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I recently purchased two AT3035's to mic drums and vocals mainly. I also have two sm57's. What would be the best way to distribute these mics over the kit. i was thinking of using the 57's as overheads... one at3035 on the kick and one on the snare? obviously the at3035's would be better overheads. :evil:

second question... i have a gretsch catalina jazz kit... as i live in an apartment in nyc i'd like to attempt to sound proof my spare bedroom (roommate is leaving) to use as my "studio" space? what would be a easy cost efficient way of doing this effectively? i was thinking of maybe buying a couple :oops: yards of thick fabric and just kinda of artfully :roll: draping it about the wall and using a thick carpet under the drums? the room also has two windows which probably present a problem. help me out !

thanks.

Comments

drumist69 Wed, 08/01/2007 - 10:50

If you do a search for soundproofing, you'll find out that its not easy or cheap to accomplish. I'm assuming you want to soundproof to keep from bugging the neighbors? That's going to be tough in an apartment.
As for mic placement, I would put the AT3035's as overheads. Those will give you most of your drum sound. Then a 57 on the snare, and a 57 on the kick. Like I said, get most of the sound from the overheads, and add a little of the others in to get where you want the kick and snare to be, presence-wise. Andy

anonymous Wed, 08/01/2007 - 11:31

drumist69 wrote: If you do a search for soundproofing, you'll find out that its not easy or cheap to accomplish. I'm assuming you want to soundproof to keep from bugging the neighbors? That's going to be tough in an apartment.
As for mic placement, I would put the AT3035's as overheads. Those will give you most of your drum sound. Then a 57 on the snare, and a 57 on the kick. Like I said, get most of the sound from the overheads, and add a little of the others in to get where you want the kick and snare to be, presence-wise. Andy

that seems to make sense. i have some reservations about putting the 57 on the kick as I've been accustomed to micing kick drums with larger diaphram mics such as the ev re20 and quite like that sound. i hated the d112. you are correct about my reasons for sound proofing. i'd like to soundproof to minimize any annoyance to my downstairs neighbors (i live on the top floor). any thoughts/suggestions on this at all?

anonymous Wed, 08/01/2007 - 12:55

i did the search. i've read a bit. done a bit of research. many of the things i've read are not doable since i rent. i'm merely trying to get some suggestions on what to get to dampen the sound in an inexpensive manner besides egg crates. i'm not too keen on auralex either. would any of that even work? how about an acoustic blanket or a paneling?

drumist69 Wed, 08/01/2007 - 14:55

Regarding the kick mic, sure an RE20 would be ideal, but you don't have one. You'll get plenty of "body" on the kick with the overheads if you're careful with placement. Use the 57 just to add emphasis if needed. Check its frequency response graph...
http://www.bsu.edu/met/gobbledygook/cr/shure/shure_57_response.html
Should work fine. Just because it looks small doesn't mean it sounds small. If nothing else, you will capture the performance, and can replace the kick sound with a sample later perhaps. Andy