Albums that used one microphone to record drums

[drumsound]

RE: "When the Levee Breaks"

I saw Eddie Kramer talk at a conference a couple years ago. AS he tells the story he and Bonzo were talking about getting a massive drum sound that Bonham wanted. At dinner break Eddie asked Bonham to stay behind. They moved the drums to the entry way of the castle (Headly Grange I think). It was a wide open, multi story stone space. Eddied put a Beyerdynamic M160 ribbon mic about three floors up and that is the sound of "When the levee Breaks."

[MoreSpaceEcho]

pretty sure it was andy johns engineering for levee breaks, no?

talk talk's laughing stock is basically one mic on the drums, about 30 feet back.

[JASIII]

andy johns told the whole thing in a TO interview a couple of years back.

[matyas]

Tigermilk by Belle & Sebastian was done with just one mic on the drums.

Mike

That's one of my favorite albums. The drums sound perfect for the style - I think one mic would be the way to go for that type of music. Of course, their early stuff is pretty self-consciously retro and lo-fi.

[leigh]

Papas Fritas, I think, if anybody remembers those masterpiece albums.

Yeah, the first Papas Fritas album, anyways, was done with one PZM mic for the drums. See the interview in the Tape Op book for more details.

Leigh

[leigh]

Lets not forget "When the Levee Breaks"

beat me to it. was it done inside of a really large stairwell in a castle? or have i been repeatedly bullshat upon in that regard.

More a mansion than a castle, but yes, that's the idea.

EDIT: Though to be clear, I don't think "Levee" was done with just one mic.



http://www.headley-village.com/zeppelin/index.html

Leigh

[I'm Painting Again]

Papas Fritas, I think, if anybody remembers those masterpiece albums.

Yeah, the first Papas Fritas album, anyways, was done with one PZM mic for the drums. See the interview in the Tape Op book for more details.

Leigh

that band is the best band ever..

that anthology compilation with the videos is sweet..the videos crack me up so bad..the video with the mullet headed guitar soloist with the cheese doodles in the background should get an acadamy award..

[Ryan Silva]

Aren't some of the drums on the Soft Bulletin single mic'ed?

The Flaming Lips album? Ill check it out, I just want to see what some sounds are I can get with only one mic.

Doesn?t sound Like Dave Friedman to only setup one mic, but you never know. From what I?ve heard it's more likely that he would set up 20 mics, what he would actually use on the mix, I couldn?t say for sure.

I love that album, it sounds like to me that at times they cut out all of the mics but the room mic and comp that to hell. Maybe that?s what you?re hearing.

[gauze]

the building I work in there is one staircase that is 4 stories up I think every surface is concrete if you slam the door at the top there is a massive 'verb after it for like 30 seconds, I always wanted to set up some drums and mic (single condensor into Minidisc) a couple floors down.

[jckinnick]

The songs on Dr. Dogs album Easy Beat where recorded with one mic hung from the ceiling. And then they recorded the cymbals and hit hat seperate, all using one mic. Pretty great drum sound.

[soundguy]

I dont think eddie kramer had anything to do with the tracking of LZ 4 other than not being present and by proxy not ruining it.

The drums were recorded in the "stairwell" for the house, but its the entry foyer with a staircase that wraps up the walls with landings. The room doesnt appear to be HUGE at all and the walls look like typical construction of the era, plaster and wood with wood molding. Wood staircase with wood railing. Ive never been there, just seen lots of pictures.

Legend has it that its two mics hung from the second story landing and thats it. the room was far too small for that slap you hear and it was probably added with a binson echorec if the gearlist for the truck is at all accurate. If you listen to the records, this micing setup would pretty much set precedent for page's approach to bonhams drum sound for the bulk of everything they would record afterward, just take off the slap delay...

If you've got a drummer who can play and someone who can tune the kit, there's lots of ways to get a drum sound like that, you hardly need to go find an old big house, although you really cant argue withe vibe. I would bet the farm that the drums wound up in the foyer just out of convenience and a little experimentation out of boredom led to something cool. Thats definitely been my experience with location recording in houses.

dave

[Judas Jetski]

Never got to album status, but here's one my band (Billy Spears Band) recorded in 1977. Nice vintage sound, partly because the drummer, Bud Pettit, insisted on one drum mic, overhead. That's Junior Brown singing and playing guitar, and me on the upright bass. Billy Spears on fiddle.

http://www.andycurry.info/BS_Band/Mount ... shower.mp3

Some of the drum-like noise you hear is my bass.

That's awesome. Perfect. Any idea what the drum mic was? Did you multitrack it or record it live?

[;ivlunsdystf]

Papas Fritas, I think, if anybody remembers those masterpiece albums.

Yeah, the first Papas Fritas album, anyways, was done with one PZM mic for the drums. See the interview in the Tape Op book for more details.

Leigh

that band is the best band ever..

that anthology compilation with the videos is sweet..the videos crack me up so bad..the video with the mullet headed guitar soloist with the cheese doodles in the background should get an acadamy award..

Yes, the best band ever. I saw them three times and each time I hung on every note. Tony Goddess has a real way with the guitar. I haven't seen the videos. I agree fully on the best band ever status though.

The old Tapeop interview is hugely informative.

Best band ever.

[AGCurry]

Never got to album status, but here's one my band (Billy Spears Band) recorded in 1977. Nice vintage sound, partly because the drummer, Bud Pettit, insisted on one drum mic, overhead. That's Junior Brown singing and playing guitar, and me on the upright bass. Billy Spears on fiddle.

http://www.andycurry.info/BS_Band/Mount ... shower.mp3

Some of the drum-like noise you hear is my bass.

That's awesome. Perfect. Any idea what the drum mic was? Did you multitrack it or record it live?

Glad you like it; I do too. It was recorded at Mountain Ears studio in Denver or Boulder. Pretty sure we recorded the rhythm section together and overdubbed fiddle, lead guitar, vocals, and pedal steel as needed. I think the overhead mic was a small diaphragm condensor. It was almost 30 years ago, so...

[Angie]

Some "back in the day" titles.

"An Hour with the Ramsey Lewis Trio". I don't know that this was ever released on CD. But if you find the LP, get it! There was one mic on the drums, one on the bass (and what a bass) and one on the piano.

Any song Gene Krupa did most likely was a one mic recording.

I'm guessing a great deal of early rock n roll recordings used one mic for the drums.

On a more recent release - Ry Cooder's Mambo Sinuendo is a great study in minimalist micing.