I have been recording seriously for five years now and have been painstakingly searching for "that drum sound" for FIVE YEARS! I am looking for a Chad Smith a la Blood Suger Sex Magic meets Questlove bright snare/full Kick sound.
I have read a boatload of forums on drum recording and have finally come up with a sound I am proud of. SO, I had to share my setup and will post mp3's soon.
Overheads spaced pair (RODE nt5) at 3 and 9 oclock four feet above cymbals equal distance from snare. I pulled the overheads back towards the drummer to pull some of the kick out of the blend and voila I got my overhead sound!
Snare- sm57 above and below. I tilted the snare mics back to just over the rims to get the "Bap" I was looking for.
Kick- and here's the breakthrough. D112 inside resting on a blanket facing right up against the beater skin (about two inches away), but this isn't the breakthrough.
Then I put an AKG 4033 on a small stand facing the front skin 2 feet away. The blend I get between this mic and the D112 (which I've never been a fan of on its own) is quite simply AMAZING! If I put this mic any further back I was getting too much kit and not enough Kick lo end. 2 feet seems to be perfect.
Toms- straight up 57's on rack and floor.
I opted against a room mic on this session for no other reason other than that my head was more into the kick sound. A
Again I have to tell you that with no eq this is hands down the best drum sound I have captured from the many, MANY different drum recordings I have done.
I had to share- hope this gives some of you a little food for thought.
Peace.
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AKG 4033?? Do you mean AT 4033?? Maybe there is an AKG 4033 - I
AKG 4033??
Do you mean AT 4033??
Maybe there is an AKG 4033 - I don't know their line well, but I've never heard of it.
My favorite kick sound is a Bock Audio U195 in front of the kick drum about 1' and an RE20 on the inside (blended to taste). The best kit sound I've ever gotten - M130/M160 (Beyers) in M/S in front of the kit at about eye level (standing) and aimed down between the cymbals and toms. HUGE sound, great stereo imaging and lush, lush, lush...
Cheers-
J.
Well, depending on the persons drum set size, you can usually ge
Well, depending on the persons drum set size, you can usually get a fabulous sound with just 3 to 4 well-placed microphones & well selected microphones. And the bigger payoff is when you run that into higher-quality preamps. I still haven't made up my mind whether I like tracking drums through my API's or Neve's? You'd think in 13 years I would have figured out already? But I haven't. As long as it's either one of those I feel good. If it's a Mackie or Beringer, as is often the case when folks have me over to their basement studios to record them on their systems. You take the cheap equipment and go for the headroom. Don't worry about the noise. If you have headroom it will sound Pro. If you don't have headroom, it's a bright red neon light flashing saying "BEGINNER BEGINNER BEGINNER BEGINNER..."
In TELEVISION, films, it's a regular practice to record "room tone" which is room ambience without any other invading noises. This room tone has been used throughout moviemaking history. It's also an important aspect to audio recording. For instance, in the early Led Zeppelin recordings, a microphone was placed way down a hallway. That was actually designed to capture the ambience rock-and-roll sounds as opposed to just the room sound. So every professional understands the use of noise and how much is actually acceptable.
I'm always noisy
Ms. Remy Ann David
Thanks for the replies. And Cucco I meant an AT 4033 you were c
Thanks for the replies. And Cucco I meant an AT 4033 you were correct. Also, I was interested in your overhead placement. You mentioned you were able to get a lush sound with your overheads spaced in front of the kit. Don't you find you get too much low end and not enough cymbal splash etc with that setup? THe only reason I ask is I found that my room mics when placed to close to the front of the kit were getting way too much low end. But it could have been poor mic setup on my part.
PS I am dying to try an re20 inside my kick! How does it compare to the audix d6 which I am loving at the moment and thinking about purchasing.
peace.
"to get the "Bap" I was looking for." Men of the world, rejoice
"to get the "Bap" I was looking for."
Men of the world, rejoice. All we need is a pair of SM57s.
Or an SM58, since those have foam balls.
Glad to hear you've got there - but you realise you'll soon want to make changes? Either way well done.