Recording with 3 mics, what is an ideal setup?

  • Thread starter Thread starter FattMusiek
  • Start date Start date
not sure what you mean by setup?.....

kick mic on kick...sm57 on snare....the 012 overhead,outfront, or wherever you can get the right balance of the whole kit.....
 
Well...

Er Shure Beta 52 kick mic*


What I meant by setup was some good positions to place the mics. I have the 57 clipped onto the snare, the Beta 52 in the kick drum, and the Oktava hanging over the middle of the set.

Also, the mic inputs are apparent when I talk into them, but they don't see to show up in Cool Edit Pro or Cakewalk. I have the mixer running into my Delta 44 soundcard/break out box. Help!
 
found this somewhere and its a good start...just substitute the mics you have.....

"Harvey Gerst, the owner and engineer of Indian Trail Recording Studio in Texas has this simple 3 mic drum technique. He's assuming (2) SM-58's and a Rode NT-1. SM-57's, Sennheisser 421's, or similar mics will work in place of the 58's, and any large diapragm condensor should work in place of the Rode.


Take the ball off one of the 58s and place it where it can pickup the snare and high hat. Point it towards the center of the snare. Make SURE the drummer can't hit it with his sticks. Stick the other 58 inside the kick drum, about 4 inches from where the beater hits the head, but at an angle to the head. Put the Rode over the drummer's right shoulder about a foot above his head, pointed at the mid tom. (You'll experiment with which tom to point it at after you hear the test recording.)



Add a little treble eq to all three mics, roll off a little bottom on the snare. Set peak levels roughly as follows:

Snare - around -10dB on the meter,
Kick - around -4dB on the meter,
Overhead - around -6dB on the meter.

Have the drummer play for about 2 minutes while you record. Listen to everything. IF something needs to be brighter, add any hi eq that is needed, or roll off some bottom, or move the mic around. DO NOT add any eq to make thing more "bassy". If it needs more bass, you'll add that later during the final mix. Move any mics if needed.



Have the drummer play again for about 2 minutes while you record. Listen to everything again. Once you're within about 80% of the sound you want, STOP!! You can get that last 20% later - you're ready to record. When you mix down the final in stereo, pan the snare a little to one side and the overhead to the other side. Leave the kick centered.



Don't add any drum eq in mixdown until AFTER you hear how the drums fit in with the other instruments. A little reverb on the snare track will add a lot of warmth to the sound. Don't overdo! On the tracks you want a warmer sound on, back off the top end a little on the snare and overhead. "

http://www.stack.nl/~erwint/faq/chapter3.html



as far as the signal showing in software, you have to go into the settings of your software and let it know what inputs you are trying to record from.......
 
well if you play rock: 52 on kick, 57 on snare and the condinser on overhead.

zeke
 
oh! sorry dude. i now see that you also wanted good placements. here is some good ones.

1. take the front head off the kick.

2.place a small 15" x 13" or so pillow in the kick, up against the back head. (this may not sound right if you have a basic kick head. i use a super kick head.)

3. tune the head back head down to where it almost warps.

4. place the beta 52 (on a small table mic stand) in front of the kick, on axis with the beater. (make sure that the mic is even with the kick's rim.)

5. compress the kick mic with a squashed ratio, 0.db or so threshold and a slow release time. then boost the gain to where it is loud, but not distorting.

6. eq the kick with 3+db at 60-100hz, 8-db at 500-600hz and 5-10+ db at 4.00khz. then add a little room revurb.

this will give you a really basic drum sound. (for kick)


zeke
 
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