Live Drum Recording Techniques

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Drake

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My band and I are recording our demo and I have a question about recording live drums...My drummer for live applications uses an Alesis DM5 with triggers on everything except the snare. He is wanting to use it for recording also..I need to know what's the best route for recording live drums: using the triggers with the drum module or miking everything. If it makes any difference, we are a blues/rock band. I'm using a Fostex X-77 4-track and we may be upgrading to a Roland VS-880. Please help me out here. This has caused much debate and I can't get an answer from the guys around my hometown that do home recording because they use drum machines. Thanks.
 
The live mic method would produce the sound closest to what you hear while you're playing
but using the MIDI file gives you some truly amazing edit power for timing, velocity and
drum sound choices. If you don't need to mess with the drum sounds after the fact, go live.
Plus- if the snare isn't triggered, how are you going to get that sound out of a module?

[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 08-04-1999).]
 
I'm a drummer and heavily into recording on my PC. I would say this: If your drummer knows his electronic equipment inside and out, and can adapt and change his setup as the recording dictates, then go for. If he is unsure of how things work and isn't flexible, stick with micing the live kit.

If you are limited to 4 tracks simultaneous, you are goin to have to mix some of the inputs upon recording. This has it's obvious drawbacks. If you can record all of the playing as MIDI, then you definately have much more control in the editing stage.

I think it all depends on how you want the work flow to happen.

I hope this helps.

Conrad Josepi
 
Thanks guys. This really helps a lot. In answer to drstawl's question, He does use a SM57 on his snare drum. That's where it could get weird. I would welcome any suggestions as to how to possibly combine the two(miking and drum module).
One other debate: If we are to combine triggers and mikes, what works best with the kick drum?
Well, thanks again guys, I'll try this out and get back to you.

Thanx
Drake
 
One possible setup is to use triggers on everything but the snare drum and cymbals. I've always found the dynamics and realism of sampled snares and cymbals to be a bit lacking. This of course depends on your drummers style - single snare hits are fine, but lots of ghosting and shuffly kind a stuff can be tricky for a trigger.

Rent a little 8 or 12 channel mixer for a day - $30 or so.

Then, you could take the outputs of your drum module into a couple inputs of a mixer. Mic up the cymbals with a pair of overhead mic's, and mic the snare up. Send all of these inputs into the mixer as well - Balance/Pan/EQ the signals and send it all out through your main stereo left and right outputs of your mixer into your 4 track. With a few run through recordings, I think you could achieve an decent sound.


Emeric



[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 08-04-1999).]
 
Thanks Emeric. I found that setup to be most practical in my situation. One last question: What about the bass drum? Triggered or miked..My dad who owns a recording studio swears by a miked bass drum but my stubborn drummer wants it triggered to get the live sounds he gets at a gig. Is there a way to possibly record both a miked kick and a triggered kick at the same time on two seperate tracks ans scrub the one doesn't work as well?
 
Drake:

Trigger vs mic....really depends on how wet you want the final drum mix. Most rock music relies on a tight backbeat - if you get the kick/snare to mushy with effects the tune can loose its feel. The advantage of recording dry is that you can always add effects later on at mixdown (providing you have enough tracks to keep the kick isolated). Starting dry and adding effects to taste is generally more productive than trying to 'dry up' a track with too much verb, trebble..whatever.

Triggers are great for adding presence to a live kit if you are into that, but they can be dicey in the studio if you're new to the technique (as Conrad already mentioned).

Simultaneous recording of a single instrument (mic and module)?..sure. Its no different than running a mic from a guitar cabinet to one channel and the line out from the amp head to another channel - two samples of the same source - keep the best or mix them both in. You are only limited by the number of available tracks and how well you can isolate each input. Experiment...have fun!

Dr.D
 
I would suspect that the drummer isnt happy with his "real" kick sound. Tune it up, and mute it as necessary with blankets, pillows or whatever works.

I would definately mic a kick over a trigger any day. I like a big open sound on all of my drums. Use a good bass mic, such as a AKG-d112. It works great for kicks or micing a bass cabinet.

Good luck, and tune those drums!

Conrad Josepi
 
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