Micing a full kit

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RandomHero

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working on a pretty ambitious project. although i appreciate all genres of music, i thought it would be really challenging to make a short (4-5 song) EP of metal songs me and my friend wrote. i know what im going to do for guitars, vox and bass, but i know that like in any recording environment, the drum set is the hardest to... "do."

So cutting to the chase, i would really just appreciate any tips on how to mic a drum kit for a "metal" sound. here is the gear i intend on using.

Pearl drum kit

Focusrite saffire pro 40 audio interface (8 mic lines, all with preamps)

Overheads: Samson CO2

Kick drum: Shure pg52 (BIG question, how do i get a kickass metal sound from the bass drum?)

Tom1 & 2: SM57s

Snare: SM57

Hi-Hat: AKG perception 220 with the dB pad on to eliminate bleeding from rest of kit

Floor tom: Audix d2

any and all help/comments are appreciated!!!
 
+1 on Greg's guide. The room sound in metal drums plays a HUGE part. Metal drums aren't usually roomy sounding per-se, but they sound big. Make sure you have some sort of treatment. Other than that just mess around with mic placement and stuff. Samples are used a lot of the time in modern "metal." What kind of metal are you playing? Are we talking Iron Maiden, or Bring Me the Horizon? The definition of metal has changed over these past few years...
 
When I've had to do metal drums really, the only thing I've done differently is try to get more click out of the bass drum.

Use greg's tips they are ultra helpful.
 
https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...ammy-producer-just-passing-word-along-316382/

If you're trying to get heavy sounds like on a major record release, chances are you'll need to capture more of the kit if you can. More ambiance specifically. Room mics, hall mics, etc. Close miking a kit gets you the source stuff, more of a dry sound, but it's that ambiance that makes rock drums what they are. It emphasizes power in a mix, especially once heavy guitars and all that shit come into play. 9 times out of 10, a properly placed hall mic seals the deal on the drum sounds of a rock record...it brings the kit together. It's definitely not like close miking everything (without room mics) and then using artificial verb to fill in the rest. To me, drums done like that tend to sound incredibly cheesy. If at all, I would emphasize trying to use more room mics to capture the full sound of a kit, then you can support that by sampling the kit and use that later to drive an artificial reverb on top of the natural room mics.

Some will say that minimal micing is best, which is fine, but that tends to work better in live sounding genres like jazz, funk, probably even punk rock or garage rock. Heavy metal drums done right (in my opinion) make use of room mics.

Here's a *basic* example track list of a typical way I learned to record drums from some of the rock producers that mentored me.... "according to various major rock records". Very general explanation, so Im not gonna go into detail on preamps, types of mics and or dynamic processing unless you need that. The trick is to place, listen, access and reposition if you need to:

First off, i would walk around the room either clapping (slowly to hear the reverb tails of the room) or hitting a snare (slowly). The idea is to find the sweet spot in the room where you're going to have the least phasing issues, comb-filtering issues, and most ideal sound (to taste). Doing this will help you identify problems in the room and how to correct that or at least mic for it.

Kick In: microphone inside the kick drum aimed at capturing the attack of the kick.
Kick Out: Wider ranged microphone aimed at capturing the low frequencies of the kick and additional punch (I prefer the B52 for this). Could also be inside the kick or probably within 6-inches to 1 foot from.
Kick Smash: dynamic mic about 1ft from the kick aimed at the floor towards the kick (for reflections). This is compressed heavy to bring out sustain and additional punch.
Snare top: mic on top
Snare Bot: bottom mic
Tom 1
Tom 2 (etc etc etc)
HH: hi hat mic
Ride: ride mic
OH (stereo): your main source to capturing the full image of a kit, probably the most important set of mics to place.
Room1: Mic in far left corner of your room (could be up high in the ceiling corner or down low capturing reflections off the floor.
Room2: Mic in far right corner (then repeat whatever you did for your first room mic)
Room smash: mono mic placed a few feet from the kit (ideally a place that captures the most even distribution of the entire kit) also heavily compressed
Drum hall: Mic placed in a hall or other room in the vicinity of the kit. Ideally a live hall works best.
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3 mics on the kick? Stereo overheads and 4 room mics?

That's all fine and dandy if you're in a pro studio with pro gear in a million dollar room built specifically to sound incredible. Chances are though, you're a modest home recorder with a limited budget and space. All those room mics are gonna sound like ass in the garage or spare bedroom. Don't think that you have to use 3 mics on the kick.

Let's keep some perspective here.
 
I disagree Greg. He should not ever record a single note until he throws down $100,000 on mics.
 
You simply can't record a snare unless you have a mic at every lug.
 
.....and triggers. hell..fuck the drums...put triggers on your sticks!!!
 
...room mics? like Greg said, what are the chances he's got a room worth mic'ing??? The less room the better surely?!
 
cobaltaudio said:
...room mics? like Greg said, what are the chances he's got a room worth mic'ing??? The less room the better surely?!
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Yup. That's my point exactly. Room mics are awesome if you have a space worth miking. Most home recorders don't. What pros do in pro studios doesn't really translate to some guy in his basement with budget gear.

The OP said he has 8 inputs and a 5-pc kit. I wouldn't recommend he use 3 of them just for the kick and the rest for room mics.

I'd say use properly placed stereo overheads, and close mic everything else. That leaves one input empty. You can use that for the room, if you want, or the snare bottom.

If you want the kick to sound "metal", put the mic inside the drum close to the beater contact spot, use a plastic or wood beater, and scoop a bunch of low mids from the kick track. Or use sample replacement.
 
It's metal, so just tune your snare and kick. The rest of the drums don't matter. Also, to make your drums even more metal, make sure to use duct tape and wads of toilet paper to deaden everything. Also, keep your cymbals as close to your drums as possible. So what if your ride occasionally slams into your floor tom rim. You can edit that shit out, right? Besides, cymbals bleeding in on everything sounds cool.

Seriously, TUNE YOUR DRUMS!!! I have heard so many drumtracks ruined because a lot of drummers can't tune.
 
:laughings:

The ride comment killed me.

I like to use a D112 on the floor, you have no idea how many times I've had to ask drummers to raise the ride just so I can get it placed on their floor tom.
 
haha, he said metal, not metalica's last few albums.
 
I keep my cymbals low - no higher than eye level. The ride goes right between and over the two floor toms. There's plenty of room for the two tom mics. I'm cool like that. If I can't see the tops of my cymbals, then they're way too high. :)
 
Also for what it's worth:

I wouldn't bother with the hat mic. I would rather have a spaced pair of overheads than a mic on the hats, especially for metal.

Plus you won't have any issues with the amount of hat you get in the overhead mics.

So I say use the hat mic in conjunction with the other OH mic and go spaced pair on the overheads.
 
Greg_L said:
I keep my cymbals low - no higher than eye level. The ride goes right between and over the two floor toms. There's plenty of room for the two tom mics. I'm cool like that. If I can't see the tops of my cymbals, then they're way too high. :)
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Yeah but at least you have accepted the reality that a mic needs to fit under your cymbals.
 
Guitargodgt said:
Yeah but at least you have accepted the reality that a mic needs to fit under your cymbals.
Click to expand...

Yeah there's plenty of room for mics, although bleed can sometimes be an issue. I don't care. That's what gates are for. I don't bash the bujeezus out of my cymbals anyway (anymore).
 
Here is a mix I did without a hat mic and why I say you don't need one (IMO of course):

 
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