Pro studio, amateur me

M

mrhotapples

New member
My band's going into the studio vs. my garage to track drums, and we'll go back when we can afford to to track guitars/bass and then vocals another day. The place we're recording at is very nice, lots of great gear, built from the ground up for recording, no modifications, and it's gonna be badass!

The problem is that I know the owner and I'm pretty much tracking everything along with our mutual friend being there to assist so that we can get a really low rate. I don't know the gear so well, so give me some advice.

if you had:


4 channels of current generation SSL Xlogic,
4 channels of Vintech 437,
and a Control 24 (so 16 channels of some kind of Focusrite pre)

Plus

A few DBX 162s
And

3 SM57s
2 MD441s
3 MD421s
3 SM81s
1 KSM27
1 U87
2 I5s
2 M177s
1 ATM25
1 E609

What would you use to track drums (provided the drummer and the kit is up for it!) for a big, tight punchy sound? Point me in the right direction.
 
I'm sure your friend won't raise the rate to give you advice on what he would do....
 
I guess it depends on the size of the kit and the type of music. I don't know much about all those mics you listed, but I'm not sure if I see a pair of condensors.

Personally, I'd go with a pair of condensors as overheads, 57 on the snare, and whichever one of those makes a good kik mic. 4 mics.
 
My breakdown would probably be as follows with the most important things coming first:

E609 on kick
sm57 or i5 on snare (varying opinions on that one)
sm81s as overheads either in Glyn Johns or Recorderman
u87 as room mic (omni)
421s on toms
441s on bottom of toms
M177 on cymbals

and, just as a fun little thing I do sometimes, an sm57 or an i5 in a non-lubed condom placed oh so gently into a bucket filled with water right in front of the kick drum.

Really these are just some defacto choices for kit in my eyes. I might switch or even add the u87 or the KSM27 on the kick drum in order to better catch it. I honestly often don't see the need for tom mics or cymbal mics. If you aren't going to use the 87 as a room mic, you could use it as a killer mono OH. Heck, if you want to experiment with what you have available, you can put that up as a mono OH and the sm81s as OHs in whatever setup you like.
 
Here's what I would do:

Kick in: SM57
Kick Out: KSM27
Snr bot: I5
snr top: 57
All toms: 421
OHs: SM81 (maybe add the third to the ride if it's used a lot)
Room: U87

I would put the snare top, both OHs and the room mic thru the Vintech (the 437 is the 4ch version right?), and the snare bot and both kicks thru the Xlogic. Don't be scared to use the EQs on these units to "shape" the sound - I wouldn't do anything too drastic or surgical with them - and do this before you record (provided you're comfortable doing this).

I would be tempted to slap on of the dBX 162s over the OHs, but make sure that you're confident of what you're doing!
 
aitikin said:
and, just as a fun little thing I do sometimes, an sm57 or an i5 in a non-lubed condom
Click to expand...
OK, if you're just going to hang that line out there...;)


The top 5 responses EVERYONE is thinking immediately after reading that post:

5. Using a condom to keep the fluids from getting *in*? Weird. Does that mean I should turn the condom inside out?

4. When we were kids we used to do the same thing, but instead of a bucket of water, we'd use a cantaloupe.

3. But it sounds sooooo much better without the condom.

2. By the time I get the condom on the mic, the drummer doesn't feel like playing anymore.


and the number one response that EVERY one thinks immediately after reading that post....


1. I'll have to get smaller condoms for that.


:D


G.
 
Last edited:
SouthSIDE Glen said:
OK, if you're just going to hang that line out there...;)


The top 5 responses EVERYONE is thinking immediately after reading that post:

5. Using a condom to keep the fluids from getting *in*? Weird. Does that mean I should turn the condom inside out?

4. When we were kids we used to do the same thing, but instead of a bucket of water, we'd use a cantaloupe.

3. But it sounds sooooo much better without the condom.

2. By the time I get the condom on the mic, the drummer doesn't feel like playing anymore.


and the number one response that EVERY one thinks immediately after reading that post....


1. I'll have to get smaller condoms for that.


:D


G.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA. No, I don't have any samples right now of it unfortunately. It's been a while since I've been able to convince a band to let me do it.
 
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