Mono Drum Overhead? Pop Music?

[contramark]

if you look at the top 40 rock hits of today are any of them recorded with a mono overhead technique? is this method maybe making a comeback with bands like Franz Fernidand, Modest Mouse etc. or is the matched stereo pair here to stay?

[JohnDavisNYC]

all the drums on the new phonograph record, which i recorded and of which i am a member, are mono overhead, however, there are stereo room mics and the close mics are panned accordingly... but the cymbal attacks have a nice solid center image to them... i dunno... hear for yourself... www.myspace.com/phonographny or www.phonographny.com, although i don't know which versions of the songs are on the second site... they are culled from a variety of sessions.

i like it for certain stuff... the single soundelux U95 overhead definately gave me a very nice, spacious kit sound... the stereo imaging from the pair of GT44s just spread it out a bit... they were about 7 feet in front of either side of the kit.

but we aren't top 40 by any means, so......

john
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[knapus]

just curious, I really liked the snare sound on "watch and ward " (I think that was the title), do you remember your set up?

[knapus]

I guess I should have said specifically on the snare (after re-reading your detailed explanation of the other mics).

[jmoose]

I've got a few things on my site that have a mono, or at least could have a mono overhead.

http://www.mooseaudio.net/discography.php

I know the Lifeguards stuff was all done with a mono overhead and I think mono room or FOK too...I'd have to look at the track sheet to be sure. I remember smacking it with a big slow opto to get the cymbal "swoosh" while mixing but it was cut flat, maybe some EQ but that's all between the mic & 2" tape.

That Steepcreek tune might've been done with a mono overhead too, we cut & recut a whole bunch of different times at different shops with different formats and overdubbed & mixed the whole thing back at my place. Some of those tunes had a mono overhead & stereo room, or stereo overs & a mono room...maybe it was mono overhead & room 'near/far'...it varied and there were other things in there too, live bass & rth geetar amps with gobos & stuff scattered around, keys were either DI or Iso'd...along with the lead guitar for basics.
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J. 'Moose' Kahrs
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www.mooseaudio.net

www.oxidelounge.com

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I'll take a mono overhead and stereo room mics any day. It just sounds right to me.
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Dave

http://adavidmackinnon.blogspot.com
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[MoreSpaceEcho]

i normally go stereo overhead, but mono is nice too. had good results with an earthworks tc30, a beyer m160, and an at3060...

[the brill bedroom]

My stuff is mono drums. Now, if it could just be a hit, we could answer your question.
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[JohnDavisNYC]

yeah, i remember the set-up. it was an AT4047 on kick, about 7 inches in front of the hole on the front head, 26" 70's Ludwig kit... 57 on the snare. kick and snare were both through neve portico pres, straight to 2" on a studer A80 at 30ips. toms were octava MC012 through ghost console pres. overhead was a soundelux U95 into an Electroharmonix tube pre, into 1176 to tape. room mics were the groove tubes GT44a's into syteks to tape. 'fun' mics were a Geffell Pm750 3 feet in front of the kick into a ghost pre into a Symmetrix 501 to tape. the other was a 58 in the middle of the kit, kinda near the drummer's right knee, getting destroyed by an ART tubeMP...

at mixing the snare got the 501, the kick got some dbx 160a, and that's about it.

john
_________________
i like to make music with music and stuff and things.

http://www.thebunkerstudio.com/

[ckeene]

ok, so if you had one mic that sounded really sweet as a drum o/h and say, a pair that were, say, acceptable-but-not-awesome, would you go mono? Or is stereo imaging more important?

[JohnDavisNYC]

mono. no question. sound quality over that new fangled sterophonic 360 degree sound. i don't really need to hear the second crash cymbal coming out of only the right speaker.


john
_________________
i like to make music with music and stuff and things.

http://www.thebunkerstudio.com/

[mjau]

Yep, mono for me, too, in that instance.
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~~~~~~~~
sounds

[mjau]

Yep, mono for me, too, in that instance.
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~~~~~~~~
sounds

[jmoose]

[Electro-Voice 664]

Mono OH placement story:

I recently made a string ‘JIG’ to rough-out mono overhead placement.
(Based on measuring overheads from snare etc.)
I took 4 equal lengths of strings, and tied them together at one end.
Then I used colored pens to mark certain lengths on the strings. (i.e. green is 3 feet, red 4 feet, blue 5 feet etc.). These lengths start from the knot end and are marked at respected equal lengths across all strings.
Using the knot end as the diaphragms locator, take the loose string ends and tape them to the center of the drums (minus Kick) use the same color-length for each drum. This results in equal distance from the drum heads and the OH microphone. Of course this can be done by ear, but that’s a given.
This can make general overhead placement fast and gives the toms, and snare a balanced relationship. Fine tune the placement as needed.
I realize this is kinda dorky, but it has helped me set-up mic placements faster, with better results. FWIW
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"Play ethnicky jazz to parade your snazz. On your five grand stereo."

[jmoose]

I had a White Stripes disc on while I was cleaning the console yesterday and realized there's a lotta mono-drums on that. Maybe some of the Strokes stuff has a mono overhead too...they happen!
_________________
J. 'Moose' Kahrs
mixer|producer|audio engineer
www.mooseaudio.net

www.oxidelounge.com