Drum mics on the floor

Mane1234 · Post by **Mane1234** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:02 pm

I've meant to ask this question for awhile now but kept forgetting. What is the reasoning behind putting drum room mics taped to the floor as opposed to just keeping them in the air? I understand it's just another way of doing something but what's different about it compared to the usual way. You guys out there that do this what are going after and what are you getting? Are you using omnis for this?

Thanks

vsr600 · Post by **vsr600** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:25 pm

you use omnis so there's no proximity effect (increased percieved bass) from being on the floor, you put them on the floor so they collect the first arrival of the sound and not a reflection off the floor (possibly causing phase issues). It should be noted that these are usually used in conjuntion with overhead mics and not relied on for the main drum sound (mostly just the "room" sound).
hope that helps

rhythm ranch · Post by **rhythm ranch** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:01 pm

Check out this thread from Electrical Audio.

Mane1234 · Post by **Mane1234** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:24 pm

Wildness....Thanks guys...
Someday I'll have to give that a try...Like everything else I've learned on here it makes complete sense.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:32 am

vsr600 wrote:It should be noted that these are usually used in conjuntion with overhead mics and not relied on for the main drum sound (mostly just the "room" sound)

weeeeellllllll, i do always have overheads up, but the room mics (and the compressed version in parallel) quite often end up being the majority of the drum sound. just saying.

main reason i started with the mics on the floor is you get the most drums/least cymbals there...

lionaudio · Post by **lionaudio** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:25 pm

when you use boundary mics, do they always have to be omnidirectional? just wondering because i've always wanted to try it, and i don't have any omni mics yet

Slider · Post by **Slider** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:41 pm

Be careful.
I stomped on an earthworks QTC50 once after taping it to the floor.

vsr600 · Post by **vsr600** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:59 pm

Slider wrote:Be careful.
I stomped on an earthworks QTC50 once after taping it to the floor.

Ugh I hate when that happens, it's usually the largest memeber of the band who does this. To try and circumvent this I usually put a tripod mic stand over the mic with the boom raised up eye-level sorta like a landmine flag signaling the band to "hey don't f-ing step on this." hehe

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:22 am

Slider wrote:Be careful.
I stomped on an earthworks QTC50 once after taping it to the floor.

I couple times I taped a wire milk crate cage over the mics for protection.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:14 am

Slider wrote:Be careful.
I stomped on an earthworks QTC50 once after taping it to the floor.

That's always a worry for me. I only do the mics on the floor thing with smaller groups. I had a duo in so I figured that there less chance of them getting stepped on. I've been thinking of those Nailent (I think thats the name) cheap omni so if they get stomped I won'r feel so bad.

cyantologist · Post by **cyantologist** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:55 am

interesting thread. now for someone with a pretty limited selection of mics, what type of mics would be decent for this application? ldc? dynamic? "whatever sounds good to you, man"?

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:02 pm

Hey guys, build you a couple of tape op omni's. they're no earthworks, but they work great and you are only out about $20!

DGoody · Post by **DGoody** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:48 pm

You can also leave them in cardioid to get a big fat low end buildup..... I quite like that myself. Ambient mics can be overly aggressive in the mids at time, and that's a nice way to tame that,.....

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Drum mics on the floor

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