recording drums only with two mics

  • Thread starter Thread starter 14yearoldkid
  • Start date Start date
1

14yearoldkid

New member
can i record drums only with two mics and make the drums soudn better and what mics are the best to buy for a a two mic selectiona dn where would i locate them
thanks
 
I mic'd a set this weekend using a Behringer ECM8000 on overhead and a Sennheiser MD441 on kick. Not too bad. I think you could be a pretty good sound with one good condenser mic with a fairly wide pattern on overhead and one good kick mic. Helps with phase issues too. Of course, your recording will be mono which can be fine.
 
The biggest trick to getting a good drumsound is to make the drums sound good acoustically, INCLUDING THE ROOM, which is really hard to do, since you need a room that sounds good.

But if you have this, then yes, it is indeed very possible to get a good sound with only two mics.

There is even an old thread about this in the drums forum, I think. Try and look it up with the search function.
 
thanks

ok now thanks but what are the best two mics i can get for about 100-250 dollars?
thanks
 
For that price, I can't help you. I've recorded drums with 2 mics -with extremely good results - but the mics total about $5750, and the preamps for them another $6100. About the least expensive 2 mic set-up that I think sounds really good on drums would be an Earthworks TC30K on overhead (about $475) and an EV RE20 on kick (about $425). Provided the drums, drummer, and room sound good - and your preamps & converters are good enough - you can get a "major label" sound using those 2 mics.

Scott
 
I used to record drums with 2 mic's. I ended up putting an AKG 2000 directly over the kit pointed straight down (about 6 - 7 feet above ground). Then putting a AKG 1000 about a foot or two in front of the bass drum at the height of the snare drum. I positioned it so that it was right next to the bass drum and pointed at the snare drum.

Then I EQ'ed it so that the 2000 was getting mostly high's and the 1000 was getting mostly low's. The idea was that the 2000 got the high end "sizzle" and the 1000 got the low of the bass drum and also the lower punch of the snare.

It sounded okay, but lacked definition, I think. It was a very "airy" sound, and not very up-front (for my type of music, that was fine).

There's nothing magic about the mic's that I mentioned...at this price level, I suspect most mic's will sound similar (and the C 1000 gets ripped on alot around here). But, then again, I'm a guitar player.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top