ideal mic'ing techniques for drums

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2002 6:07 pm

are there any?
what are they?
compression or no?

any ideal settings for compression?
kick snare toms hats cymbals...

some opinions please?

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2002 8:54 pm

what kind of music?
what kind of room?
what kind of mic/pre/track resources?
what sort of aesthetic?

Is there an ideal? Sure... at least one for every other engineer out there.

I.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2002 9:12 pm

How long is a piece of string?

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2002 7:19 am

That's a pretty open-ended question, and any answers will be subjective so here's mine.

Good player, well-tuned kit, nice-sounding room as few mics as possible and no close micing. The kit is an instrument, not a bundle of many. I go for a big natural picture.

After hearing a sample of Fletcher's 3-mic technique on the recaudiopro cd, I read up on it over at mercenary.com. Tried it out tracking last weekend, and I'll never go back. Phasing? What's that?

Take the time to set the mics up right and get the sounds you want before you hit record. The thing mixes itself; there's nothing to fix. No EQ, no reverb, no compression needed.

I used omni's for the overhead and side/rear mics and a condensor for the front-of-kick. Fletcher makes several suggestions in his article though, so practically any bottom-feeder (like myself) can do this.

That's my answer. There are many others, and none are wrong. YMMV.
-kent

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2002 8:48 am

Well, I'm recording without compression. I got the clean signals and I can change after everything like I want. I checked what Mr.Recorderman( or recordman?) said and I have now the best drum sound ever. Check www.prorec.com and Barry Rudolf shows the same with photos(!!!).
With only 3 Mics you get your dream. For Music like Latin, soft rock,rock I don't think you need more. For hard music I think you need more. Check the overhead position and I'm sure that you love it.

Peace-Vagelis the Greek Wink

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2002 2:47 pm

well I appreciate the input the ideas and the info for research.
and for the smart alicks, well not everyone can be as versatile and witty as some of you.
open ended question...
yea but I think it was the best i could come up with being that I'm not a pro engineer, or even close.

just wanted some guidance is all, I think theres plenty of rooms available for joking and horsecrap, I see a new string every other day on these forums for mindles chatter and the like.

if A person can't come to these forums and ask dumb questions without being ridiculed whats the point of having them.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2002 5:02 pm

Ok, ok, I've heard enough about this 3 mic on drums bullshit. YES it can sound great. Is it the only way to record a kit? NO. And as a matter of fact, if you don't have a pretty good drummer and a good sounding room, it won't work as good as lots of mics going to many tracks. I have gotten killer drum sounds with one Coles. I have gotten equally killer, but different sounds, double micing every piece and then some. My standard technique is kick, snare, stereo overheads placed front and behind looking at the floor tom, and a few compressed mics scattered around the kit. If that doesen't give me what I want, I have no problem adding tom mics, hi hat, whatever. Don't only live in the 3 mic box cause it's "cool". Allright, enough ranting.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2002 5:30 pm

I read somewhere about a Gun's & Roses session where they used 24 mics on the drums. Top & bottom mic on every drum. Sounds like a phasing nightmare, but they sure sold a lot of records.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2002 5:39 pm

It really depends on the style of the song.
even if I'm going for the 3 mic sound, I'll still record more tracks just in case. <img border="0" alt="[retard]" title="" src="graemlins/retard.gif" />

Joz

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2002 8:04 am

Yeah, it's not the way to go if there are problems with the room, kit or player. On my first 3-mic session, I was blessed with goodness in each area. I don't say it's the only way for everyone. It's just nice to hear the kit breathe for a change.
-kent

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2002 5:10 pm

dave, i think the 3/4 mike drum schtick is very relevant to people (like me) who have to fit a three piece onto 8 tracks

i'm sure that if i had 24 tracks to record the drums, i would

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2002 6:05 pm

I mix often drums with only 3/4 mics. But I never record only 4 mics. It's good to have otions.
The bigest problem I see with 4 mics on a drum set: you better have some rocking mics and preamps!
When I started recording I had 8 tracks at max. I always submixed drums. So it didn't change a lot as I got more tracks. I only had to submix later (at mixing).
I learned a lot doing "live-submixing" drums.

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2002 2:08 am

Quote:

Originally posted by McSnare:
Ok, ok, I've heard enough about this 3 mic on drums bullshit. YES it can sound great. Is it the only way to record a kit? NO. And as a matter of fact, if you don't have a pretty good drummer and a good sounding room, it won't work as good as lots of mics going to many tracks. I have gotten killer drum sounds with one Coles. I have gotten equally killer, but different sounds, double micing every piece and then some. My standard technique is kick, snare, stereo overheads placed front and behind looking at the floor tom, and a few compressed mics scattered around the kit. If that doesen't give me what I want, I have no problem adding tom mics, hi hat, whatever. Don't only live in the 3 mic box cause it's "cool". Allright, enough ranting.

Many moons ago (Tascam 3440 4 tr)I once had a killer drumsound with one RS PZM and no phase problems Very Happy

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2002 1:43 pm

My philosophy is on recording is use as many mics as you have available ( track count obviously an issue ). Then on mixdown you have the choice. Often placing free mics/tracks in strange positions ( facing the top corners , or against a reflective screen ) can help add strange ambiences that bring the mix to life. Basically record to give yourself as many choices later as possible.

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2002 7:00 pm

Are the minimalist micers in effect giving some masonic secret sign that they track to analog, or is it just an aesthetic decision? If I had a huge amount of tracks and time to sort through at mixdown, I suppose I might do more mics just so I could pick and chose at mixdown. But somehow I conceive it as being similar to putting 1000 monkeys with 1000 shot guns at the wheel of 1000 pickup trucks and waiting for Shakespeare to appear in Braile on a stop sign in Amarillo.

Bear

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