Drum Overhead Panning
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Posted on Mar 06, 2003 01:55 pm
PorpoiseMuffins
a.k.a. Porp & Mr. Muffins
Member Since: Oct 09, 2002
Quick question-- How far should I pan the drum overheads? I'm assuming that they are generally the furthest mics from the center of the stereo field. Also, should the snare generally be in the center of the field or a little off to the left?
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stupeMember
Since: Apr 03, 2002
Mar 06, 2003 01:58 pm muffins. i generally do each overhead 100% L R for a wider stereo field. the snare should be directly in the middle along with the bass drum toms i pan hi tom 100% Right ear, mid tom 30% left ear, floor tom 100% left ear. from what ive observed these are the patterns for a lot of new school rock recordings, but do keep in mind that home recording is all about what sounds good to YOU, so use your own discretion and judgement when it comes to panning. Here is a link to an mp3 of a band i recording last weekend the drum tracks are using my panning method i informed you of.
www.csupomona.edu/~tgao/amfhm/final%203.mp3
Mar 06, 2003 02:05 pm Thanks. I would think that the Toms would go in the other direction, the way that the drummer hears it when playing, but maybe that's just because I'm a drummer. It's also kind of weird how they usually have the ride cymbal in the left speaker. My problem is that I only have one overhead condenser mic. I have one mic for each tom (2 toms), one for the bass drum, and one for the snare. I can record 4 tracks at once. How should I set that up?
Mar 06, 2003 02:21 pm Actually, the common way to pan toms is the way the listener would hear them facing the drum kit. But it doesn't really matter. Do what works for you.
Mar 06, 2003 02:25 pm Stupe, I really like that snare drum sound.
What's the name of this band? I like them.
stupeMember
Since: Apr 03, 2002
Mar 06, 2003 05:59 pm heroes, their name is amfhm i think, they are from southern california. you can find them on mp3.com . the snare was a DW maple 10" mic'd with a good ole shure sm57.
interesting fact: did you know i've recorded a band named "NO ONES HEROES" before? one letter off your name
Mar 06, 2003 06:52 pm Yeah they threatened us twice... haha.
WaltChief Cook and Bottle WasherMember
Since: May 10, 2002
Mar 06, 2003 08:18 pm Muffins,
Play with it....really! That's the joy of the whole thing. If you have a lot of really cool rolls down the toms you can pan wide and get a really hot effect. For Jazz and swing, I put the drummer just off to the left of center with each piece a little bit apart so it sits in the mix just as he does in performance. His cymbals are to the extreams of his kit so the overheads to go to the outsides of the group of tracks used for the kit. Depending on the song, sometimes I will put keyboards and bass close per performance, but sometimes they argue just a little and moving the bass and keys to the other side of the mix makes just that little difference letting all the kids play well together. Some jazz pieces will use a light cypbal to "drive" the song and then I like the overheads a little closer to center. It's your painting! Go Picasso...Go!
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Mar 07, 2003 07:12 am Hmm, in your situation I would do a little bit of stereo processing to bring things to life.
Open up the Overhead recording in your Wave Editor (Soundforge, Cool edit, etc) and turn it into a stereo file.
At this point you will have exactly the same recording in the left and right channel - and it will still sound "mono". All you have to do it insert around 15ms of silence before the start of the one fo the channels - thus pushing the whole of that particualar waveform along the to right a bit.
It will look a bit like this in your wave editor:
groups.msn.com/_Secure/0P...412506423173082
This little bit of delay offset will create a very strage phasing effect that will open up the stereo field - the results can be quite spectacular - if you want the stereo illusion bigger - use a bigger delay (more than 15ms) - simalary, if it's too OTT then use a smaller one).
Hope that helps
jues.
Mar 20, 2003 07:40 pm I used 2 condenser for Overhead and a normal mic for bass drum in my Church recording. But I either lost cymbal or snare sound quality. So what is the minimum piece of mic to do the job.
Do I need to have every piece of drum/cymbal/hi-hat mic up? Which mic is the cheapest and do the best job?
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Mar 20, 2003 08:02 pm Jeff,
It's been covered plenty of times before (check the "Recording Tips" section), but I will give you a quick answer here :)
Basic Mic setup which yeilds good results.
1. Kick Mic - place a mic right inside the kick drum real close to the back skin (the one which the beater hits) - prefferably use a proper kick mic (AKG D112, etc) but any dynamic will do a reasonable job.
2. Snare Mic - the kick and the snare are the two most important bits of a kit in a mix - you will need to have a mic on the snare to make it louder than the sound picked up by the overheads - a mic on the snare will also allow you to do some processing on it to get a "phatter" sound. Place a dynamic mic (SM-57 works great here) just over the lip of the snare pointing towards the centre of the skin.
3. Overheads - when using only 4 mics (you'll use 2 mics on the overheads, y'see :), it is best to use the "behind" mic'ing technique with the overheads. Place the stands behind the drummer and position the booms (arms) so the mic's point down towards the kit - get them about 16+ inches (50+ cms) away from the actual kit. This setup will pick up more tom-toms and still get a nice open cymbal sound. If you are clever with palcement, you will also get some really nice seperation with them too. Remember to use 2 condensor mic's - you preferably want large diagphram models in this scenario.
hope that helps.
jues
BrunoThe Quiet MindedMember
Since: Jan 01, 2003
Mar 20, 2003 08:36 pm Does anyone know any old record -really old- that the drums were recorded with a single mic?
I am asking cause my drums instructor told me that some bands from the old times used to record drums with a single mic.
By the way, I use overheads panned 80% to its side.
juesContributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002
Mar 20, 2003 08:43 pm I don't have any recordings, but I know how they went about it.
Place a mic about 2ft away from the kit, level (height and length wise) with the kick drum pointing upwards towards the hi-hat. This way you will pick up the kick, snare and hi-hat nicley.
Mar 20, 2003 10:14 pm Thanks Jues,
(miss out that...)
Do I need a compressor/limiter for this?
How to prevent/minimise the bleeding if I use mic for every piece of percussion???
(Sorry, if this have been mention before.)
flame...bringing sexy backMember
Since: Jul 01, 2002
Mar 22, 2003 04:40 am a bit of compression never hurts for drums tracks - makes them sound nice and fat - dont use too much though or itll turn into a fuzzy mess
got no idea about the bleeding issue though...!
