Finally! I Have Some Drums To Record!

[James Anderson]

dood, so few words - such a heavy topic - get the books, use the internet, bug your friends that do and find a great pro rental department near you -

http://www.amazon.com/The-Drum-Recordin ... +recording

http://www.amazon.com/Tape-Op-About-Cre ... ds=tape+op

http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Beatles ... he+beatles

[Nick Sevilla]

This is about pre miking preparation, Nick.

It might seem that way. But you must remember that microphones capture sound very differently than our ears. They capture EVERYTHING that hits them equally, without a "brain" to sift through and ignore the parts we don't like.

So in fact some things that may seem worthwhile to your ears, may not be needed or may be done differently for the recording.

This is why it is good to listen through the microphones you will be recording with whilst making these small adjustments.

Cheers

[Mark]

I thought it was about getting the drums sounding as good as possible first, and then miking them up and making any adjustments after a test recording.

When did it change?

[GlowSounds]

Hi Mark-
I think what everyone is getting at here is that it's not as black and white as you may be thinking. There is no ONE way to do these things. And there probably never was THE way that has since changed.

[Snarl 12/8]

I thought it was about getting the drums sounding as good as possible first, and then miking them up and making any adjustments after a test recording.

When did it change?

That's still a totally valid way to do it, but it might take you longer to get where you want to go. If you're setting drums up for recording specifically, why not make your "in the room" drum tweaks based on what the mics are hearing vs. what you think they're going to hear. I think of it as getting dressed in the mirror vs. getting all dressed up and then doing a fashion check in the mirror. If you've got the mirror right there you might avoid some time consuming and embarrassing choices. But you can obviously still get dressed by running back and forth between the mirror and the closet.

"Playback is a bitch."

[Drone]

Or you can just buy all your clothes the same, and skip the mirror.

Err, can someone relate that to drum mic'ing please, cause that sounds like the way I should go.

[Nick Sevilla]

I thought it was about getting the drums sounding as good as possible first, and then miking them up and making any adjustments after a test recording.

When did it change?

That's still a totally valid way to do it, but it might take you longer to get where you want to go. If you're setting drums up for recording specifically, why not make your "in the room" drum tweaks based on what the mics are hearing vs. what you think they're going to hear. I think of it as getting dressed in the mirror vs. getting all dressed up and then doing a fashion check in the mirror. If you've got the mirror right there you might avoid some time consuming and embarrassing choices. But you can obviously still get dressed by running back and forth between the mirror and the closet.

"Playback is a bitch."

This /\ /\ /\ /\

[The Scum]

as good as possible first

The hard part with that approach is that there's no single definition of "as good as possible." It changes with the performer, the song, etc, etc. A pistol-crack from a piccolo snare may be just the thing for a grindcore band, but wholly inappropriate for a soulful ballad.

There's a lot of external context that's required to even start the process.

That said, having the kit clean and maintained before you start recording gives you a stronger foundation - no dented heads, missing lugs, squeaky pedals, or missing cymbal sleeves.

Or you can just buy all your clothes the same, and skip the mirror.

Err, can someone relate that to drum mic'ing please, cause that sounds like the way I should go.

57's all around.

[Drone]

I almost do that, I used the same cheap-ass dynamics all round, until I got my cheap-ass kick mic, maybe I should save for some '57's or some of those GS pseudo 57's.

[rhythm ranch]

I thought it was about getting the drums sounding as good as possible first, and then miking them up and making any adjustments after a test recording.

When did it change?

According to Ronan Chris Murphy, it didn't: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KuGt3AOgXM
Skip to about 2:40

[Mark]

I thought Travis Barker was the guy with the Mohican in Taxi Driver

[kung_fu_elvis]

My two cents, based upon years of low-rent drum recordings and minimal economic success... (your mileage may vary).

Tuning the toms in an approximate 'thirds' sounds nice whilst rolling.

Search out the 'Glyn Johns method'... use that as a starting point... mic-positioning, it's not all that complicated.

Record, listen, tune, move mics, record again, repeat, vomit, and maybe move the mics again.

Too much ring that can't be dealt with via tuning, dampen... moon gel, or duct tape (small strips)... Or, occasionally I like a nice, fresh 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of unlined paper on the snare.

Your room is going to dictate more than I think anyone here can.

[Mark]

That's true. It's boxy, dead and there's a huge ass radiator that rattles audibly when I hit the kick that's going to have to be dealt with.

Way ahead of you on the Glynn Johns

[chris harris]

I thought it was about getting the drums sounding as good as possible first, and then miking them up and making any adjustments after a test recording.

When did it change?

It didn't. You're exactly right. Proceed.

[Zygomorph]

Never having had the luxury of my own control room... or rather, preferring to be in the same room as the music while working with the musicians/music... I've come to like setting up mics on drums with my Etymotic headphones. It's like having a control room in your head! Anyway, it makes setting up drums for recording much much easier. Low frequencies leak a bit, so playback is still important.

I once recorded an observant snare drum-- it was muted with a yarmulke.

I find that it's a lot of fun working with a drummer who knows how to tune, but also takes orders well. "Can you make it ring less? Can you make it do that pitch-drop thing?" Etc. They'll help you get you to some sort of mutual vision of the sound faster. Sometimes it has a lot to do with what their sticks are made of, for example, which has nothing to do with either tuning or microphone placement. It's about trusting your ears and trusting a musician to be a musician.

Also, if you want/need a bigger/deeper drum sound, you should TADA... get bigger drums. It keeps everyone much saner to respect the realities and limitations of the instruments being recorded.

Anyway. It's all about the windscreen on the kick drum mic.