Mic Splitting

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ZackMayo

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Is it a bad thing to split two bass drum mics into one channel?

Same for two overheads?

Thanks,
 
Do you mean combine? Fine as long as they set well together level, phase and sound wise.
Wayne
 
Why would you want to combine 2 overheads? Just use one and you won't have as much trouble.
 
I have seen alot of articles on using two overheads for imaging!
 
ZackMayo said:
I have seen alot of articles on using two overheads for imaging!
Click to expand...
If you combine them to 1 track, you will loose the imaging. 2 mics panned left and right will give you a stereo image. 2 mics combined on 1 track panned to the center will give you a phase nightmare... in mono.
 
ZackMayo said:
Is it a bad thing to split two bass drum mics into one channel?

Same for two overheads?

Thanks,
Click to expand...


I combine my two kick mic's into one channel. I just built an XLR 'Y" Cable that has two female ends that go into one male.

Just make each cable of the "Y" about six feet long, and make sure that they both are wired exactly the same.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/Brownsound/diy.html


Go to this page.

Then go to "Build an XLR Splitter".

This is a splitter. A combiner (what you are looking for) would be the same wiring diagram, just with the jacks switched.

You will need to use two females (microphone side) and one male (mixer side) rather than the configuration that I have which is one female (microphone) and two males (mixer side.)

Just make sure to use decent parts, and a decent brand of cable. I used a brand of cable called "Carroll" that I got from Parts Express.
http://www.partsexpress.com

Parts Express is one of the best parts houses around.
Also, for XLR ends -I purchased Neutrik ends from http://www.markertek.com

If you buy these things in bulk, you can get a deal and a half on them.

A warning about the Carroll cable - it's got a heavy braid that you will need to
pick apart with a needle.



Tim
 
Maybe I'm just stupid, but it would seem to me that using a splitter would create impedance problems. The normal way of doing this is using a smaller mixer to mix the two mics to a single line out channel.
 
So for a home project would two ambients be overkill or necessary at all.. I am new so any info would be great...

What I have

9pc set with two kicks & snare
hihat, ride, secondary hihat, two chinas, four crashes, and two splashes

I have 8 xlr inputs on my roland vs2000cd.

I just need to learn the best set for the mics if you guys have any ideas.

Thanks,
 
You have 6 toms?
1 mic in each kick (You can combine them on one track, but why?)
1 mic on the snare
2 overheads (on there own track, don't combine them)
1 mic between 2 toms (between tom1 and tom2, and between tom 3 and 4, and between 5 and 6)

That gives you 8 inputs and enough control over levels.
 
If you want more articulation on your hat, you could put a mic on it and combine the 2 kick mics. I stopped mic'ing rides a long time ago. ( the ride will leak into your floor tom mics)

The hat mic is usefull if you do a lot of fancy stuff on the hat, if you are just doing 1/8 or 1/4 notes, don't bother.
 
Thanks for your help guys. It is really cool to be able to do this at the house and so far for being ignorant the recordings aren't that bad. Do you guys recommend any input effects or eqing? What I am doing is recording my parts and FTPing them to a musician in Sweden. I think giving them to him raw is good and we just discovered Drmagog for clean up.

I have read of compressing the bass drums and eqing the ambients...
 
It is always safer if you do that when you mix. There was an advantage to eqing and compressing on the way in when going to analog tape, but not so much with digital.

Drumagog kicks ass.
 
I'm not sure what your hardware limitations are (sounds like inputs at the mixer) but I'm thinking it would be best to think of this as an exersize in skill development to get the best sound possible without the "splitting" of the microphones. You're just asking for phasing, impedance and placement hassles. It's going to look a lot less impressive without all the extra mics cabled up but you're going get a better recording when you get the hang of knowing where the sweet spots are. Even with 2 mics you could get good sounds. The room, placement all play a part...get the best you can with what you've got, no fancy tricks and go from there.

How do your recordings sound? That's the bottom line. I recall...a few years back, getting my son to sit down and just pound out some simple time. I set up a mic and moved it around, recorded it and documented my tests and listened. Broke out another mic...did the same all over again...then with two, so on an so forth. The magic is in the experimentation and listening and finding what works. It's an art man.

Cheers...and best luck to you.

Did I go off the deep end? Sorry.
 
All is well... just learning.. I am going to spend the day making changes and listening for the best sound... thanks for the input everyone...
 
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