Recording drums for the first time.

lurek100

lurek100

New member
Hi there.
Hope you all ok.
I would like to record drums for the first time, I purchased the some mics and wold like to ask you for some advise.

for the start I have Motu 828 mk3 with 2 mic inputs and behringer ada8000 all together gives me 10 inputs.

the mics I have and when I thought to use them.

akg112 - for kick
shure sm57 - for top snare
shure sm58 - for bottom snare
se 2200a - I thought about hi hat
2 x rode nt5 - overheads , also could you advise me how to set them up properly?
sennheiser e906 - I dont really have idea where to use it

unfortunatelly I have no more mics to pick up the room. but maybe better idea would be to get e906 on hi hat and se2200a do the mono room?

thanks for any advices.
 
If I were you I would forget about bottom snare and hi hat for now. Those are often unnecessary mics. The overheads will get a good amount of snare and hi hat. I would prioritize the toms before bottom snare and hi hat.
I would do as follows:
akg112 - for kick
Shure SM57 - for top snare
Shure SM58 - Rack toms
sennheiser e906 (presence switch engaged) - Floor Tom
se 2200a - Mono room
2 x rode nt5 - overheads
Since it is your first time recording I will tell you that playing with mic placement is crucial. The difference between a good sound and a bad sound could be an inch or two of placement. TUNE YOUR DRUMS, USE FRESH HEADS and read this: https://homerecording.com/bbs/equip...regs-general-guide-rock-drums-newbies-273077/

Also I would personally set up the overheads in the XY position if it was my first time recording drums as it is a very safe way to be assured a decent overhead sound without introducing phase problems.
 
thanks for the answer. I definitely try as you say. I dont know any overheads technique but will find that xy on youtube.
Thanks for that article its really good. Im already in half of it.
If you could just advise me how to set up mics for toms it would be absolutely wonderful.
e906 is bit squery and I dont really have idea how to set it to floor tom. I assume that sm58 should go between small and meddle tom. how far should it be and which way pointed?
huge thanks for your effort.
 
Sure thing!
Here is a simple video on XY: How to Record Drums - XY overhead technique - YouTube
For the rack toms yes, you should place your mic in between the two. I would keep it about 3 or 4 inches above the drums to make sure it is properly picking up both of them.
On the floor tom you would want the mic just above the rim of the drum pointed towards the center. I generally keep that mic about two knuckles above the rim. I use a MD421 which obviously has a easier shape for micing toms, however if you put the e906 pointing downwards on a boom stand you should be able to get similar results.
 
thank you very much, I will do all you suggested and will let you know how its gone and send you some results.
 
I use the e609 on the bottom of my snare as my normal setup. I like it... but only have a handful of personal microphones to compare it to (57, i5 or a sdc).

I've used other mics on the bottom of the snare on other occasions in different studios but it can be hard to compare if you are not going from mic to mic.

Are you doing close mics on the toms?
 
Guitargodgt said:
Are you doing close mics on the toms?
Click to expand...

Unfortunatelly I dont know what is close mic on toms. I never recorded the drums beffore. I just booked the room on friday. will see whats gonna happend :)
I will appreciate any advises.
even the little thinks that you might think its not important.
Thanks a lot.
 
Hi JG96
I have recorded those drums for the first time and mixed them. Im really appreciate your help. I know its not perfect but at least I know Im going right way.

here is link to the song. If you have any advises I will appreciate them too.
Thank you.
 
lurek100 said:
Hi JG96
I have recorded those drums for the first time and mixed them. Im really appreciate your help. I know its not perfect but at least I know Im going right way.

here is link to the song. If you have any advises I will appreciate them too.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

I see no link to the song?
 
lurek100 said:
Hi JG96
I have recorded those drums for the first time and mixed them. Im really appreciate your help. I know its not perfect but at least I know Im going right way.

here is link to the song. If you have any advises I will appreciate them too.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
I can't hear them. Bring them up, they're way too low.
 
This has long been a desire of mine but somewhat intimidating. I want to do two things: mic up a kit for live performance amplification through a PA and use those same signals for recording.

I want to use the mics I already own: An SM57 on the snare, MD 421 on the kick, and two large diaphram condenser Perception 400s - one to the right of the kit and one suspended above the other side. Saw it demoed on YouTube and it seems like a simple configuration.
 
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You should be able to get a very good sound that way. The 421 is great for kick and the 57 is an industry standard for snare.
 
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