Miking a drum kit.

[Mr Funk]

I'm going to be recording a friends kit soon and want some advice on which mics to use and distances etc. I don't know anything about the kit, but I will find out and post later. I'm also not sure about the room, but it will simply be a domestic environment, without much natural reverb. I will be sticking one mic in the other room, as it is meant to sound fantastic from there!?

I am hoping to get a tight, punchy 70's R&B sound, like old Commadores stuff.

My mics are as follows:

AKG D25 (x2)
AKG C535
Calrec CB20c with CC50 cap (x2) (same as CM1050)
Calrec CM1051c
Electrovoice RE1000
Electrovoice RE200
Groove Tubes GT33 (matched pair)
Groove Tubes GT55
Oktava MK012 (x2)
Studio Projects C1

 

[Meshuggah]

I am hoping to get a tight, punchy 70's R&B sound, like old Commadores stuff.

That depends more on the drums than the mics

To my limited experience, I've found that micing drums is more a question about positioning the mics that the mics themselves.. of course some mics are better than others, but most decent mics will do the job.

Make sure the drums are tuned well and sound good (new heads etc) then just work with what you have...

 

[Mark7]

If you want that tight and punchy 70s drum sound then your best bet is to put them in the lounge or a bedroom (you have carpets, right?) and close mic. What you want, primarily, is NO room ambience whatsoever. So forget about the mic in the next room for now (you can always add a subtle touch of ambience later).

As for the choice of mics.... that's a toughie. You could start with the GT33s as overhead/Cymbal mics: then add the D25 as the Kick mic, the RE200 on the Snare, the other D25 on the Floor Tom, the Oktavas (with the -10dB pads) on the Rack Toms and the CM1051 on the Hi-Hat.

But, really, it's Perm any 8 from 14.

 

[Mr Funk]

Thanks Mark.

Have you ever used a RE200? It has a very unusual character close up and I think it is meant to be used as a room mic? Still, I will try it on snare, as I just know that once it finds a source it works with it will sound fantastic, as it is so distinct! Has anyone tried the C1 on snare, as I read once that some guy tried it and (surprisingly) found it to be one of the best mics he had ever used on snare?

I will still record one track from the other room, as it gives me another option when mixing. It may sound cool to use a little of that sound in the bridge or chorus to add a little variation?

We are recording directly to Cubase via a Yamaha 01V and are going to try to keep as much separation as possible. I'm not sure if this is the 96k version? What are the pre's like on this board? I know they will not be great, but it just makes life a little easier than a load of separate pre's. I don't want to hire anything either.

 

[DJL]

Has anyone tried the C1 on snare, as I read once that some guy tried it and (surprisingly) found it to be one of the best mics he had ever used on snare

Humm, what other mic's did he say he used on snare?

 

[Mr Funk]

Can't remember, as I read this a while ago. I do remember that he was not expecting it to work well in this application and was surprised when it did.