school me on drum micing

I've recently come upon a drum set
anybody in the forums mics drums and how you go about doing it
all i plan on recording is kick snare hi hat and crash
can somebody give me some tips on micing these for the best pick up?
and which kinds of mics i should be getting?

Depends what sound your going for but you can usually get a pretty decent sound from just an overhead condenser mic and maybe a close mic at the base drum. Try and get the best condenser mic you can afford though cause i've used some pretty shit ones, Rode mics are usually good.

Apart from that the tuning of the drum is very important if you want to close mic. Shure sm57s are the way to go for that as far as mics go but you'll have to spend a lot of time tuning each drum correctly so it sounds good right at the batter or response head depending on where you mic. This might sound bad to listen to in a room but your tuning for the mics not the room in this case.

Drum kits sound way different from room to room so make sure you retune for any different micing situation if you want the best results.

good luck heres a pretty good link on the intricacies of how to tune drums http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/index.html

I agree to the above ^ ..make sure the kit is in tune and that every drum / cymbal sounds good on it's own and together with the rest of the kit....

In what kind of room are you recording ?, if it's a big room and you don't want a very "open" sound, you might want to hang up some padded curtains and / or make some absorption panels to put around the kit to prevent alot of the reflections from spilling into your close mics.... then again an "open" sound might be what you're looking for....

It's difficult to say where you "should" place your mics and what mics you should use through a forum post... But I would start positioning just 1 mic on the whole kit either over the kit as an overhead or in front of the kit on "chest" height and try and find the best possible sound that captures the whole kit by moving that mic around a bit.....

Instead of putting up 8 mics or so without any recording experiece, this can lead to nasty things like phase issues if you don't know what to listen for, just start with 1.... \

If you're satisfied with the 1 position but you miss some body or rattle on the snare, you can always stick a mic on the snare skin or underneath.... but then make sure it is in "in phase" with the already placed mic... if you have a phase reverse on your preamp, just turn it on and off while listening to the two signals, and choose the best sounding setting..on or off...

Do this for every mic you add to the equation.....

Just spend some time tuning the kit and making sure it sounds nice in the room that it's in, just by being in the room and listening... this is just as important, if not more important than mic choice and positioning.....

If you want to invest in some mics I would at least get a couple of SM57's, maybe a D112, and a pair of SM81's
But anything goes if you use your ears...you can get very good results with cheapish mics if positioned correctly...

Also important : Have fun, and use your ears !

I'm new to this forum but the other people gave good advice. Tuning is important.

As far as micing goes, it really depends what you have access to. HH and Overheads (cymbals) are really going to be the hardest to give answer for. I'll try to see if I can find a good description and post it later. It has a lot to do with placement.

For overheads (cymbals): I personally like 3 to 1 and the Neumann KM184's. If your on a budget you can do it with the Shure SM 57's.

Snare: SM 57. You probably want to mic the top and bottom. You will probably need to flip the phase on the bottom mic. If you don't have the ability to do that then you may only want to mic the top.

Where you place that mic will make a huge difference. Moving the mic just 1 inch can dramatically affect the sound. It should be around 1 inch above the snare. Where you point it depends on what type of sound you are going for. If you want it to ring point it closer to the rim. If you want it to snap point it closer to the center. Keep in mind the drummer will make a huge difference. If you hit it hard it will make a different sound than if you hit it soft.

Kick: Shure B52 or Audix D6. Place the mic about half way in the hole and try to point it towards the beater.
That being said there are many things you can do to mic a kick drum. From combination micing to using a speaker to get the low end.

High hat: KM 184. I'll try to find some pictures.


Everything I said is an opinion. Everyone has one. If there is a rule to follow it is this, if it sounds good it is good.
There is no amount of explaining that will make up for experience. I'd encourage you to get a SM 57 ($80- $120) and experiment with mic placement.

AKG d112 for kick, Sm57 for snare, and maybe some behringer c2's for over head.

This is all relatively cheap and i have used these and they work alright., without going overboard.

