Live band drum mic'ing

[Squiksilvery]

Hello,

I have my drum overheads (pencil condensers) straight down, at the extreme edges above the kit, about 8ft up (ish), howver this is in the studio where drums are played with no bleed noise.

I've been asked to record a band live... I fear this method will havee too much bleed. What is the best technique for overheads in live situations?

Cheers

 

[mikeyhasnobones]

i would have to say that in my limited experience, i would mic everything up with 57's and 58's and move the oh's closer to the kit (maybe 3-4 ft?) as long as they're not in the way of the drummer . also, have the band set up so there are no amps facing the kit mics, like, at all. this SHOULD cut down on your bleed quite a bit, but if someone else here knows some better condensers to use for that and you have access to them, it would probably be better to use them.

 

[Vagodeoz]

Good suggestion. Close mic the kick, snare and toms with dynamics, and instead of using your pencils as overheads, use them as cymbal mikes. And if you have another one, use it in the hi-hat.
If you have too many toms or too few mikes you can put a mike between two toms and it will do just fine, however you won't have that much control on panning the toms.
Also if the drummer uses headphones instead of floor monitors it will help a lot.

 

[xstatic]

I have done hours upon hours of drum recordings on a live stage. In fact, every year I clock about 70 to 90 hours of them at the sundance film festival from acts like John Hiatt, to Joe Jackson, to Emmy Lou Harris to Sparta to Augustana. Bleed is something that is going to happen no matter what you do. Generally speaking, in a pretty standard kick,snare,rack, rac, floor, hat, OH, OH situation the drums will still be plenty loud that bleed will not be a problem. Personally, on an average kit setup I would place the Overheads at about head height to your self when you are standing. If you do want to point them straight down make sure they are really over the kit and not just at the edges of the kit. One thing to remember is that very few people actually think of the overhead mics as "cymbal" mics. They are usually used as "overhead" mics meaning they are supposed to contain elements of the whole kit. Not only do overheads provide an image and platform for the cymbals, but they can really be effectively used to provide depth and dimension for the rest of the kit itself. What I would really be the most concerned with is how much bleed, especially cymbals, you will quite likely have in the vocal mic.

 

[Squiksilvery]

I'll try my OH's at head height, and stick with my trusty straight down approach

Thanks for the great advice everyone!

 

[visa]

are you recording them at a dedicated recording space or live on stage infront of an audience?

if it's in the studio you should defnitely focus more on the guitar amps. place them in another room or put absorbers around them and above them to prevent them from bleeding into the OHs.

 

[Squiksilvery]

Hi, I agree... but this is for live gigs on stage and in pubs, hence the lack of control on the environment the gear is set up in and the problem of bleed.

Going to try the above suggestion next week.

Cheers

 

[Freethinker]

over head for live performance I use 5 and 7 o'clock with PG81's, these catch it all except the bass, point the overheads towards the rack toms slightly , your snare will come out nice, the only thing is that catching the floor toms can be difficult but i have 3 floor toms, with just a single 16 or something it should be fine for live stuff.

 

[brodgind]

Xstatic is right on the money. I seem to have no problem with the live drums, if the monitors are sensibly arranged, or headphones are used. It is the vocal mics that are pointed at the drums that give me the most grief in the mix.