need help recording drums

[wormsmakedirt88]

okay so i do some multi track recording on my computer. I record my guitars and bass direct with the mic input on my sound card and i record my drums with one little piece of shit mic. i used magix music studio delux 2004 for mixing and all that stuff and in the end it really dosent sound that bad. but i want to get more profesional sounds and i want to start with the drums, but i really have no idea where to start. i know i want to get like a 7 piece mic package but i have no idea how i would go from the mics to my computer. and i want to know if it would be possible to have each mic record on seperate tracks. i really have no idea what to do or get. if someone could just give me a list of basic stuff i would need to do this and maby explain why it would really help me out. thanks a lot

[drumsound]

You have a number of options. I'd want some type of 8 in 8 out minimum interface. Obviously many mics and at least 8 mic pres. Your budget will dictate much of this.

Another option you should consider is going to a pro studio, cutting the drums and /or the basics and then importing those files into your machine. Do you overdubs, experiments and whatnot at home.

[darkhorseporter]

You can get a firewire mixer for pretty cheap that'll let you run 8+ tracks into your PC. Ebay has some going for less than $400.

If you go the USB route, make sure its USB2.0!

[kayagum]

Welcome to the board!

I don't mic full kits that often, but I think the main principle that helped me was that the overhead mics or the room mic could and often should make up the majority of the drum sound, and flesh it out with a couple of choice close mics like kick or snare. That's different from most people's initial impulse of using the close mics first, then fleshing it out with OH or room.

You don't need to mic every drum. In fact too many mics can be bad news because of phase issues (if you don't know what you're doing).

Of course, it helps if your room acoustic sounds decent too.

You can search on any of these topics to get you started:

Overheads (or OH)
Glyn Johns
"heart mic"
Snare or Kick or (BD) or Toms or Cymbals
Shell

[Devlarz]

...i really have no idea what to do or get. if someone could just give me a list of basic stuff i would need to do this and maby explain why it would really help me out. thanks a lot

1st- What sort of sound would you like to achieve with your drums (or overall musically) i.e. what records do you like the sound of?

2nd- What is your budget for this project?

3rd- Where do you record generally?

If you can answer these few questions it will go a long way in us being able to give you answers that will be most helpful for you and time efficient for us.

[wormsmakedirt88]

Um im not really sure, i just want to be able to mess around with everything and get a good sound becuase what i use to record my drums right now is just a little computer mic. I play a lot of different stuff but what im most interested in recording is pretty much anything rock. If you listen to underoath i guess im looking to get a sound like that. Im not really sure what im planning on spending, it would be nice to get it all under 1000 though. And i record all my stuff in my basement. Thanks for all the help, i didnt expect to get all of this so soon.

[percussion boy]

I don't mic full kits that often, but I think the main principle that helped me was that the overhead mics or the room mic could and often should make up the majority of the drum sound, and flesh it out with a couple of choice close mics like kick or snare.

Exactly.

For example, if you buy two dynamic mics that work well on kick and snare, and one good used large condenser for a mono overhead, you can get real nice results. This setup also forces you to be careful about placing mics and tuning the kit.

[Ethan Holdtrue]

To take what was just said a little further, I'd maybe stay away from the 'mic pack's just because they are not always as wonderfull as they are blown up to be. Dump the money you would spend on the mic pack into just one nice LDC with multi paterns (I would STRONGLY recomend an AT4050) and like the gentelmen before me said mess around with placement. a well placed LDC set to OMNI can be a VERY beautiful thing.

[Rigsby]

Five mics is my ideal:

57 on snare
C4000 on kick
2x Your choice of SDCs as OHs
Omni in the room to glue it all together

pretty much always sounds wonderful to me.

[Devlarz]

Um im not really sure, i just want to be able to mess around with everything and get a good sound becuase what i use to record my drums right now is just a little computer mic. I play a lot of different stuff but what im most interested in recording is pretty much anything rock. If you listen to underoath i guess im looking to get a sound like that. Im not really sure what im planning on spending, it would be nice to get it all under 1000 though. And i record all my stuff in my basement. Thanks for all the help, i didnt expect to get all of this so soon.

It would seem to me that you ought to purchase some items that will be as versitale as possible. So in my opinion you may want to look into getting something like the Presonus Firepod and then spend the money on a decent LDC (Large Diaphragm Condensor microphone-CAD or Rode are affordable without lacking in quality craftsmanship), a "kick" mic (I recommend the Audix D6 which I bought new for $168) and perhaps a dynamic mic (a Shure SM57 is a standard mic that is always good to have around) and of course you should invest in a mic stand or three. Again purchasing items that will allow you to achieve desirable results in a variety of applications would be my best advice so mabye even forego the kick mic and purchase two LDCs and a dynamic. It is very possible and realtively easy (with your patience and openess to advice intact) to achieve a great drumsound with just one to three mics.

Keep asking questions on this board and many others, keep reading, keep listening and keep practicing. As research/training and excersice usually yeild, you will grow in leaps and bounds if you keep up these activities.

[wormsmakedirt88]

thanks for the advice. but i still dont really understand how the firepod works with the computer. it has the 8 inputs but how is it connected to the computer so that you can record the tracks at the same time? would i need a special soundcard or something for it to record the different tracks at the same time?

[Devlarz]

Your computer would have to be able to accept either firewire or s/pdif, which translate the inputs to 8 channels onto whichever format you decided to record on. This then of course asks the question what sort of connectivity do you currently have on your computer?

[wormsmakedirt88]

ooh ok cool cause i have a firewire. i saw a good diagram of how the fireport is used too so that helped me understand a little more.

[syrupcore]

...becuase what i use to record my drums right now is just a little computer mic.

that's punk. Can we hear it?

a firepod and a single AT4050 and you'll crap at the difference. they'll both grow with you, which is cool. that'll be more like 1200 though.

Nothing wrong with that but also consider a simpler interface with less inputs. Spending your money on two good microphones and a two or four input interface might take you further if you're primarly recording yourself. How often will inputs 2-8 go unused? If you're looking to spend $1000, the firepod is going to eat a lot of that, leaving you little money for mics (and stands and cables). I think conventional wisdom says a good mic will be a part of your life a lot longer than any computer interface. M-audio and presonus make a bunch of 2in/4in boxes for less than $300. Add an AT4050 and Shure sm57 and you're in business for less than 1k.

With two inputs, you can get great sounding rock drums, for sure. I really love the sound of two mics out in front of the drum kit @ knee height, making an equalateral triangle with the center of the kick. It sounds weird but I read it here a few years ago and just decided to try it. it was like a load-in-my-pants awesome. search around here for two mic techniques. there's loads.

don't let a bunch of new equipment get in the way of making music. adding mics adds phase problems. do a search here for the word 'phase' and have a browse at 135135 grey hair inducing threads.

Will

[wormsmakedirt88]

hah thanks, i have been reading so much on this board already i probably forgot half of it by now, but its definatly a lot of help. and ill try to put one of my recordings on here tomarrow or something. i think the best sounding recording i have so far is just a blink-182 cover that i did for fun but i played around with it on the computer alot and i was surprised that it didnt sound too bad.