Possibly a sm58 between toms to just grab all the sounds.

i don't plan on using toms so no need to mic there and i want to build a little room inside of the room to strictly do drums and vocals and maybe record guitar out of a guitar amplifier

but yeah basically I'm just trying to record kick snare hat crash (maybe ride?)
ill look into the mics recommended see if i can pick some up i don't want sound of the room i just want drums clear and accented nicely so hopefully the padded curtain or absorption pads will handle with that

Thanks everyone for their responses

what kit did you get btw?
5 peice, 4 peice? brand? what cymbals? or is it all a cheapie kit?

i used to have a cheap kit like 10 years ago and had it sounding amazing..
kick drum filled with dirty bed sheets n pillows, all toms tuned real low, all new remo heads w/cheapish paiste cymbals... etc..

and i have heard really good results from just one of those zoom recorders, recording a whole band just set up in a room, so yeh just start with one mic as ^said.

its a pearl 5 piece i don't know what kind to be specific( I've never been into toms so i'm just planning on setting up the snare and kick and like to think i'm saving space) maybe ill add the floor tom..
cymbals i got zildjian again don't have a clue what kind hat ride crash and splash

can i ask a question why fill it with blankets and all??
sorry i have no idea about drums because ive never had a pair just used friends sets

filling the kick with pillows and such will dampen the sound if its too much of a boomy/hollow sound.

if it is a really long decay boom on the kick, i would highly suggest taking the outside(not the beater side) skin off and experiment with pillows/foam/old clothes etc, until you are getting a nice short thud, but still keeping that boom.

it's all user preference so just experiment until you get the sound you're after.

those pearl export kits are decent sounding, and with zildjians cymbals, you're off to a good start.

kick/snare/floor tom, is also a very simple but very effective/creative combo to play with.

i'm a little jealous just thinking about it, i bought a roland td-9 mesh kit just recently, but really wish i got a second hand acoustic kit instead... oh well, one day..

good luck!

Yeah Know1 got it.

At the end of the day, micing drums is all about how you hook up and place your kit. You don't want cymbals leaking into the bass-drum mic. From the old school of thought, the less mics the better.

Stick with uni-directional dynamic mics so that the mic picks up the sound from the source intended, because those type of mics will help record whats its pointing to and not whats behind like bi-directional or omni-directional. Though there are tricks to use those types of mics in drums, like with a bi-directional you can record the snare on your right and the cymcals on your left in one take when you place the mic between those pieces.

Every track should be dedicated to a mic, like track 1:Kick, track 2:Snare, track 3:Hi-Hat left, track 4:Hi-Hat right, track 5:cymbals etc.

Its a creative process to learn but try to work with 4 mics to record drums.

Here's a link that might help you. I'm just really surprised about the lack of emphasis on placement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiFkMZSYORY

He said something about panning the snare mics to roughly the same spot. Um they should both be dead center. He also didn't mention flipping the phase on the lower mic. However he did touch nicely on 3 to 1 overhead micing which is how you would pick up the cymbals.
I don't really agree with this guy on most of his mic choices or some of his techniques but it's nice to watch video plus it should give you a better idea.

Micing the Hat is difficut because you can get a wish washy sound . The mic needs to be pointed directly at the center of the hat. That wish washy sound is something you have to be aware of with cymbals too. So if you're getting that you need to move the mic.

Found a decent PDF.
http://www.musiciansbuy.com/mmMBCOM/htm ... _drums.pdf

EDIT: For some reason this link isn't working.? So just do a googl search and type in micing the hi hat. It should be the first link to come up. It is a very decent PDF.

They mention the D112 for a kick drum mic. I think someone already mentioned it in this thread. It's a very nice mic don't get wrong. It has a scoop in the mid rage and your going to get a lot of attack. Clicky. Again it's a very nice mic but not suited for every style of music. It's very popular for Heavy Metal.

I usually use a Shure B52 and a yamaha ns 10. However your probably not going to get an NS 10. Thankfully Yamaha makes this.http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMSUBKICK Just place it right in front of the kick (audience side). and then put the B52 half way in the hole.

Peace

This is really subjective though...what kind of sound are you going for?

Micing Drums can be one of the most frustrating or most fulfilling instruments to track. Before you purchase any equipment for the purpose of recording a kit you have to decide if you are going for the holy grail of tone or just wanting to get a good capture of a good performance. If you are not sure where you are going with this get your hands on some dynamic mics for cheap--- SM57, D112, etc. go with whatever preamps you have and see how things sound. You will soon discover that you want condenser mics for the cymbals, maybe ribbons, but then the cost starts to really climb. But, A well tuned kit, with a good drummer, can sound great with nothing but 57 all the way around.