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Next week I will be obtaining a drum kit to try out for recording. It's a 4pc. mid-80s USA Gretsch shell pack and I'm borrowing the remaining cymbals/hardware from a buddy to make a complete kit. My thoughts/questions are around setting them up to record.

*Currently, my plan is to keep it simple and just use 4 channels on my RME FF800 for pres.
*For mics, I'll more than likely be sticking with 57s/58s, i5, 421 and either Oktava or NT5s for the OH...I have a lot of experimenting to do. I don't however have a designated kick mic, so I wouldn't be opposed to buying one down the road. Should I just stick with the 58 or the 421 for now? If I purchased a kick mic, what other considerations other than a Beta 52 could be recommended (within, say a $350 budget)?

*Next, I'm debating on whether or not I should run cables directly from the interface to the kit (everything is in one room), or if I'd be better off getting a small snake to keep the clutter down. Are there any cons to a snake in a scenario like this?

If all goes well, I would consider buying some nicer pre's for the drums in the future, maybe an API 3124 and thus perhaps expand to 6 mics on the kit (still using two from the RME)...but I really don't think I'd want to go more than that. However, first thing is first. if I like the kit and I can get a good recorded sound, then I have to BUY it, then get hardware, cymbals, etc. on my own.

Thanks for reading, your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

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Comments

anonymous Mon, 04/19/2010 - 12:56

Can't really go wrong with a 57 on a snare drum. Everyone is used to hearing that. If you've got a 421, you can definitely get away with using it on kick. I've found it sounds very tight and focused. Otherwise I've always liked an RE20 on kick (I don't have a sample on me to share).

Since you're not miking toms, get some overheads with extended low end response. I'm a big fan of [[url=http://[/URL]="http://signalchains…"]AT4041's as drum overheads[/]="http://signalchains…"]AT4041's as drum overheads[/]. I'm not familiar enough with the Oktavas or NT5s to make any suggestions about them.

No huge problem with using a snake, but you're lengthening the distance of cable and making two connections rather than one.