Recording a djembe drum..

[dainbramage]

So first of all, my first real interface is finally in the mail heading my direction! Will probably pick it up early next week. Needless to say I am overly excited!

I have a couple of ideas for rhytmic bass-driven kind of reggae'ish songs where I want to use a djembe I got on a backpacker trip through Morocco. I suppose I should use two mics? One below the drum (for bass sounds), and one over (for treble)?

As of now I only have a relatively cheap se2200a condenser mic but planning to get another more decent one in the near future. Would the cheaper one be best suited below or over the drum?

What about compressor settings? EQ? Anything else?

Can't wait to join in on the recording extravaganza!

 

[Steenamaroo]

It's down to your taste or what's going on in the rest of the mix.
Obviously top micing will be thinner and slappier, and bottom micing with be boomier.

If you want a blend then yeah, use two mics, or get it in a nice room and find a blend with one mic in that room.

I've recorded before with a pair. For me, the bottom mic had to be off to the side slightly, the same way you would with a guitar soundhole.
It was far too boomy aiming bang in the middle of the hole.

 

[BigRed360]

I've gotten good results recording a djembe with the two mic method. I used a regular dynamic underneath--something that you might use on a kick drum or bass guitar amp. I then used a condenser above and off to the side a bit. I found that a lot of the "snap" comes from the edge of the drum, and I missed some of that with the upper mic being right in the center. So I moved it about a foot over, and a foot outside the drum, pointed at the edge.

The combination of the signals from the two gave me a real good likeness of the real thing.

Good luck!

 

[witzendoz]

I mic top and bottom, usually with a sm57 on top and a D112 kick mic on the bottom. In your case I would use the condenser on the top and anything that can pick up bass on the bottom. The sound from the bottom is usually doof and is only added to give the sound the kick drum effect. If possible record the bottom mic on a separate track so you can sort out the blend and eq later. Depending on what it is playing along with, for example a drum kit and bass guitar, I sometimes leave out the bottom mic in the mix as it clashes with the kick and bass, you still pick up the bass of the Djembe is still licked up by the top mic but not to the same extent. Also don't forget to check the phase relationship of the top and bottom mic.

The top is a combination of snare and toms. The Djembe played correctly can sound like a whole drum kit.

Living in Fremantle means that a lot of Djembe's have turned up over the years.

Alan.

 

[phriq]

Also don't forget to check the phase relationship of the top and bottom mic.

This is key. I know alot of people who start recording or mixing drums forget this, but if you don't fix phase issues (often by inverting one of the tracks) then you will most likely run into issues.

 

[TheChikenMaster]

This is key. I know alot of people who start recording or mixing drums forget this, but if you don't fix phase issues (often by inverting one of the tracks) then you will most likely run into issues.

Or your djembe will go from sounding like big and fat to thin and dead

 

[dainbramage]

Thanks guys! Can anyone elaborate on fixing phase issues?

 

[witzendoz]

Thanks guys! Can anyone elaborate on fixing phase issues?

With the top mic turned up bring up the level of the bottom mic. If the sound starts to thin out or the sound become defuse (slight phasing effect) flip the phase on the bottom mic. If flipping the phase does not solve the problem adjust the distance of the bottom mic from the Djembe and see if that fixes the problem (unless you have one of these very expensive mic pres with various phase positions most of us don't). Flipping the phase usually works.

If you have already recorded the tracks (which is why I always say record the top and bottom mics to separate tracks) you can adjust the phase my moving the bottom mic track a few milliseconds forward until the sound is right, sometimes a good starting point is trying to align the peaks of the hits but you will find the attack is different between the mics. However doing the fixing after the recording is a last resort you should try to get this right at the recording stage.

alan.

 

[ecktronic]

Remember to check for phasing between the bottom mic and top mic. Otherwise you could loose a whole lot of that nice low end.

G

 

[Steenamaroo]

Just to add to this 'phase' thing.

I should have mentioned at the start, if you mic one source from two different sides (180 degrees), as you will here, or as you would a snare, you reverse the polarity of one of the microphones.

Say for arguments sake, the front of the mic is + and the back is -, and your drum skin (in slomo) moves down towards the ground half an inch,

the lower mic diaphragm is pushed towards - while the top mic (in the same direction) moves towards plus.

In basic terms a plus and a minus cancel out.

This might not be the most technical way to remember, or may not even be technically correct, but there you go. Pinch of salt and all that.


Which one you reverse is irrelevant unless there are other mics or sound sources.

With a snare, I'd reverse polarity of the underside mic because it's physical placement is 180 degrees out from the top mic, the tom mics and the overhead mics.
It's the odd one out.

Hope that helps.