steve albini overhead mics/sound?

[joninc]

hey anyone know his secret? mic? placement?

i love the way cymbals sound in a lot of his recordings.
(not talking room mics here - specifically overhead/cymbals sound)

[fossiltooth]

(not talking room mics here - specifically overhead/cymbals sound)

How do you know that?

Last time I checked, rooms pick up cymbals too.... (as does every other mic on the kit.) No offense meant, but I think it's a bit presumptuous to assume you know where the sound doesn't come from.

Albini's choice, placement and treatment of room mics are a big part of his stock drum sound. If I remember correctly, they often get printed to the same two tracks as his overheads.

He also clearly prefers recording drums in somewhat large, fairly live rooms. That's a big, big thing too.

[joninc]

touche!

i guess the reason i am saying that is that today i was listening to a record he recorded and there were some songs that were obviously more distant room/ambient sounding and some that were much dryer and i love the way the cymbals sounded on those dryer songs. i supppose they may have had closer room mics but there was definitely no audible room reverb/decay happening on those songs.

it kind of reminded me of the way the drums sound on the new year album too. very dry and crisp but in no way strident or zippy.

according the electrical audio site there are tons of different mis in their collection that excel as overheads.

does he like really high overheads? is he a big fan of the SDC? tube mics? omnis? this is what i am curious about....

[JohnDavisNYC]

i would bet that steve uses whatever he thinks will sound good for that drummer on that drumset with those cymbals...

as far as preference, maybe dig around the electrical audio forum an ask steve himself? he seems to be a pretty easy to contact dude... but i would dig around and search first, because his response will probably be much more obnoxious and caustic than justin and myself combined could muster.

john

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i think he uses 4038s in blumlein a lot...

[runrunrun]

yeah there are some specific pictures of different micing on kits over at the electrical forum.

alot of times he seems to use a stereo mic a few feet out in front of the kit (often in MS) plus some overheads and then a pair of omnis (forming a triangle with the bass drum)taped to the floor (with about 10-20ms of delay on the room mics to compensate for the haas effect).

in addition to that stuff...usually mic the top and bottom of each tom with his special joesephson mics, couple mics on kick, couple on snare.

and im sure it changes from time to time depending on the music, but these things i mentioned seem to pop up fairly often in pics over at electrical. you dont need to ask him about it directly, just poke around and search something like session documentation etc..

ive been on a huge albini kick lately so all this stuff is just floating in my brain...

[???????]

I've heard that he likes to keep the overheads low, almost like cymbal spot mics, and have room mics on the floor a little ways in front of the kit with a little delay on them to simulate the 'slap' that the drummer heads when the drums echo off the walls in a big space.

This is all second-hand info though.

[drumsound]

A few years ago at TapeOpCon He set up a conincident pair (I think an M/S pair) just a few feet in front of the drum-set about chest high. I don't believe he used anything over the drums. Does anyone remember that from the second year in New Orleans?

[15countsofarson]

he spoke at a local recording school a couple years ago. a buddy of mine came out of the sesminar all gung-ho about using only a ribbon in front of the kick and then a spaced pair of overheads.

[cgarges]

This ought to give you the jist of what he tends to do:

http://www.electrical.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=155

"I suspect that a lot of it is the combination of the cymbal bleed in the open tom mics, which would have been Josephson 609s, the overhead mic (or stereo front-of-kit mics) and the ambient mics. The overheads could have been STC 4038, AKG C60, Schoeps 221b, Lomo 19a18, Audio Technica 4051 or any of a dozen other options. The front-of-kit stereo mic (if there was one) would have been a Neumann SM2, AKG C24 or Royer SF12. It could have been in blumlein or M-S. The ambient mics were probably Altec 150s with 21D capsules.

