Wide drums

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dioxide
  • Start date Start date
Dioxide

Dioxide

New member
Maybey I asked this question in the wrong place the first time but hopefully I can get some answers here.

I'm trying to get the wide drum sound like you hear on all those bad ass cd's. My drums are split into 4 mono tracks 1>all toms 2>snare 3>bass drum 4>Overhead. I know I need to do panning i've known that but how do I get that wide sound from doing thisor more importantly how should I pan them?
 
I would rethink your miking technique if you want a wide sound. Let's start by asking which mics you have?
 
yep...redo that

If you've only got 4 tracks, do bass, snare/hi-hat, and Left and Right Overheads.

thatl'll get you closer...you need to feel like you're sitting in the center of drum kit, and having your Toms in one ear and overhead in the other won't help that a lot.

RB
 
Ametth has the right direction.
The micing technique you choose will have a large effect on how wide it sounds. The reverb choice and ambient room sound will also effect it to a degree.

For example if you choose a wide configuration of two mics at a 90 degree angle over the kit (OH ), pointing away from each other. Like a "v" but upside down.
 
ruebarb's suggestion gets my vote. I have recorded drums like that before and they have often came out really big and full.

It also has to do with the room and the drums and the drummer.
 
Yup. I agree with the ol' Kick, Snare & a Pair method. However, if you've got a bunch of mics, but only 4 tracks to work with (and a good mixer), you could "pre-mix" the whole kit in place of the overheads. It takes longer on the front end, but you can end up with a great sounding track that way. End up with 1) Snare/hihat, 2) Kick, 3&4) Stereo mix. This way you get the best of both worlds, and you can pan the initial "pre-mix" till the cows come home. One thing though, leave the kick, snare & hihat just a little low in the mix, so you can add what you need later.
 
Alls I gots is dis........

Maybey it would help to let you know what equip i have.
1 Condenser mic (Marshall MX67)
1 Kick mic (Audix kick)
4 instrument mics (Akg)
Eurorack 4 channell Mixer (Beringer)
Delta44 breakout box
Vegas audio recording Program

Now what would scenario would best suit me??
(Take note this is all I have)
 
hmmm, cos you're limited to 4 tracks...its kinda hard, But for a wider sound, try throwing the overhead pair out of phase to one another, it tends to widen the stereo imaging. But then again, with only 4 mics, you'll be wanting the overheads to pick up the toms, so throwing them outta phase might sound a little odd......worth a try though. Its a pretty commonly used technique to get better stereo imaging of cymbals...better separation
 
I can't imagine putting the overheads out of phase on purpose all the time. Thats kinda crazy to me, but YMMV.
Heres one that seems to be making people happy lately, and again, YMMV. This guarantees snare and kick phase and allows for a wider pair than an x/y coincidence will get.
Sit at the kit, place two drumsticks together lenghtwise, straight up from the center of the snare. Put the 1st diaprahgm right there. Next, keeping the sticks in the same double length style, lean them to the right (or left, depending on where the floor toms go) over your shoulder some, and down lower than the other mic.
Now, using the right sholder mic as the "centering mic", wearing headphones, hit the snare and kick until they are in the center of the image, adjusting the right side mic angle until it is right. This will do a few things... 1) good phase for snare and kick 2) follows the actual layout of the kit, so the lower toms have equal volume in the mix. 3) The cymbals are somewhat off axis so that they arent so damn dominant in the mix, you get a better mix from the very beggining, and you probably wont need a snare or tom mics because of the close proximity to the kit.
Also, measure the distance from center of kick to each diaphragm so that it is in good phase. And yes, use a tape measure or some other measuring device. No kidding. (Thats what the sticks did initially, measure distance). When you use a kick mic, phase should either be reversed on the kick or both overheads. You may also want a mic on bottom of snare to get a bit of snare sound, which should also be reversed against your overheads.
You may also want to TRY using the same distance from kick center to overheads as kick center to kick mic. Kinda far, but micing far can be quite nice. Try it. Its super easy and fast once you get the feel down. It looks weird, but oh well. You may have to adjust some distances in acoordance with the drummers playing style.
 
OK thats a nice story and all but "what" mics should I be using "where"(besides the kick mic of course)???
 
Looks like you should use the 2 instrument mics, whatever that means, as the overheads. You didnt specify what they were, and I'm assuming small diapragm condensors. Set them up just like I said and you should have a really good representation of the kit.
 
Oh, and pan them hard left /hard right and adjust the right mic until the snare is in the center. Pow, big stereo drums.
 
My instrument mics I was refering to are just your everyday beta green wannabees will it still work in the same fashion???
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top