Micing kick... and more...

[Roel]

I'll be recording a quick demo on friday. All instruments directly via direct outs on their amps. Drums will be mic'd. With 5 tracks max.

Now... We might be able to lend some mics, but I still have some questions.

Without the extra mics, we would have several vocal mics, (SM58 + copy, some beyerdynamic, Soundcraft and a Pearl, don't know the exact types.) and my AKG C3000B. This would result in: AKG as mono overhead, decapitated sm58 on snare.
1) Now what do I do with the kick? What does a kick through a vocal mic sound like? Pro's (if any) and cons?
2) And what to do with the other 2 tracks?
3) Or would it be better to use SM58's to get a stereo overhead? 4) What do I use the AKG for in this case?
5) I'm using a digital recorder. Which means digital EQ and bad pres. Would running the mics through a behringer mixer (pres + eq) be better?
6) This would also result in primitive 'limiting', analog doesn't sound as bad when it clips as digital... Right? Good idea from this point of view?

 

[Gidge]

1)Go with the 58 with the ball off on kick and the akg overhead...a sm57 or 58 has been done before on kick so you wont be the first....with the right eq you can get it to sound decent.....the con is that it isnt a kick mic drum and you wont get that deep round sound..I think a 58's frequency response goes down to 50hz....

2)the other 3 tracks can be 1 on snare and 2 as stereo on toms....

3)&4)that 3000 would be your best bet as a overhead...dynamic mics just dont cut it for overheads IMO......

5)Depends on the digital recorder and the quality of its pres....maybe do a test of a recording of the exact same material thru the behringer and the recorder, and see what gets a better sound.....running thru the Behringer into the recorder is also putting another step in the chain, therefore more chance of your sound getting distorted....

6)I think what you are describing is tape compression, which is awesome especially for drums and hard guitars, but it doesnt apply here....even though you are going thru an analog board, you are still going into a digital recorder and clipping is nasty and not allowed....

 

[Roel]

Thanks Gidge...

On 6) I don't mean tape compression... What I mean is: if the analog pre is near it's saturation point, it will cut off anything that tries to get above it. If I make sure this saturation level is below the digital cliping-point, I'm fine... Right?

 

[Gidge]

Clipping a preamp is nasty....getting it as hot as possibe is ideal, so yes you are ok.....

And to add, make sure you experiment with mic positions, especially the kick and overhead, to get the best possible sound ....on overheads you can even try micing from right above the drummers head pointing out over the drums (picked up that trick here)....the key word is experiment, because getting the best sound from mic positions varies greatly with the tuning of the drums, the playing style, the sound of the room, etc.....

 

[Roel]

Well... the room is my previous rehearsel room. It's my old band too.

And the room has... you never guess... EGG CARTONS!!

I'll experiment... But we only have about 3 hours to setup and track... Overdubs can be done later. But the basic tracking... Well... Timelimit.

It really is an experiment. They'll record a CD for a small lable in July. They want me to play piano on one song. Kindof giving them hardcore-dudes something else to listen to, I guess. And the recorder doesn't weight as much as my digital piano... so...

 

[Gidge]

Cool....good luck and let us hear how everything comes out.....