Recording Drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guitarer
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To Phyrro:

I actually own a bet52 over a d112... I never said the d112 was "better" in any way, but d112's are easier to get different styles of kick out of. With my 52, it's 3 possible options:

slightly punchy
punchy
VERY punchy
:D

To Guitarer:

Room sound:
Room sound is VERY important, and you DO want room sound in your recordings. The problem lies in what your room actually sounds like. It's better to have no room sound then bad room sound, dig? I wouldn't even worry about the fiberglass crap. Just mic them closer and gate them afterwards...'nuff said. Open field has too much wind noise, various anomalies etc. If it was dead quiet and had NO wind whatsoever, it wouldn't be bad at all.......lol



About the MXL line:
To be honest, If I had to pick a lower-end brand to spend my money on, I wouldn't hesitate getting the MXL line. I have NEVER had a bad MXL mic, no matter HOW cheap they are. 2 604's and a handshake. In fact, post up the links to that guy please, I feel like 604ing it up!

About the firepod:
I'm not sure what the difference is, but I own a firestudio, and I LOVE it...for the price I couldn't have asked for a better interface.

Hope I helped in some small way,

-Joel
 
He doesn't even have MICS and he's worried about a fiberglass enclosure??? LMFAO You can't be serious! :rolleyes:

I'd spend money on the more priority stuff, but then again, that's just me.....
 
He doesn't even have MICS and he's worried about a fiberglass enclosure??? LMFAO You can't be serious! :rolleyes:

I'd spend money on the more priority stuff, but then again, that's just me.....

I'm just trying to make a check list of EVERYTHING I'm gonna want to have regardless of priority. So far I've got:

[x] Snare & Guitar amps – Shure SM57 ($100)
[ ] Kick & Bass amp – Audix D-6 ($200)
[ ] Overheads & Guitar Amps – MXL 603 Pair ($110)
[ ] Vocals – MXL 9000 ($200)
[ ] Acoustic Guitars & Backup Vocals – Audio-Technica AT3035 ($200)

[ ] Interface – PreSonus FirePod ($400)
[ ] Monitors - M-Audio BX5a ($300)
[ ] Crossover?
[ ] Subwoofer?
 
I know, but the fiberglass enclosures are on my list too, just didn't post em.
 
Around how much would it cost to build a 2' x 4' x 2" rigid fiberglass panel?
 
Wow, that's a whole lot of help. Thanks...I just had an idea. Once I get the mics and everything, I'm gonna just ask my school if we can use the chorus room after hours. I know theres absorption panels and sound proofing in that room all done professionally.

Just have to get their huge mess out of the way.

I'd probably only be allowed to use it when the school stays open late for shows/performances, but that'd give us enough time to lay down the drums nice...Then I'll just build a couple panels for doing guitars and vocals at home...and bass, but no one cares about bass ;)...
 
Unserious question first: If the idea is to deaden sound in a room so it doesn't reflect, couldn't I get the same effect by recording out in an open field?

Actually, this is a really good question. Recording outside would be ideal in many respects since you aren't dealing with any of the problems presented by recording in a room; early reflections, standing waves, peaks, nulls etc.

Apart from the ambiance you may lack from a room with a nice even RTC, recording outside poses other significant technical problems..:D

Serious question: If I were to build frames of rigid fiberglass, in what formation should I have them surrounding the drums?

The one that sounds the best. That's a serious answer. It really depends on oh, everything. There's a specific mathematical answer to your question, but I don't know it - you should check over at John Sayer's forum or give Ethan Winer's posts some consideration.
 
Actually, this is a really good question. Recording outside would be ideal in many respects since you aren't dealing with any of the problems presented by recording in a room; early reflections, standing waves, peaks, nulls etc.

Apart from the ambiance you may lack from a room with a nice even RTC, recording outside poses other significant technical problems..:D

Well, given the rural-ness of where I live, I suppose testing this out shouldn't be a problem. I will try it eventually and report back :D

It's been very windless and dry lately, so we'll see.
 
... here is a pretty raw sample I did last week for a collab. No real processing here, as Cyrokk will put these together for a tune we are working on. There is some silence, as it goes to his riffs.
Drums

It has no sound for bout 20 seconds...

More Cowbell!!

I also like 603's for overheads. Get them if you can. Well worth the price and good for acoustic guitar too.

I have a Beta 52, but a 57 can work on a kick, especially if you're going for a slappy metal kick. Save yourself $100 and you can use it on a guitar cab too.
 
Ok one last question and I think I'm done:

I've heard about people micing the top and bottom of the snare...Is this necessary, and what kind of mic would you use on the bottom?
 
Ok one last question and I think I'm done:

I've heard about people micing the top and bottom of the snare...Is this necessary, and what kind of mic would you use on the bottom?

Necessary, no....there's been some great drum sounds around here without micing teh bottome...but if you can, mic as much as possible. You don't have to use all teh tracks if you don't want, but having the option is a good thing.
 
Personally, I've never liked useing a bottom mic on the snare. I do use two mics on kick though. One inside and one on the front resonant head.
 
What is the purpose of using a mic on both, the inside and the front head?
 
More beater sound *i.e. click* Then you can mix in the click to taste... I normally don't double mic the kick, but I don't play metal. I'd almost demand double mic'd kick on metal tracks.
 
That's pretty much it in a nut shell. The inside mics gets the attack and the outside mic gets the "meat" of the kick. Depending on the genre, I'll use more of one or the other.
 
I've struggled with getting a good snare sound, and I've found a bottom mic helps, because you can mix the 'thwud" of the top mic with the sizzle of the bottom. Very recently, I tried a side mic on the shell, and got a nice traditional sound. Might not be good for heavy hitting metal, etc., though.
 
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