Recording Drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tomossmith
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Tomossmith

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I am new to home recording, and have set up a room at home to setup my studio.

The problem i'm having is recording drums! Every take i seem to be recording with different techniques, i can't get the right sound.

Does anyone have any tips/tricks?

What Mic's should i use?

How should i position them?

Should the signal be compressed/gated/eq'd pre or post recording?

Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated as I'm tearing my hair out!!
 
Cheers for that!! I'll give it a go!

My setup is currently:

2 x T-Bone SC300 for the overheads
1 x DC1000 Drum Mic Set for the Tom's
1 x Shure SM57 for the Snare
1 x Samson Q3 Bass Drum Microphone

Are these suitable for the job?

I would hate to find out after trying all techniques that its all down to the mic's!!
 
They're not great, but they'll work. The 57 is very good for a snare.
 
Its something i would preffer to invest in to make my life a little easier really.....

What do you suggest?

Thanks Again
 
I suggest you tune the drums properly, treat the room properly, and use good playing/tracking techniques. Don't blame the mics if your stuff doesn't sound good.
 
Gregor The Terror to the rescue!
Great advice with the tuning and technique of the drums.
It always seems to be the #1 factor that is always over looked, I mean a guitarist wouldn't show up to a session with old strings and out of tune and expect to get a great take....well maybe <1%.

Greg let me know when the Album is out so as I can help you, help the march of dimes.



:cool:
 
moresound said:
Gregor The Terror to the rescue!
Great advice with the tuning and technique of the drums.
It always seems to be the #1 factor that is always over looked, I mean a guitarist wouldn't show up to a session with old strings and out of tune and expect to get a great take....well maybe <1%.

Greg let me know when the Album is out so as I can help you, help the march of dimes.



:cool:
Click to expand...

Thanks, I certainly will. :)


Recording acoustic drums in our little hobby is probably the most frustrating and difficult, yet rewarding part of the process. You can't half-ass it. You must have a good foundation - tuning & playing. A bad snare or tom will sound bad no matter what mic you stick on it. Drums require the same, if not more, attention than stringed instruments. The drums will make or break a recording. You can have the best guitar and vocal sounds ever, but if the drums suck, you'll have a sucky mix.
 
Agreed that player, proper setup and room are three HUGE success factors. The OP's mic selection is not the greatest and presumably the rest of the signal chain is probably similarly weak, but the greatest impact occurs in everything leading up to the microphones being excited by changes in air pressure.
 
mic each drum with their own mics and I also like to do a set of overheads along with an ORTF setup a few feet behind the drummer.
 
dastrick said:
You don't have to mic each drum. 4 mics is plenty. 3 will work in some cases.
Click to expand...

Greg_L said:
But it sure sounds a lot better when you do.
Click to expand...

thats exactly why I do use plenty of mics. I like to have as much control over the mix as possible. yes you can use just 3 mics, but if do you won't be able to have as much control over the mix as someone who has used 8 or more mics on the drums.
 
ALS said:
thats exactly why I do use plenty of mics. I like to have as much control over the mix as possible. yes you can use just 3 mics, but if do you won't be able to have as much control over the mix as someone who has used 8 or more mics on the drums.
Click to expand...

I kind of agree with this. You can get a bleedin' good sound with one mic when placed 'accurately' but there are so many other factors, not least the way the drummer is actually playing. And if they're a snare thwacker but a bass drum tip toer and hi-hat ballet dancer {no offence intended - I just mean light and sensitive :D} then once that performance is down, you have no more control over it. Well, minimal control. At least by miking each drum, you have scope. You have choice. You retain a far greater measure of control. I think you can get good sounds with 1-100 mics on the drums. "It all depends", to use a well worn cop out.
 
Record a sample.

Listen critically to the take, including any post-processing you intend.

Adjust mics or performance

record a sample.

Listen critically to the take, including any post-processing you intend.

Adjust mics or performance.

record a sample.

Listen critically to the take, including any post-processing you intend.....

Repeat this process until you are satisfied with the sound. There is no silver bullet. Rooms are different. Drums are different. Players are different. I guarantee that if you sat behind Gerg's drums, you wouldn't get Gerg's sound.

Hell, you probably couldn't even reach the hi hat. :laughings:
 
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