Drum Miking Help

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Member Since: Jan 24, 2007

Hello,

Can anyone give me some tip on recording drums. I need to record a 5 piece kit with 2 crashes and a ride. I am capable of using 6 mics and running each to a separate track.

Here are the mics i have.

AKG 3000b Condenser vocal mic
Shure sm57
Shure sm58
Shure Beta 4.1 condenser (2)
Seinnheiser dynamic mic (2)


im not sure what mics to use where and especially what specific placement points to use.

I read the articles in the tip tab but there werent many detailed placement tips.

Thanks

Anthony

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Trey
Member
Since: Aug 11, 2007


Jan 09, 2009 10:12 am

I usually do this




and add individual mics on all drums. All of the pointed toward dead center of the head. The kick mic you just have to play with. I would recommend a kick drum with a hole in the front head. I usually don't put it straight in. I'll have the drum head positioned so that the hole is on one side of the drum and point the mic toward the beater. That way some of that air being pushed won't hit the mic directly. I almost always get a good sound.

Remember, the kit needs to sound great to begin with if you want a great recording. If the kit sounds like crap, you can't make it sound like gold. Tune it up with new heads if you want my honest opinion.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006


Jan 09, 2009 11:44 am

AKG 3000b Condenser vocal mic - Room Mic (if your room sounds good) or hats if needed
Shure sm57 - Snare
Shure sm58 - High\Mid Toms
Shure Beta 4.1 condenser (2) - Overheads
Seinnheiser dynamic mic (2) - Kick & Floor Tom

On the SM58 and other Sein, I'd probably place them between the toms, 58 between high\mid and Sein on the Floor Tom. OH's can capture some Tom but usually is lacking on the low end (floor tom) in my experience.

Other thought, don't mic the toms (sm58 is not an ideal instrument mic imo) and experiment with different OH techniques. The "recorderman technique" works well along with just a kick mic for capturing a whole kit, and the snare is just an added bonus.


Trey
Member
Since: Aug 11, 2007


Jan 09, 2009 01:45 pm

My bad... I forgot to mention, CptTripps is right about the close mics if you do the exact recorderman technique. I modify it a bit lol. I move the mics way back like 4-5 further. I just use a string to make sure everything is at the same distance. I then put on close mics. I just use the idea of mesuring with a string to kill phase issues before they happen.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006


Jan 09, 2009 03:58 pm

I also use string taped to the center of the snare drum to measure distance to my OH's. Works well! *high five*

*sticado: short and LOUD!*
Member
Since: Feb 25, 2005


Jan 11, 2009 11:56 am

the low end problem on ur floor tom most likely is the angle of your mic. the more perpendicular the mic is to the source, the more high end you get. the more parallel the more low end.

angling them towards the center usually works best, cuz the as the toms get wider, the mic angles more and more parallel to capture the right low end for the deepness of the toms

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