I did my first major drum Micing the other day and used Recorderman's technique.
I had a hard time getting the over the shoulder microphone to be the proper distance from the kick when using the mic cable to measure..any thoughts on achieving this would be cool. I was only using one heavy duty mic stand with a custom 2 foot spacing bar that had the swivel extensions on the end...
Also, the next day when I got home I realized that I had summed both channels into one...I have a VS2480 and my input channels were not linked while the track channels were...I tested today and this sums them both into one. Any words of comfort would be appreciated...I'm not sure how bad this is or what I should do. Just have one track straight up or pan them a little or what.
If anybody would chime in and make a judgment that would really help me...Maybe I could just tell my client that I heard Lenny Kravitz put's one mic on the whole kit. see...my client doesn't care about how I mic an knows very little. They didn't pay for the setup time. I'm in a dilemma. I didn't achieve what me, myself was after...did I let the client down, or am I on the cusp of something retro and cool?
Summed Mono in Seattle (er, Bellevue)
conga
Comments
sometimes the geometry can be tricky. you can use two pieces of
sometimes the geometry can be tricky. you can use two pieces of string taped to the center of the snare and the center of the kick respectively to get exact positioning.
where you sometimes run into a problem is when the second mic ends up too close to the drummer's ear/head. In that case, I add a couple of inches to the two-stick difference. I think the actual distance is less important (if we are only talking about a few inches) than the fact that the distances remain equal.
Hack and Littledog, Thanks for your response, I think it's a
Hack and Littledog,
Thanks for your response, I think it's a great setup as soon as I figure it with my situation which is....
I used one mic stand for this first session. I have a custom built stereo bar that is 2 FT wide with pivots (from the ATLAS stereo bar) on each end. So it was a littl trickier than if using just 2 mic stands. no matter what I did, I couldn't figure out how to align the snare and the kick drum. The kick drum was always a little closer. I was trying to angle the whole stand while keeping the mic above the snare centered.
My real major issue however is that through my...whatevers. I routed both mics into a mono mix on both tracks!!!!
I'm working with it right now in that I have only one of the tracks straight up and I put the Drum Room Mic track off to the left to try and get a stereo "sparkle" thing happening. My main concern is whether I have done something that is so wrong that I should try and re-record (getting another drummer since the one that did it is not availible) for my client. I don't think she'll notice but I imagine somebody from the drummer to the person mastering may wonder and say something. Than I have to go through the lengthy discussion of what happend (my intentions and results) and her feeling that if she doesn't have it re recorded than she has an inferior product....
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
conga
Any thoughts on the viability of this setup for a live recording
Any thoughts on the viability of this setup for a live recording?
I'll be running sound and recording a three piece acoustic folk/rock group this weekend and am limited to 8 tracks total for initial capture. I've mapped out the tracks so that I can do a three mic drum setup. I've essentially narrowed down the setups to three possibilities in no particular order:
- Fletcher's description of three mic drum setup over at Mercenary
- Recorderman's setup
- Standard spaced pair over and behind the drummer with a third "front of kit" mic.
I'll most likely be using a pair of SP C4's with the cardioid caps for the OH's (although I've got a pair of B3's ready to go if necessary) and probably a C1 for the front of kit mic.
The drums won't be run through the PA as it's a very small venue. However, my goal is to get the best possible drum sound for the recording. The drummer is quite good and knows how to tune his kit properly so his tone is usually very good.
Anyway, just curious about your thoughts on Rman's setup for live recording.
I usually throw the mics up measuring only from the snare. Then
I usually throw the mics up measuring only from the snare. Then I tweek the shoulder mic to get the kick in the middle, or close. I havent been able to mess this setup up yet. And every drummer loves it. And another plus... no one has ever seen drums miced this way!