YOUR PIX: Drum Microphone Placement

[drumsound]

I'm a student, studying Music and Sound Recording. A friend of mine was recording an album for his band, in his bedroom, using only an SM57 and a bass DI! When doing this, he used stock drum loops from Logic Pro. I offered to record live drums for him, to make it sound like his band through and through. His bands' drummer, who I'm very good friends with and have worked with on sessions in the past for my recording coursework unveiled to me his ENTIRE drumkit. Less one bass drum! 18 channels were used in total to record this beast.

These images are hotlinked from facebook, please tell me if you can't see them and I'll arrange alternative image hosting.

[sarcasm]He's not a Stewart Copeland fan is he? [/sarcasm]

Looks good. I'll bet that big room is fun. I also assume if you fifn't have a good handle on phase relationships, you do now!

[Fakiekid]

Anyone got some photos of Blue Mouses on kits?

[Fakiekid]

I'm wanting to get hold of some comparisons between overhead mics. Anyone post some sound clips? I really want some Beyer m160's compared to 414's.

[Fakiekid]

A few bad photos taken quick as we set up for an open day

[Fakiekid]

Few pics from an old session. When the tracking is done i'll pop up rough mixes.











i'm the fat guy in the background hahaha

[weatherbox]

How about inside kick mics? It's often the case that in these pictures, about all you can really pull from it is "yup, I see a stand. There's an inside kick mic, alright."

It and times I use a bottom snare mic are the two positions where I spend the most time finding something that sounds right to me. Whereas with snare top, OH, etc it often seems there's a range of good tones and you're looking for the best within that sweep, inside kick and bottom snare it's that there's this collection of various annoying or boring sounds and somewhere amidst them there's a spot where suddenly, yes! That sounds right!

[mfdu]

i've been reading through all this with great interest.

here's a shot from end of last year - a wee punk band called shipspiano.



console = TAC 16/8/2 (the old one - transformer isolated mic inputs)
recording system = protools LE. mixdown to 1/4" tape.

oh = shinybox 46 (standard output trannie) > 1176 clone > TAC
kik = shure beta 52 > TAC (eq'd - mid scoop)
low tom = akg d550 (clip on) > TAC (eq'd - less top, more low mid)
mid tom = akg d440 (clip on) > TAC (eq'd - less bottom, more mid)
high tom = akg d440 (clip on) > TAC (eq'd - less bottom, more high mid)
snare top = sennheisser e604 (clip on) > 1176 clone > TAC
near room (not visible) = senn md421 > 1176 clone > TAC

skins = remo coated pinstrips top and bottom all toms. kik = remo powerstroke 4 (beater) aquarian coated (resonant), snare = who knows? supplied by client - wierd old marching snare.

not quite my usual layout. but i do regularly use clips to mount mics direct to the drum rim - mainly to aid with sightlines (the control room is the tracking space, and is also my loungeroom).

i generally avoid using condensors (LDC or SDC) in my space, as they are too sensitive and hard to control. dynamics and ribbons are much easier to place, swap around, and also they have better rejection.

the akg d440 / d550 have quite a lift around 5k - good for pulling sharp present sounds, but the dark ribbon o/h is the main sound, so the spot mics on the toms are just to stand them out a little more . . .
i'm far preferring the AT 23 / 25 mics generally, but for this session the boys said they wanted a raw sound " think pogues" was their advice. so hence the akg's. . .

my 'normal' drum kit would be mono :
oh = shinybox 46C (cinemag output trannie)
kik = beta 52? audix d6? AT 25?
snare = senn. e604 or beyer dynamic tgx-10
optional - toms (1 floor, 1 rack) = sm pro MC03 (modified) tube mic, fig. 8 between the two toms OR AT 23 / AT 25

so am i the only one to post photo's using clip-ons mics?

maybe it's an indication of the reletive cost of equipment here in australia?

regards,
chris.

oh yeah - you can't see it properly, bu it's an old militrary marching snare he's using. wouldn't fit any stand, so its being supported by a milk-crate. the boys went to another engineer who refused to let them use their snare. he wouldn't even listen to it, and made them use his pearl kit.

[Fakiekid]

next time I'll try remember to take some photos inside. Usually use ATM25/beta91/d6/speaker

[mfdu]

ooh ooh ooh i forgt to mention the speaka-mic. that's so much fun.

i use the 6.5" speaker in a combo amp for a tighter sound, or a flappy old 12" for a sub-sonic impact.

but not as often as i'd like, because ijust don't have the space once the guitar amps, bass, keys or whatever else come trooping in.

chris

[lunabeach]

A few bad photos taken quick as we set up for an open day

Are those bova balls you're using for overheads?

[Recycled_Brains]

Here's a shitty pic of the last set up I did [I'll try to find better ones]:



I used the Glynn Johns thing as the foundation, and added close mics to use as I see fit. Here's the run down:

OHs: Pearlman TM2 x2
FOK: Charter Oak 538
Sn. Top: Sennheiser 441
Sn. Top 2: Josephson C42
Sn. Bottom: SM57 w/ AMI TAB-Funkenwerk transformer
Kick inside: SM7b
Toms: AKG 451 x2

The band was tracked live.

[Fakiekid]

A few bad photos taken quick as we set up for an open day

Are those bova balls you're using for overheads?

No just C414's in there shockmounts!

[capnreverb]

80's(?) slingerland jazz kit with a an ancient ludwig marching band snare and a metal ludwig snare. all mics are at3525's including beater side of kick. the overheads are josephson c42's and the outside kick drum mic is a rca bk5-b.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

you have crazy futuristic plastic walls!

[cgarges]

What's not to love about that setup?

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC