadAudio]

You're crazy!

Hey, you asked me to!

When I first got into home recording I used to record my drums with a single electret condensor mic over the drums. I actually got some decent balance among all the drums with it.

 

[Nick The Man]

i can get a pretty beautiful sound with two mics


1 LDC about a foot above the drummers head

1 omni on the ground to the right of the drummers throne about a foot off the ground

 

[FALKEN]

so whats the big deal?

 

[Nick The Man]

so whats the big deal?

i dont know

i think we want to hear the quality of this recording


its supposed to be unbelievable

 

[Nick The Man]

You're crazy!

yeah Konrad, your crazy!!!

 

[AlexW]

It should be possible. There was an article in a recent TapeOp about a band that recorded their entire album with one SM57. If it captures the sound you want, go for it.

 

[FALKEN]

i dont know

i think we want to hear the quality of this recording


its supposed to be unbelievable

yeah but I don't get why that would surprise you.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

"Unbelievable" can mean anything from "awful" to "fantastic" and anything in-between.

What some find "unbelievable" is the idea that drums can sound great live to two human ears on one human head, but the only way they can sound any good recorded is to use a whole closet full of special-purpose microphones.

G.

 

[7string]

"Unbelievable" can mean anything from "awful" to "fantastic" and anything in-between.

G.

Maybe he meant unbelieveably bad?

 

[fraserhutch]

Maybe he meant unbelieveably bad?

I've heard some absolutely amazing recording done with a single stereo pair of mics. If he for some reason doesn't want/need stero drums, there's no reason it cannot sound good.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I've heard some absolutely amazing recording done with a single stereo pair of mics. If he for some reason doesn't want/need stero drums, there's no reason it cannot sound good.

I've mentioned this before on this board, and most folks refuse to believe me, but some of my best recordings have been made with an X/Y coincident pair in front of the kit facing back and a single kick mic. No snare mics, no OHs, no hat or tom miking, etc.

I'm not saying it's wrong to use the close multi-mic technique, and indeed there are times when that is indeed called for. I am saying it's wrong to believe all that is always necessary to get a good drum kit sound.

I have had many a drummer who thought I was on heroin when I decided to not mic their snare...until I played back the resulting recording.

G.

 

[Nick The Man]

I've mentioned this before on this board, and most folks refuse to believe me, but some of my best recordings have been made with an X/Y coincident pair in front of the kit facing back and a single kick mic. No snare mics, no OHs, no hat or tom miking, etc.

I'm not saying it's wrong to use the close multi-mic technique, and indeed there are times when that is indeed called for. I am saying it's wrong to believe all that is always necessary to get a good drum kit sound.

I have had many a drummer who thought I was on heroin when I decided to not mic their snare...until I played back the resulting recording.

G.

..................your not on heroin


jk

 

[Matheon]

man i gotta hear this.. please post the track

i'm such a big fan of the sm58 and 57.

 

[Nakatira]

Ì`ve done an entire band recoring on a behringher dynamic and it sounded like crap I dont think I could get a drumkit on a 58, looking forward to hearing that recording.
Please send sample

 

[FALKEN]

but my studio has raised wooden ceilings with concrete floors

thats first of all.

second of all, the seemingly "random" mic placement might make for a very even balance.

 

[treymonfauntre]

i have a bands demo that was recorded with 1 sm57. sounds like garbage!

 

[boomtap]

I am going to record an entire band with a wireless lapel mic.

 

[gullfo]

if the room sounds good, a single mic can definitely do it. just a matter of placing it where it "hears" the best sound. if the room sounds like crap, then thats what you'll get using a "distance" mic'ing technique. i've recorded a heavy metal band drummer (in his own room separate from the band...) with a pair of mics and it sounded huge! the band was skeptical until they heard it...

so if the drums in the room sound good, they'll generally sound good regardless of technique but having a simple stereo or even mono recording of it can make the drum kit sound really incredible.

the best bet for anyone is to try it: set up in a good room, get the drums sounding right, and then place the mic 5-15' away (gotta listen as you move it around...) and you'll be pretty surprised by the results...

for myself (in a prior studio i had...), I used to have a pair of the RS PZM mics mounted on the acoustic ceiling tiles above the kit and got excellent results all the time...