Omnis as drum overheads in basement studio?

[Silverlode]

Hi everyone. First off, here's a picture of my room and kit:



The ceiling is about 7 feet. I want to get some better overhead mics and am wondering if anyone thinks omnis would be a bad idea in a room with short ceilings. The main reason I ask is because I'm considering the Earthworks drum package which includes omnis.

Right now I have AKG C1000s...not much detail and my toms barely get picked up. I've also thought about AKG C414 but don't know which flavor to get.

Drum overheads in a low ceiling...omnis...ideas?

Thanks everyone!

[joel hamilton]

I like omni's as OH in smaller rooms. With a little compression you can get the overall kit image to open up a bit IMO....

[Rufer]

I would think you might want to focus on placement and playing to balance your kit with your current mic. I would also think that omnis would accentuate your ceiling's early reflections as overheads. Probably would work better as a room mic.

I'm just now building my short-ceilinged basement so my advice is not from experience just what I've been thinking about in my future situation.

[Rufer]

Aaaah, show's what I know. Listen to the guy with experience.

Count me in the 98% bullshit.

[Silverlode]

Rufer, I would have thought the same thing.

Joel, I don't have any acoustic treatment other than the exposed brink walls which are very porous. For an idea here are some pics of the rest of the space:

http://homepage.mac.com/adeitrich/.Publ ... G_0351.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/adeitrich/.Publ ... G_0315.jpg

Still think omnis would work? I want an open drum kit sound...not really into close micing. I'd love to use 4 mics + a room mic to get my sound.

[stinkpot]

Borrow some if you can and try it out. With a small room like that, you may not even need overheads in the traditional sense. Use an omni out/ away from the kit a ways and compress it. Or keep the OH's if their working ok and add the omni as a room mic. Distance is your friend at that point if you're looking for a more open room sound. If it's like a typical basement, you may end up cutting around 200-300Hz to make it less boxy, then squish it.

[joel hamilton]

Rufer, I would have thought the same thing.

Joel, I don't have any acoustic treatment other than the exposed brink walls which are very porous. For an idea here are some pics of the rest of the space:

http://homepage.mac.com/adeitrich/.Publ ... G_0351.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/adeitrich/.Publ ... G_0315.jpg

Still think omnis would work? I want an open drum kit sound...not really into close micing. I'd love to use 4 mics + a room mic to get my sound.

With that brick around, and a good solid floor, in theory I would use omni's as overheads in there. I would rather have the air around the kit and a more "open" sounding OH. I would look into the spherical omni condesers that Sage electronics makes. they are called "bova balls."

Spherical omni's are more directional in the mids, and omni at the low and high frequencies (way oversimplified). That would probably work REALLY well in there.

In fact, if you asked me to record drums in that space, the bova ball would be the first thing i would try as OH, with the earthworks as room mics, and a mono ambient mic about 8 feet back from the kit at chest level, in cardioid for some focus.

This is all just theory, as I have not heard anything in your room, but dont let the interweb idea that a low ceiling will not be "cool" with omnidirectional mics. The mic itself will have "more to say" than the ceiling height.... check out those spherical omni's....

http://www.sageelectronics.com/prodlist.html

Enjoy. Tell them I sentcha!

[I'm Painting Again]

I have the same kit in the same colour..I also record in a small basement..I haven't been messing with drums for ever or anything..I consider myself a pretty smart guy..it took me about 9 months to a year to figure out the right head and tuning for the signia maple drums..they really have the potential to sound bad but once you get to know them they are awesome..so I ask you this..

Is the sound your getting from the kit blowing you away when you hear it played in the room?

The thing that helped me a lot with the low ceiling was to hang 2" rigid fiberglass over the kit about an inch or two off the ceiling..and all around the kit as well..4" thick in the corners for the lows..this has worked really well in getting a good drumsound..litterally make almost another little room out of the stuff..its amazing..I bet it could work for you too..

[Silverlode]

I have never been overly impressed with these drums although I am a hack drum tuner. What are your observations? I have been using Aquarian Studio X heads on top. Thin Remo resonant heads on the bottom.