Recorderman for metal?

[mattr]

I'm going to be recording for a friend's hard-rock/metal band tomorrow and don't really have time to spend hours playing with overhead positioning. I'll still spend a while tweaking a bit, but it would be great if you could chip in with your 2 cents on this commonly asked topic

I love how the recorderman gets a nice image of the whole kit, however it would seem this is more suited for more 'delicate' styles (or where mic's are limited). How would this hold up with close-mic'd toms being pushed into the mix? I'm a bit worried that I'd lose the cymbals in all of it.

When I do live stuff I just do an AB pair over the kit spaced about 6' apart, pointing down towards the cymbals and slightly inwards, which works quite well to get a good image of the cymbals and a bit less of the kit.

At the moment I'm leaning towards ORTF above the drummer's head - I've heard this is good but how high? Pointing towards the toms or the cymbals?

I don't think XY will give enough of a wide image, but I may be wrong.

I'm using NT3s (hypercardioid... I know ORTF is meant to be cardioid)


Could anyone help out a confused teenager ?


Also, one quickie... mic'ing a floor tom with a MD421II... above pointing at the skin or underneath?

Thanks

 

[Dogbreath]

I've used Recorderman for metal and it came out fine but....

I added some close mics to toms (with a borrowed 421 across the top skin on my floor tom ) and a room mic about 4 ft back and 8 1/2 ft up. I added a skosh of sizzle to the top end and cut a bit of bottom on my room mic.

Just watch your phase and you'll be good to go.