The sound of cymbals is pervasive, and no individual single choice in microphones makes a particular effect. For example, for the first 10 years I made records, I didn't use overhead mics at all, or only rarely. They cymbal sound was represented by bleed on the tom mics and the ambient sound in the room. I gradually developed techniques to incorporate overhead mics, andnow I use them regularly, but for a long time I didn't. I still seldom have a need for a hi-hat mic, as that bastard goes everywhere, like it or not."

From pictures I've seen and people I've talked to, it appears that he generally prefers spaced miking techniques over the drumkit. I've also seen him use a wide spaced pair over the kit with a center overhead mic as well, like in this setup from the Jesus Lizard's Goat album.

I've also seen him frequently use Gefell 582s and 563s as room mics.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[Ryan Silva]

A few years ago at TapeOpCon He set up a conincident pair (I think an M/S pair) just a few feet in front of the drum-set about chest high. I don't believe he used anything over the drums. Does anyone remember that from the second year in New Orleans?

What a great day that was, I think I met you that day Tony, at least I assume that?s were I got your card. I kind of snuck into the tracking room and watched you guys set up the drums for ?Pot-Luck? I thought I remember the mic placement was kinnda adjusted for the horrible acoustics of those conference rooms. I remember Josephson microphones on top and bottom toms, and what I thought was a Blue bottle in front and above the kick. I was so excited about his snare mic (KSM141) because I just bought a pair, so I asked him why he choose that mic, he kind of laughed and gave me the ?Because it sounds good, young grasshopper.? and I felt very stupid. Still due actually, probably always will in front of that guy.

[fossiltooth]

This ought to give you the jist of what he tends to do:

http://www.electrical.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=155

"I suspect that a lot of it is the combination of the cymbal bleed in the open tom mics, which would have been Josephson 609s, the overhead mic (or stereo front-of-kit mics) and the ambient mics. The overheads could have been STC 4038, AKG C60, Schoeps 221b, Lomo 19a18, Audio Technica 4051 or any of a dozen other options. The front-of-kit stereo mic (if there was one) would have been a Neumann SM2, AKG C24 or Royer SF12. It could have been in blumlein or M-S. The ambient mics were probably Altec 150s with 21D capsules.

The sound of cymbals is pervasive, and no individual single choice in microphones makes a particular effect. For example, for the first 10 years I made records, I didn't use overhead mics at all, or only rarely. They cymbal sound was represented by bleed on the tom mics and the ambient sound in the room. I gradually developed techniques to incorporate overhead mics, andnow I use them regularly, but for a long time I didn't. I still seldom have a need for a hi-hat mic, as that bastard goes everywhere, like it or not."

Oh snap.

Do I get a cookie?

[joninc]

yes. 2.

[drumsound]

A few years ago at TapeOpCon He set up a conincident pair (I think an M/S pair) just a few feet in front of the drum-set about chest high. I don't believe he used anything over the drums. Does anyone remember that from the second year in New Orleans?

What a great day that was, I think I met you that day Tony, at least I assume that?s were I got your card. I kind of snuck into the tracking room and watched you guys set up the drums for ?Pot-Luck? I thought I remember the mic placement was kinnda adjusted for the horrible acoustics of those conference rooms. I remember Josephson microphones on top and bottom toms, and what I thought was a Blue bottle in front and above the kick. I was so excited about his snare mic (KSM141) because I just bought a pair, so I asked him why he choose that mic, he kind of laughed and gave me the ?Because it sounds good, young grasshopper.? and I felt very stupid. Still due actually, probably always will in front of that guy.

Hey Ryan,

We probably did meet that day. That was really fun. I'm gonna bug Carig to be in the Potluck again next year!

I know Joe Chiccarrelli and I had a Bottle as an over the BD thing or maybe as the center of our close room LCR set. i don't remember if it got moved over for Steve's presentation. I kind of missed the first part of his bit because I was hanging out with Joe vefore he left to get to a gig In Coloradio or somewhere.

[tactics]

Neurosis' drums at Electrical Audio.