Recording Drums with a single mic.
- Thread starter Lyre
- Start date
dobro
Well-known member
The best sound you can get with one mic on a drum kit will depend on three things: the quality of the mic, the placement of the mic, and the room you play the drums in. If you're unhappy with the sound you're getting, you can:
1 get your hands on a better mic
2 experiment with placement
3 try a better room
4 get more mics. It's really unusual, and unusually difficult, to get a really good drum sound with one mic. I'd want four minimum - one on the kick, one on the snare, and a couple of overheads - and lotsa people use loads more than that.
1 get your hands on a better mic
2 experiment with placement
3 try a better room
4 get more mics. It's really unusual, and unusually difficult, to get a really good drum sound with one mic. I'd want four minimum - one on the kick, one on the snare, and a couple of overheads - and lotsa people use loads more than that.
FattMusiek
New member
I would agree, go to the Drums and Percussion forum for these questions.
FattMusiek
New member
That works too.
Cheb Abdou
New member
With only one mic your best bet is to record with a dynamic omnidrectional mic in a room that will give the drums a good ammount of natural reverb and capture the entire drum sound all at once.
terrible_buddhi
New member
what about a b3 set on figure 8? just an idea.
stuntmixer
New member
Check out mixes called "Tornadic" and "Rot with you" on my website if you want to hear examples of one-mic drums. This project was recorded to four track casette (!!) and brought here to mix. One condenser, I believe a Marshall or MXL (?), was used into an old Marantz field recorder as a pre-amp. The limiter in those things is a thing of beauty.
The trick is to experiment with mic placement a lot, listen carefully to the balance and (very, very important): mix the drums with the way you play them. If the balance is good but the hat gets too loud - play the hat quietly. If the kick doesn't quite punch - hit it hard and don't bury the pedal...etc. Tuning the kit well is also imperative.
Another tip is to simplify the kit as much as possible. Take any toms or cymbles that you don't need (need....not want) and put them in the other room. I think for these tracks the mic was placed where the rack tom would have been if there had been one.
A good mic pre and compressor will also go a long way to getting what you are after.
Charles Rieser
Southwind Studios
Austin, Tx.
www.southwindstudios.net
The trick is to experiment with mic placement a lot, listen carefully to the balance and (very, very important): mix the drums with the way you play them. If the balance is good but the hat gets too loud - play the hat quietly. If the kick doesn't quite punch - hit it hard and don't bury the pedal...etc. Tuning the kit well is also imperative.
Another tip is to simplify the kit as much as possible. Take any toms or cymbles that you don't need (need....not want) and put them in the other room. I think for these tracks the mic was placed where the rack tom would have been if there had been one.
A good mic pre and compressor will also go a long way to getting what you are after.
Charles Rieser
Southwind Studios
Austin, Tx.
www.southwindstudios.net
reco
New member
Ive done it!
I love recording drums with one mic! Used a Shure Prolog(Pro-Log) Omni Dynamic in a Hard wood floored paneled room with a plaster ceiling......... Them some pillows and carpet on the floor....
Sounded best over head and pointed at the Kick about 3ft over the cymbals.......
Hey if anyone has a Shure ProLog omni dynamic Mic for sale in good shape let me know! I will pay $25-40 for one in good shape!
Thanks.
-Rick
I love recording drums with one mic! Used a Shure Prolog(Pro-Log) Omni Dynamic in a Hard wood floored paneled room with a plaster ceiling......... Them some pillows and carpet on the floor....
Sounded best over head and pointed at the Kick about 3ft over the cymbals.......
Hey if anyone has a Shure ProLog omni dynamic Mic for sale in good shape let me know! I will pay $25-40 for one in good shape!
Thanks.
-Rick
dobro
Well-known member
That's pretty cool - using a room and soundshaping it in a way that makes it part of the instrument's sound.
I really like using carpets in my studio - it looks like a carpet shop. I've got 'em on the floor, on the walls (6" off the the walls), and draped over my computer table. They work great, and they look nice too. They make it easy to hit that balance between the room being too live and too dead.
I really like using carpets in my studio - it looks like a carpet shop. I've got 'em on the floor, on the walls (6" off the the walls), and draped over my computer table. They work great, and they look nice too. They make it easy to hit that balance between the room being too live and too dead.