Skip to main content

I recently read about this technique and gave it a try on the last album i did. It turned out FANTASTIC. Basicly it is a way to pepper in a lo-fi vibe to a otherwise crisp hi-fi drumkit... its a common trend with the rock revial bands like: the strokes, killers, franz f., etc.

in addition to your mic set-up on your kit... weather you choose the huge and organic 'Jon Bonham' technique or the more controlled 'mic every aspect' method... try setting up a condenser microphone about 6 feet back from the front of the kick drum, and so the diaphram is level with the top of the kick's rI'm (about 2 feet pending on the kick). This mic is going to pick up the whole kit but with a good handle on the kick.
In terms of mic choices, i like the AKG C-3000 (flat)... it has worked beautifully in the past... of course i am always up for other recomendations.
Anyway, you want to compress the crap out of this microphone... even drive it a hair with your preamp... be tasteful, you dont want a ratty useless and muddy signal... instead a squashed and overdriven full kit sound. I will normally do a little EQ work to balance it out (pending on what frequencies i need to fit well with the whole kit).
When it comes to mixing... this mic setup is amazing because it CAN stand alone for a unique room sound. But i normally mix it low in the full drum mix so it adds some 'balls' without overpowering anything. This technique is also great when put to a creative test... you can do a lot with this mic setup to create lots of unique sounds... not just the 'meaty rock revival' tone...

Comments

Guest Wed, 02/09/2005 - 07:26

If you have a relatively high ceiling try hanging a mic [shotgun mics work great for this] about 6-8 feet over the kit aimed down at the space between the snare drum and the kick drum... much like the "mic in front" it can do some amazing things [and the two together can take the whole recording to an amazing new level... but you have to be very particular about the phase relationship of the two in regards to the phase relationship to the rest of the way the kit is mic'ed].

Best of luck.