Miking drums for my first session ever

[mplnckstrat]

Hello everyone,

I've been wanting to record on my own for ages, and finally made the plunge. My first session is coming up, and I'm not sure how to go about miking up my first drum kit. I'll give a rundown of what gear I have to help you folks help me...

Yamaha MG16/6FX mixer

Tascam DA-38

Alesis CLX-440 compressor/limiter/expander

3 Shure SM-57s

1 Shure Beta 52

2 Samson C02 pencil condenser mics
(I ordered 2 Rode NT-1s and a Marshall MXL-2100-P...they're on back order)

1 Sennheiser e835s


That's it for now. OK, assuming I use 2 of the SM-57s on the guitars, what would be a good mic setup for the drums?? I only want to record the drums on 4 tracks of the DA-38. The drummer has only 2 toms (1 rack, 1 floor), but 6 cymbals (ride, 3 crashes, 2 splashes, and he uses them all). He works the hi-hats alot and plays with a TIGHT picollo (sp?) snare.

I figured the Beta 52 for the kick, SM-57 for the snare, and the C02s as overheads. I'm just worried that the hi-hat may get a little lost with this setup. Am I just pannicking? Anyone have any other ideas?? These guys are my guinea pigs to get used to my equipment, but I'd like to start off as well as possible.

Also, I bought Event TR-8s to mix with and I like their sound. Any advice would be welcome!! Thanks.

PS Would a used SPX90 be a good way to go for a first fx processor?? I don't want to rely on the built in processor for very long, but it comes in handy for some stuff.

 

[Massive Master]

That's probably how I'd mic it up in your situation. If you have enough inputs, you could mic the toms and just send the OH's and the toms to two groups, recording the groups to the 88. Just remember that once it's there, it's there for good. So, make sure the toms aren't too loud. A bit too quiet is usually fine. A bit too loud is downright irritating and pulls the listener back into the "Oh yeah, this is just a recording" frame of mind.

TR8's - I'm not a big fan, but if you can get used to them, they should do you fine. Listen to a lot of commercial stuff that you're very familiar with so you can get their flavor down. Almost any respectable monitor will work well as long as your familiar with their personality.

SPX90 - That's a fairly old unit with a pretty "classic" sound... Certainly not "bad," but has a pretty narrow "usage window" in my opinion. If you're specializing in 80's rock & metal, by all means grab it up. Otherwise, Lexicon makes some nice (fairly cheap) units that I would find much more useable. MPX something or other...

Best of luck on your session!

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com

 

[BrettB]

you're setup seems reasonable.

I wouldn't worry about the hihat: depends on the music stylen, but especially in rock the spill in the snare mic is more than enough, especially whern you compress the snare. The problem you will have is little freedom during mixing, you can't EQ or balance the toms and hihat seperately.

I would recommend to be consider the oh position very carefully before recording, in your setup good overhead positioning can be crucial.


Btw, I hate drummers with that many cymbals . In my experience, the most creative drummers are the ones without many cymbals and splashes and I know what

 

[Massive Master]

Brett has a SOLID point there also - Ask the drummer if he's actually going to USE all those cymbals.

If he is, don't mess with it. It'll throw him off. If he's not, see if you can take a couple away if he's comfortable with that.

JS

 

[Garry Sharp]

Advice from another newbie - I'm only three drum recording sessions ahead of you - be very patient with mic positioning. Do what ever you have to do with the drummer - bribe him - to give you lots of time, move the mics in, out, up, down. With your set up you'll be getting a lot of the sound from the overheads, so moving them back a bit might help, they'll capture a less cymbal heavy balance that way. Also experiment wth a little gaffa on the cymbals, tames them a bit.

But mostly, be very patient.