Old school soul drums

[SteveMcB]

OK, I'm about to have my first attempt at recording live drums, and the tune is kindof an old school, Wilson Pickett/Ray Charles/Motown vibe, and I'd quite like to get the drums sounding as close to that style as possible (I am aware this is pretty much impossible with the equipment I have). My questions relate to any suggestions as to what micing techniques, compression assignment and other techniques you'd all care to recommend. More specifics below!

The kit:
Old 5-piece Pearl, new Evans skins (sorry, not sure which type), sabian cymbals, well tuned. No hole in front head and I can't cut one

The drummer:
Very young and not flashy but very solid

The room:
Church auditorium - big room, seats around 700 (400 ground floor, 300 mezzanine) lots of soft furnishings. Not a bad sounding room, minimal bounceback from the back wall even when empty

The mics:
1 x Shure Beta 58
zillions of 57's and 58's
1 x Studio Projects C1
1 x Rode NT1
1 x Peavey 520i large diaphragm dynamic (works well live on bass/kick)
1 x Peavey omni small diaphragm (lies around at the church)

The pre's:
Mackie 1402 VLZ (not pro)

The comp:
2 channels of behringer (I know, I know, peavey and behringer)

The recorder:
Roland VS 840 (max 4 ins at once)

I'm gonna try out:
- The 3-mic technique tubedude posted about a while ago, with the NT1 and C1 as the OH's
- Kick, snare and (well they're not a pair) but C1 and NT1 as OH's
- Mono with the C1 as OH, 57 on snare and NT1 or Peavey on kick

Any suggestions about which is likely to be best? (or alternate techniques)

Mono or stereo for the old vibe?

Compress kick and snare independently, or the whole kit as a stereo submix?

Any violent objections or problems I'm likely to have with using different mics for overheads?

Any other input would be appreciated too...

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Why can't you cut a hole in the head? If you did, you'd be glad later, trust me.

 

[SteveMcB]

Not my kit - belongs to the church - not my place to modify it...

I wish I could!

Steve

 

[zbert]

Perhaps you could borrow a front head with a hole already cut in. This is going to be a big help. Most drummers have an extra one of these sitting around. At worst you could maybe get a broken head from a music store, cut the hole, do the recording, then put the orginal front head back on.

 

[mikeh]

Many of the old R&B hits in the 60's were recorded with a single room mic placed carefully to record the entire rhythem section playing live (mono recording).

So if you really want a 60's retro sound use one mic either directly over the drums or maybe 5 feet in front of the drums.

Obviously, you have several micing options - but I think a 3 mic option with a 57 on the snare, the Peavy on the kick and one of the condensers as an overhead may be be worth a try. As a general rule, a small diaphram condensor works better as drum overhead (better for the cymbals).

 

[Magpie99]

One technique I've heard of for micing closed kicks is to move a lit match or lighter in front of the resonant head while the drummer plays the kick, and when the air blows the flame out, that's where you put the mic.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

One technique I've heard of for micing closed kicks is to move a lit match or lighter in front of the resonant head while the drummer plays the kick, and when the air blows the flame out, that's where you put the mic.

It's worth a try, I suppose, but with a completely closed kick, you are not going to get any beater attack without a second mic on the batter side.

 

[mikeh]

Again, to reference the 60's retro sound - there was not much beater attack in the kick sounds. Many of the 60's drummers came from more of a jazz background and the kick had more of an open sound without the beater hit. The tighter beater attack started in the late 60's and early 70's when drummers went with the single head sound.