recorderman method

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revamp

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ok i read about the recordingman technique. i was a little confused by tubedude's instructions. here is what he said:


here's my trick. It's fast and it works perfect every time.
1. Place the "Left" overhead mic directly over the center of the snare at the hieght of two drum sticks-held end-to-end(from the center of the snare, straight up, to the capsule of the mic).
2. Next; take the drum sticks (still held end-to-end) from the center of the snare over to above your ( i.e." the drummers") right shoulder and place your "right" overhead mic here.
3. Fine tune the placement by using a mic cable and measurinb the distance from the center of the Kick to each of these mics is also equidistant from the kick and snare.
4. listen with headphones and have the drummer lightly hit his kick drum, and adjust the "right" mics angle until the kick is in the middle of your "image".



first of all when he says measure the distance from center of the kick to each of the mics so they are equidistant from the kick and the snare??? that is pure nonsense. how can the distance from snare to the mics be the same as from the kick to the mics?? what exactly did he mean by this? maybe he meant that the distance from the kick to the left mic will be the same as from the kick to the right mic..

my other question is, some people say that both the left and right mics will be pointed towards the snare, but according to tubedude's instructions the right mic needs to be move around until the kick drum is in the middle of my "image," so that means that the right mic possibly wont be pointing towards the snare, correct?

thanks for the help
 
Well, you do have a point, when you measure the distance from center snare and make it the same for both OH's, it can never be the same to center kick, simply because the snare is not in the center of the kick.

But the snare sound in the OH's is important.

I've left this technique a long time ago and prefer a stereo placement for OH's, either ORTF at close distance or DIN for a little more distance.

Works very well.
 
rule numero uno: there's always trade offs...

rule #2: refer to rule numero uno...

if the snare and kick centered is of utmost importance, then... the distance for the snare mics need to be the same as close as possible and the distance for the kick mics need to be the same as close as possible. example: snare distance - 44 inches and kick distance - 60 inches. I don't always use the same distances.

there's no rule that says the snare and kick have to be centered. they're not centered in the kit...

for your second question... there's no set... has to be positioning. set the mics up using the guideline, then move them around some to get the imaging you want. since you probably will role off some of the low end on the overheads, if you are also close micing the kick, snare and toms, then the kick centering will be less important (rule #1) and the snare centering will override the kick. you'll probably get more snare in the overheads anyways, so the snare may by default play a larger role in the overheads.

use the setup as a guideline only. once you've done this setup several times, the distances will be become less important... depending on the desired kit image.
 
revamp said:
first of all when he says measure the distance from center of the kick to each of the mics so they are equidistant from the kick and the snare??? that is pure nonsense. how can the distance from snare to the mics be the same as from the kick to the mics?? what exactly did he mean by this? maybe he meant that the distance from the kick to the left mic will be the same as from the kick to the right mic..
Click to expand...

You were correct in your last assumption. The technique calls for measuring the distance from the center of the kick to each of the mic capsules. So, for example, your left mic is exactly 3 feet above the snare, and its about 5 feet from the center of the kick. Place the right mic in a position over the drummer's shoulder where its' capsule is 3 feet from the center of the snare, and 5 feet from the center of the kick. I just made those numbers up, of course, so the easiest way to measure is to get a piece of string (or a microphone cable) and have someone hold it at the center of the snare. Stretch the string up to the capsule of the mic and hold it taut. Mark the string where it meets the capsule with a piece of tape. Then, with the other person still holding the string at the center of the snare, stretch the string taut from the mic (where its marked by the tape) to the center of the kick. Have your assistant hold the string against the center of the kick (now he/she is holding the string tightly at both the snare and the kick). With the string held tightly at both ends, move the tape-marked part of the string to a place that would theoretically be over the drummer's shoulder. Because the tape marks where the other mic was in relation, distance-wise, to the snare and kick, you can place the right mic here and it will be the same distances from both kick and snare as the other mic was. Then you can adjust the right mic until it is angled properly.

I hope you were able to follow all of that...I know its not the clearest description. Someone really should take a series of pictures of them making this measurement so everyone can see exactly what we're talking about.
 
If you have problems understanding the geometry of it, then build a sample using PVC pipe.

Build a Tee shaped pvc structure.
The width of the tee-top is the spread you want between the mics
The length of the tee-leg is the distance from the kick point to overheads.

Imagine your two overheads, one at either end of the top tee.
Now imagine the end of the leg at the kick impact point.

Kick point:
No matter which way you twist or turn the tee, both mics are exactly the same distance to the kick point.

For the snare point:
Add a length of string in a loop from each end of the tee-top.
This is the distance from the mics to the snare impact point.
The snare impact point forms a triangle with the ends of the tee.

Hold the string loop tight at the mid-point.
Rotate and adjust the tool until the center of the loop touches the snare impact point.

Now, your overheads are EXACTLY equidistant from both the kick and the snare.

Once you find a sweet-spot location, make the tee and loop to fit. This will give you very rapid, and very fast setup every time.
 
it is making a little bit of sense, but can anybody possibly draw a diagram? thanks for all the replies.
 
revamp said:
it is making a little bit of sense, but can anybody possibly draw a diagram? thanks for all the replies.
Click to expand...

There are past threads with diagrams. Use a piece of string like Adam suggested and it's pretty easy. Just tape the string to the kick and snare and pull up the center until it reaches the first mic and tie a knot there. Pull the knot over to the other side and that is where the second mic goes. The mics will end up being only a foot or two away from each other.

Another 3 mic technique is to put one mic above the snare pointing towards the toms and another a few inches above the floor tom pointing towards the toms. The 3rd mic goes out in front of the kick.
 
I have two shoestrings ties together to make one long string. I have been having the drummer hold one end of the string with his finger in the center of the snare. The other end I have him lock against the head with the beater and hold it. I then bring the loop tight with my finger, place the mic, and move to the other side, place the mic, done. Its not scientific, but it works, fast.
 
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