In yer face!!!

[littledog]

Re: whoa...

Thanks, littledog, that sounds awesome.

The only problem is that Recorderman's method sounds a bit too one-size-fits-all in theory. I mean, folks come in all the time with different cymbal setups and stuff of that nature, it sounds like that doesn't always accomodate variables very well. Any variations of the method you've had to try?

And also, what is the consensus on EQ for the overheads? And should they be compressed quite a bit or little at all? Without comp, my snare threatens to peak my ovhd mics constantly, but with too much it squashes everything and sucks the life out of it.

Thoughts?

thanks

R

As far as one size fits all, most people I know tend to use only one or two basic drum mic'ing schemes anyway - this is just a different one. So far, it's worked for me on every kit and style I've tried it on, but that doesn't mean you'll like it as much as I do - I'm just suggesting you try it once before trying to argue that it might not work.

The advantage is that it focuses the overheads on the snare. Most people end up with overheads that pick up more cymbals than anything else. This forces them to become more dependant on close mics for the drums themselves, so often end up just rolling off all the low end on the overheads and using them just to get a good cymbal sound. Recorderman's method still gets a great cymbal sound, but you are also getting a great snare sound as well. And it seems to help the kick and toms too.

As I said, try it first. You might like it.

As far as the rest - I usually don't EQ or compress my overheads while tracking. I control clipping by setting the gain on my mic preamps appropriately. Admittedly, drummers tend to play louder during songs than during sound checks, so I often have to adjust the mic preamp volumes downward from time to time on each particular song. Since I record digitally at 24 bit, it's not that big a concern to have every track as "hot" as possible, so I can err on the side of caution with gain settings.

If you are using very sesnitive mics (like the Earthworks QTC's, e.g.) try using an in-line pad before the signal gets to the preamp.

 

[MikeA]

usually "in our face" is a synonym for compression.

Littledog is right on. A technique that is used by a lot of the big guys to get that in yer face sound is to get a good mix on drums and then assign them to 2 of your bussess. Take the busses into a compressor and squash the daylights out of them. Return them on two new faders and bring them up to blend in with the drum mix. Another variation on that is to run the drum mix out into the studio and crank it up loud. Mic the room with a couple of mics (play with mic placement) and bring that back into the console on again, 2 unused faders. You can also pass them through a compressor on the way back to the board. A lot of that intimate sound is due to strong early reflections coupled with the direct sound heard by the listener.

 

[littledog]

Some nice suggestions from Mike that have definitely contributed to a lot of the great drum sounds we are used to hearing on recordings.

But a word of warning: if you are doing all of this in the digital domain, when you remix the compressed or remic'ed drum tracks back in with the originals, you'll probably want to slide the new tracks around to line up perfectly with the old ones, as the various bussing and compressing introduces a latency or delay on the new tracks that will give a phase-y sound when you recombine them that probably is NOT what you want.

 

[MikeA]

Aurora,

How much of the snare sound comes from the snare mic and how much from the OHs? You mentioned that they are kind of crappy mics. That may be a contributor. Can the drummer get the snare to crack in the tracking room? If it ain't crackin there it ain't gonna crack on tape.