Samples of drums recorded with budget overheads?

[treymonfauntre]

i'll contribute that i used a shure bg5.0 mic as a mono overhead on my bands demo (we only had 3 tracks to use.. it ended up 1 bass drum, 2 snare, and 1 overhead) and it sounds really bad. so don't use that mic! its long extinct anyway.

 

[complexprocess]

Also, this isn't my thread so don't focus on my post. There's someone here who wants recommendations on budget overheads. Anyone, anyone? Beuler?

complexprocess is his name! Overheads are his game!

Haha! Thanks Phil. So far everyone's input has been great, and I really appreciate it. Keep flinging samples and suggestions at me everyone, and thanks again.

 

[shortness]

i purchased some 603's a while back, but have not recorded w/them yet...i'm using them live tonight...at setup yesterday, i thought they sounded pretty good..

phil, nice sounding drums...i love some reverb on the kick ...makes it sound bigger

 

[Bluestemaudio]

Mxl V63

This was done with a pretty ghetto setup, and mixed without studio monitors, so take it with a grain of salt. The overheads are MXL V63's, the snare is a 57, and the kick (if I remember correctly) was recorded with some kind of cheap omnidirectional mic. The acoustic environment was a panelled room with some foam on the walls, under a bowling alley.

Still, I think the overheads sound pretty decent.

www.magnificos.net

 

[lexdrummer]

All Hail The Affordable Microphone! Great Tracks Guys!

Or should I say....cost effective.....?

 

[Sonic Idiot]

What do all think about stereo mics? I've mentioned on other threads my growing affinity for the Audio-Technica AT825 Stereo Mic. I bought it for ambient recording into a minidisc, but it's found another life as a drum over head. I'll post some samples by and by.

 

[PhilGood]

phil, nice sounding drums...i love some reverb on the kick ...makes it sound bigger

Huh! I just now read this reply. Its really not the reverb that makes the kick sound that way. There's hardly any muffling in the bass drum. I use 2 shop towels folded over and taped to the shell so they are *barely* touching the front and back heads. (The front head has a 4" hole off to the side.) Its a little trick I got from Simon Phillips.

Anyway, thank you.

Oh, and no experience with stereo mics. Sorry SI.

 

[Juggernaut]

Heres a sample of some drums I recorded with some MC 012's as Overheads. $50 each (used russian models) at guitar center. Snare: sm57, Kick: D112

http://s44.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0RIOXNIP8FKY03B9EK3LQAL0FP

 

[strungout]

I managed to get a pair of MXL V63 for $50 each (eBay). They are used as overheads on these test tracks.

Don't mind my playing, as I was giving the guitarist hand signals while he was sitting at the mixer. I usually do the engineering and he was helping me dial-in the drum mix.

nice playing there phil. "got I love that cymbal!" hehehe

 

[lexdrummer]

What do all think about stereo mics? I've mentioned on other threads my growing affinity for the Audio-Technica AT825 Stereo Mic. I bought it for ambient recording into a minidisc, but it's found another life as a drum over head. I'll post some samples by and by.

SI, I would love to hear some from that mic. On acoustic guitar as well.

 

[ecktronic]

I managed to get a pair of MXL V63 for $50 each (eBay). They are used as overheads on these test tracks.

Don't mind my playing, as I was giving the guitarist hand signals while he was sitting at the mixer. I usually do the engineering and he was helping me dial-in the drum mix.

Sounds good but is that bad panning on your part or an unmatched pair? or am i just mad?

 

[PhilGood]

Sounds good but is that bad panning on your part or an unmatched pair? or am i just mad?

Dude, it was just a test. Lighten up.

 

[shortness]

Huh! I just now read this reply. Its really not the reverb that makes the kick sound that way. There's hardly any muffling in the bass drum. I use 2 shop towels folded over and taped to the shell so they are *barely* touching the front and back heads. (The front head has a 4" hole off to the side.) Its a little trick I got from Simon Phillips.co

Anyway, thank you.

Oh, and no experience with stereo mics. Sorry SI.

cool...no reverb! it's neat how you can tweek things to achieve something in a totally different way...no doubt keeping the reso head on gives some boominess to the kick! what kind of bass mic are your using?

 

[PhilGood]

The bad panning we found later was a bad mic cable. That and my mixer is on it's last leg. There is a touch of reverb on everything, but yes the boominess is from hardly any muffling and a reso head. The kick was mic'd with a Superlux FK2 blended with an 8" subwoofer mic.

 

[shortness]

The bad panning we found later was a bad mic cable. That and my mixer is on it's last leg. There is a touch of reverb on everything, but yes the boominess is from hardly any muffling and a reso head. The kick was mic'd with a Superlux FK2 blended with an 8" subwoofer mic.

phil...is the subwoofer mic all that it is talked up to be? the biggest improvement i've experienced was simply using a quality mic that is was meant for a kick drum...but the woofer app is intriguing to me...

 

[PhilGood]

phil...is the subwoofer mic all that it is talked up to be? the biggest improvement i've experienced was simply using a quality mic that is was meant for a kick drum...but the woofer app is intriguing to me...

The whole reason I did it was after visiting Simon Phillips at his studio. He made one himself and I asked him the same question: "Does it work?". He immediately pulled up a mix in Pro-Tools and solo'd the subkick. It was very low and very deep, but it was at about 1/6 the level of everythings else. "That's all it does." he said. He put the mix back and punched it in and out. The difference was amazing. Keep in mind he uses Beta 52's for his main kick mic, which are about as good as you can get. It just added so much meat and punch to the sound. I'm getting about the same results. You have to use a good speaker, though, and make sure you have the phase right.

 

[shortness]

The whole reason I did it was after visiting Simon Phillips at his studio. He made one himself and I asked him the same question: "Does it work?". He immediately pulled up a mix in Pro-Tools and solo'd the subkick. It was very low and very deep, but it was at about 1/6 the level of everythings else. "That's all it does." he said. He put the mix back and punched it in and out. The difference was amazing. Keep in mind he uses Beta 52's for his main kick mic, which are about as good as you can get. It just added so much meat and punch to the sound. I'm getting about the same results. You have to use a good speaker, though, and make sure you have the phase right.

what was your mic placement inside the drum at the edge, outside??

 

[PhilGood]

what was your mic placement inside the drum at the edge, outside??

The main kick mic (FK2) is just inside the hole in the front head (about 2" in), pointed at the beater. The speaker-mic is about an inch from the front head and towards the edge.

I might try doing the paint can thing he does as well, which is putting a full gallon paint can down on a towel in the middle of the drum. I have to ask him why this works again.

 

[hueseph]

This was done with a pretty ghetto setup, and mixed without studio monitors, so take it with a grain of salt. The overheads are MXL V63's, the snare is a 57, and the kick (if I remember correctly) was recorded with some kind of cheap omnidirectional mic. The acoustic environment was a panelled room with some foam on the walls, under a bowling alley.

Still, I think the overheads sound pretty decent.

www.magnificos.net

That track sounds great. I thought the drums sounded fine. The cymbals have good definition. Better than some fully mic'd drums I've heard. Then again I have a thing for "less is more".

 

[ecktronic]

The bad panning we found later was a bad mic cable. That and my mixer is on it's last leg.

Och ayye, ya see.
I was just saying incase you didnt notice it or something. Just trying to help you know. Calm doon laddy!

Was that recording only 2 OHs and no close mics? Impressive if it is. Has a nice natural sound.
What kit is it?