Recording the whole drum kit

[s_m_hendrix]

Hey guys. First of all let me say any advice is good advice.
I play in a hard rock/metal band. We are going to be recording a free demo at my house. I play guitar but am also doing most of the engineering and producing behind it. So heres the question

I need to obviosly record drums. The entire kit and it needs to be pretty thick and punchy because we need the drums fairly high in the mix. Has any one got stories or advice about what type of mics work best for overheads, kick, snare. Tracks are not a problem so i can run up to about 8 or 10 mics if needed.

I'll be hiring the mics so there is no problems, just let me know what you have tried and the outcome,
Cheers
www.myspace.com/astolenmyth

 

[dinorocker]

Run, don't walk, to this thread:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=39030

You are done.

 

[RAMI]

Yes, I use the method described in that thread. But I use 4 mics. If you're playing hard rock,you'll probably want to add a snare mic to that. You'll probably need to reverse the phase on the sanre mic afterwards.
If you're not experienced in micing drums, I really think you shouldn't be using more than 4 mics or else you'll be introdicing phase issues you might not be able to to deal with. Even with, experience, many people (myself included) will tell you that 4 mics is the best way to go.

 

[s_m_hendrix]

THATS IT!! cheers guys. i feel a bit more confident recording drums, thanx

 

[VSpaceBoy]

Yes, I use the method described in that thread. But I use 4 mics. If you're playing hard rock,you'll probably want to add a snare mic to that. You'll probably need to reverse the phase on the sanre mic afterwards.
If you're not experienced in micing drums, I really think you shouldn't be using more than 4 mics or else you'll be introdicing phase issues you might not be able to to deal with. Even with, experience, many people (myself included) will tell you that 4 mics is the best way to go.

Where do you put your one snare mic, on the top or bottom?

 

[RAMI]

I put it on top.

 

[Gnash5150]

Yeah, try this setup if your renting mics:
KICK: AKG D112 /cut all your mid freqs/ crank 80hz/crank some highs
Snare: Shure 57/ mid freqs
toms: Sennheiser e604s, try to use mic stands instead of the clips. I pan the toms from around 75% left to 75% right and mix the toms into their own stereo buss/ eq before you push record, it's real hard to dial in post eq on a split second tom hit!
OH: any matched pair of small diaphram condensors with a high pass filter panned hard left and right/ spread em out wide, so you won't have any phase issues

Get those drums sounding good before you press record!

 

[scorpio01169]

Yes, I use the method described in that thread. But I use 4 mics. If you're playing hard rock,you'll probably want to add a snare mic to that. You'll probably need to reverse the phase on the sanre mic afterwards.
If you're not experienced in micing drums, I really think you shouldn't be using more than 4 mics or else you'll be introdicing phase issues you might not be able to to deal with. Even with, experience, many people (myself included) will tell you that 4 mics is the best way to go.

my very first recording...a rock band i used 9 mics and to them i did a great job, i really dont think there is a minimum or maximum of mics you use. just take your time setting levels and get everything sounding right.

 

[RAMI]

my very first recording...a rock band i used 9 mics and to them i did a great job,.

If you don't say so yourself.

Define "I did a great job".

 

[buryher17]

yea i definately agree with the user 2/3 above me, there really is no maximum/ minumum of mics to use. In my band now when we record we use 9-10 mic's but only because my drummer has 3 crash, 3 tom, double bass, 2 splash, 2 bells, ride, hi hats, snare, and a fucking cherry on top haha.

But like i've recorded a few abnds now, and ive used as little as 5 and it sounded great.

I'm big on the drum tracks, so i use mroe mic's than needed but what i do is...

i use a beta 52a on the kick, and if needed i use a mxl 990 also on the inside

i have a samson 5 peice for toms/ snare. but if you can use an sm 57 on snare, sounds GREAT

i have 3-4 sm 57's set up for cymbals, 2 above each side the crash cymbals, one on high hat, and if any accents, then there too.


But basically just read that link above, it's very helpful.

Levels are a major thing. Keep everything at good levels, make sure not to clip so later you can turn it up without problems. And if your in metal, make sure the double bass/ snare are noticable. If you think its loud [doubel bass] in the begining, make sure your sure, cause chances are if its your first time, it might not be loud enough, and you wont even be able to hear it with guitar/bass/vocals in it. I learned that one time, causing me to have to rerecord drums completely later on...

 

[RAMI]

I'm very skeptical of anyone who mentions using 9 thousand mics and doesn't even mention phase cancellation. Makes me wonder if they even realise it's something they have to deal with. And if they don't, then I reall really want to hear these drum recordings that people "did a great job on".

 

[blueroommusic]

agreed....using 9 mics is f*#(ing ridiculous, no matter how big a kit someone is playing. Phase cancellation is one of the toughest things to deal with as an engineer. Sometimes I will put up 8-10 mics, but never will I use all of those on the recording.

a typical setup would be:

1-2) OH's (XY or spaced pair depending)
3)Kick 1 (Audix D6)
4)Kick 2 (AKG D112)
5)Snare 1 (57)
6)Snare 2 (Audix i5) capsules aligned, so I can choose *sometimes underneath the snare*
7)Tom 1
8)Tom2
9-10) sometimes i'll throw in an M/S config if i'm feeling experimental.

The big thing to note here is that generally, I will only use one of the kick mics, and one of the snare mics (I re-amp the snare's quite often) in the mix, and If i'm liking the M/S, i'll ditch the OH's....

mixing 8-10 mics for a drum recording could be classified as insane, as mixing 4-6 mics is allready a black magic that not many people can do very well.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

The world and the way it would be if every instrument were treated like multi-miked drum kits:

Guitars would have a seperate pickup for each string with a snake coming out the side leading to 6 different amps/microphones or channel strips. Plus two more lines for "overhead" stereo pickups or mics on the bridge and neck.

Reeds and brass would have a seperate mic for each fingerhole, plus one or two for the bell, where applicable.

Pianos would have 88 mics lined up in parallel, plus two on the soundboard/soundholes, a piezo on the hinged cover and two more farfield overheads.

Vocalists would...well...I'm not even going to explore the ideas of where one would stick mics in a vocalist.

G.