(simple?) but good drum sound

[Ken]

It does indeed all start from the overhead(s).

(obviously besides the drummer, kit, room, yadda yadda... )

[lharless]

lately i've been using a pair of omnis in a spaced pair for overhead, and one dynamic in the kick.

i've been having the drummers that i've been working with lately, go and buy the "drum dial".

an in-tune set of drums is a good start. then get the overheads nice. then get the kick and you're golden. three mics. simple as it gets, with good results.

use a top snare mic if you have to... but i don't. i haven't found a kit yet, that i leave that mic open in the mixdown. i prmptly remove it most every time.

if you find that you're getting too much high hat, then mic it (high hat) and then flip the phase to cancel a bit of it out. be careful of other things being canceled as well. just experiment with this until you find something that works. it's a touchy area, but it can work wonders when done right.

3 mics can give you some wonderful drum tones. 2 mics can get you there if that's all you have space for on a mixer. 1 mic has it's place in history as well. just try things and experiment when you have time. you'll find your niche for quick drum micing.

[Ben Logan]

Well once you get what Bees is at worked out, you can try the Gly John's method -- it's about the simplest and a good starting point.

http://www.danalexanderaudio.com/glynjohns.htm

Getting the "overheads" as close as possible to the same distance from the snare and kick beater is key, imo.

Makes mixing faster, that's for sure.

Have fun.

Thanks for the link JRS. Heard his technique described, but never laid out for me this clearly. Awesome. Bookmarking this shit...

Here's an inspiring quote from the aforementioned page:

"You can use 20 mics and take 3 days to set them up, and if you're lucky, it might sound as good as this technique, which takes about 20 minutes."

[Rufer]

I wonder if Ethan Johns uses the same setup. His drums on RA's Heartbreaker are fantastic---of course he's a fantastic drummer too.

[knobtwirler]

It really is disheartening when you realize all your mic technique is pontless if 1. the drummer ain't good, 2, the drums ain't good, and 3. the room don't sound good.

[Ken]

It really is disheartening when you realize all your mic technique is pontless if 1. the drummer ain't good, 2, the drums ain't good, and 3. the room don't sound good.

If you used really great mic technique, then you'd get a great recording of shitty drums. So you see, it's still worth something!

You can use really great mic technique on a vocalist, but if the vocalist has a lousy voice....well, you see where this is going, don't you?

As someone who records, you can only do so much. Ultimately, the musician and his/her tone is still the most important sound still. And that's the way it should be.

Getting back to the drums for a moment...you can kinda compensate for #3 with acoustic treatment and knowledgeable placement, but the first two...well, I guess someone might argue that you can compensate for #1 by editing and looping the fuck out of the drums afterwards.

There. Don't you feel better now?