Recording drums with MY mics

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mark7
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great collection

i mean you got some nice mics there. i have always wanted an m99. mmm...

and many of them might be able to do double duty, but you have an inherent problem of using all hypercardiods... which means your OH and room micing abilities are compromised...

An AKG D321 (dynamic, hypercardioid)
snare, toms

A Sennheiser MD421 II (ditto)
toms, bass drum, snare, maybe OH

A Beyerdynamic M99 (likewise)
bass drum, snare, toms, maybe OH

and a Beyerdynamic M201 (as above)
bass drum, snare, toms, maybe OH

all this depends on the kit, but i would start with the 99 in the BD, the d321 on the snare, and then see what happens if you throw up the 201 as a far away OH, maybe a few feet infront and up a few feet pointed down. (try to get the whole set in) whatever seems quiet stick the 421 near and pointing at it.

then mix and match the mics. [i could image the d321 being a total failure on snare]

dont try stereo stick to mono on these too. or false stereo [panning tricks]

tricky.. tricky. but it should be fun...
 
Re: great collection

eeldip said:
i mean you got some nice mics there. i have always wanted an m99. mmm...
Hi Eeldip. I've seen you over on the Tapeop board haven't I!?

and many of them might be able to do double duty, but you have an inherent problem of using all hypercardiods...

Yeah, it's weird that I only seem to be able to buy hypercardioids. I wonder if it's something Freudian!? Or just that HC is a very popular pick-up pattern for dynamics!


An AKG D321 (dynamic, hypercardioid)
snare, toms

The first mic I bought (for use with my original portastudio), and for years the only one I owned (I finally bought a second mic (the MD421 (II)) late last year). Cost me £25

A Sennheiser MD421 II (ditto)
toms, bass drum, snare, maybe OH

A Beyerdynamic M99 (likewise)
bass drum, snare, toms, maybe OH

and a Beyerdynamic M201 (as above)
bass drum, snare, toms, maybe OH

all this depends on the kit, but i would start with the 99 in the BD, the d321 on the snare, and then see what happens if you throw up the 201 as a far away OH, maybe a few feet infront and up a few feet pointed down. (try to get the whole set in) whatever seems quiet stick the 421 near and pointing at it.

then mix and match the mics. [i could image the d321 being a total failure on snare]

dont try stereo stick to mono on these too. or false stereo [panning tricks]

tricky.. tricky. but it should be fun...
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking my query seriously. I'm sure many people probably thought it was a stupid question ("where are the condensors man?"), so it's nice to find someone willing to take up the challenge. For my part I'll probably try the d321 as the overhead, the M201 on the snare, the M99 on the kick and stick the MD421 out in front as the distant mic (it seems to have an omni thing going if you turn the gain on the pre up enough, especially in my flat).
 
for some reason

i have never gotten too much with the 201 on snare, despite it being very well recomended for that purpose.

i get close by pointing it at the shell, and not the skin. but it still is too bright for me. i am used to the 57 throaty sound, and i get my skin tones from the overheads. probably why the 201 works for albini, he gets the skin from the close mic, and uses his coles overheads for the shell/body sound.

maybe you should pick up a beyer m101 (omni version of the 201)... they can be found for pretty cheap.

oh and here is another approach, m99 in front 4 feet up 4 feet, and the md421 6 feet over the drummers head pionted down. no snare mic. might work if the drummer is good.
 
and yes

you have seen me on tape op.

things are very SLOW here at work. very SLOW.

soon i'll be looking at numbers on one sheet of paper and seeing if they match numbers on another sheet of paper. the cost to the client: $120/hr.
 
Sounds like you have the kind of job that could lead to an acute case of Existentialist Angst and a Dustin Hoffman movie :-D
 
Why don't you think of buying two CHEAPASS condensers for the OH? I don't have your mics, but the cheapest electret condensers gave me a lot more transparency to my cymbals than EVERY dynamic I had used before...

Just my 2c

aXel
 
Well, I can buy either a drum kit OR some mics, but I can't buy both. I need a drum kit as I'm tired of programming drum machines (Or Fun Suckers, as I like to call them) and I'm no Richard Thompson.
 
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