glyn johns drums

[nordberg]

for people who have used this technique, how have you found it sounds when collapsed to mono?
i just did some demo's with my band and used it and i think i might use these tracks for the record but we're adding two guitars, bass, organ, three part harmony, and a string quartet, so i think i might need to limit the percussion's sonic real estate. damn, dense mixes...i think our main songwriter secretly loves meatloaf! thanks is advance for the advice.

-mike

[GooberNumber9]

I usually use Recorderman style overheads (which is very close to Glyn Johns style) and I've never had problems with either going mono or panning the overheads mostly center. In Recorderman you carefully measure the mic placement to make sure they distance from the mics to the kick and the snare is equal, so it's probably ideally suited for close panning.

[sparky]

I think on this board people get too upitty about doing this by the book. I mean, if you did a btb glynn johns technique and moved the over the shoulder mic by half a kick drum wavecycle from the FOK mic, it will collapse to mono like ass. Mad bass suck. Know'm sayin? I think the like spirit of it is like "kit picture, not bar sound reinforcement guy". Which is a long-winded way of saying if its collapsing good now, adding that stuff won't be a problem if you follow normal rules for making space. If it's not collapsing well now, nothing is going to fix it either.

[mattwhritenour]

i think our main songwriter secretly loves meatloaf! thanks is advance for the advice.

-mike

the only problem with this is that he's keeping it a secret. meatloaf / jim steinman rock!

[Recycled_Brains]

Try it. If it sounds good... sweet! If not, work with it.

I've collapsed GJ setup to mono, and it worked out just fine.

The other thing that's cool about that setup, is that center OH should get a pretty good overall kit sound, so you could always just use that as the mono signal.

How are you normally panning the mics? I only ask, because I find myself not liking it as much when panned wide (like most recommend). I usually stick to around 9 and 3 o'clock, and I find it to be tighter, punchier, more focused, and leaves room on the outer edges for other stuff.

[RoyMatthews]

I think originally it was a mono setup. I can't find confirmation though.

[mjau]

The other thing that's cool about that setup, is that center OH should get a pretty good overall kit sound, so you could always just use that as the mono signal.

This is also cool when using mid-side - you already have a solid mono image of the kit if you just want to use that in the mix.

[nordberg]

oh i don't usually pan them more than like 30% out. i agree that it sounds weird with them hard panned. i might try just the top overhead. i guess what i should really do is just wait till all the other elements are recorded and see what fits. i love the sound of the GJ setup and my drummer's drums (mid sixties gretch w/ supralite (sp?) snare!) i just think a lot of the beauty will be lost with the rest of the band. i know the kick and snare will be okay in mono because the distances are the same. i guess what i'm really worried about is getting sloshy cymbals. on a tangent, does anyone ever pan drums so that they have width but are over to the side? ex. overheads panned 100 and 20% left with kick and snare at 60. that could be neat.

[Recycled_Brains]

i guess what i should really do is just wait till all the other elements are recorded and see what fits. i love the sound of the GJ setup and my drummer's drums (mid sixties gretch w/ supralite (sp?) snare!) i just think a lot of the beauty will be lost with the rest of the band.

Track the rest of the stuff with that in mind. You should track things so that all the elements have their space. Volume is your friend.