Recording Live Hip-Hop Drums

Posted on Mar 25, 2006 12:47 pm
IKEA
Member Since: Mar 25, 2006

Most of the drum recording I do is used for rock sounds. This time, however, I'm trying to record live drums for a hip-hop track. Obviously, this means they've got to be tight and punchy as hell. Apart from perfect drum tuning and insane amounts of compression, does anybody have any suggestions to make it sound nice?

My usual setup:

Overheads:
Sontronics large diaphragm condenser
AKG large diaphragm condenser
(usually a medium-large distance away, especially when recording isolated drums)

Snare and/or HiHat:
AKG small diaphragm condenser
pointed slightly off-angle, either from the top pointing down or from the side pointing at the sound-hole
(the dynamic mics aren't snappy enough for my taste)

3x AKG CCS-series dynamic drum mics
In various combinations, depending on the desired drum sound. Mostly one on the kick (off-centre), one or two on the toms (clip-on) and possibly one on the snare.

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