Mic choices for Glyn Johns/Recorderman...

[E-Rock]

If you use this technique, what mics are y'all using?
I'm doing this a lot these days, and have been using either a pair of Fatheads, a pair of Earthworks, or a pair of 57's (sounds better than you think)
I'd love to hear what other people are diggin' and why.
Cheers!

[Snarl 12/8]

I did it for a long time with AT37Pro's, but now I'm digging my unmodded MXL 2001's much more. More beef.

[vvv]

You larf about the 57's, I been using a pair of Digital Reference GX1 mic's (about S$25/ea.) for Recorderman/Johns.

Lately I been doing I a M/S thing, tho'.

(Samples of Recorderman/Johns can be heard at the TFP link below, and M/S - and also Zoom H2 - here; there are recording notes on each song's page.)

[mscottweber]

I have used 57's on GJ overheads before, and I dug it quite a bit! The room was pretty small and acoustically UNtreated, so we opted to use those instead of our rode nt1a's (the only other pair we had at our disposal), thinking that the 57's would be less sensitive to room sounds.
I think it was a late 90's ludwig kit with lower-end zildjian cymbals. I did sm57's as the OH's, a kel hm-7u ldc about a foot or two in front of the kick (maybe with a blanket/pillow tunnel, I can't remember) and a senn. e609 silver on the snare. I know a lot of it was the tuning and the way the guy played his kit, but it is still one of the best, IMO, drum sounds ive gotten.


(Edited for grammar)

[vvv]

The room was pretty small and acoustically UNtreated, so we opted to use those ....

Exactly my reasons.

Plus, I'm broke alla time.

[E-Rock]

57's are cool for this!
Anybody use anything like KSM32's or AT4040/4033/4047/4050?

[MoreSpaceEcho]

i wouldn't want 57s as my only choice, but they can be cool as overheads. it's a 'sound'.

4050 in cardioid has been my default overhead for awhile now. i've liked the 4040 as well. i usually just roll with a mono overhead, but any of those mics would be cool for glyn johns.

[mscottweber]

I LOVE at4050's as drum overheads, but, alas, I have yet to try them in a Glyn Johns/Recorderman type setup.

[jgimbel]

+1 on the 4050 here. I use mine for a mono overhead, LOVE it in a recorderman setup (if I had a pair of 4050s there's a good chance I'd use them in recorderman setup and possibly not even need to mic anything else, except maybe kick and a room mic since that setup is on the dryer side). I've only used it a bit in Glyn Johns, but it never disappoints. That mic loves drums.

[eutopianaccident]

I began (out of necessity) using a mis matched pair to say the least: a FatHead over the snare/high tom, and a Sterling over the floor tom. It actually creates a cool mismatch in top end naturally, and helps the stereo image a bit, if that's what you are into.

Using a couple of ribbons gets some good warmth and tubbyness, but sometimes you miss the top end.

Now I default to the Fat Head and a Victor, both Cascade ribbons.

[mjau]

Like I do for a lot of other things, I think Oktava mc012's can be cool in that setup, especially if you have something out in front that can pick up some of the body of the kick & snare. I like what mc012's do with cymbals.

[losthighway]

pair of groove tubes md1s, or a non symmetrical mix of an AT 4047 and an AKG C4000B. In general I like anything without harsh highs and with plenty of low-mid wallop.

[roygbiv]

+1 on the MD1's

I use two MD1a's in a somewhat in-between Glyn Johns/2 Recorderman setup. Sounds great, very not-harsh.

I then then augment with a Audix D6 for kick, a Rode NT4 on snare, an EV 635a in the middle of the kit, and sometimes a Rode NT2 as a room mic.

Sound pretty good, even in my crappy basement, although all those condensers do pick up my furnace when it goes off, or when my parrots start screeching upstairs.

Sometimes, nn the right song, that can be kinda cool.

[eh91311]

Last time I used the Glyn John's mic technique on a kit, I used an Apex 205 ribbon mic over the rack tom/snare, a CAD KBM412 on the kick, Audix i5 on the snare and a Oktava MC012 SDC 6" up over the the floor tom, aimed at the snare. The drummer was a heavy cymbal basher & the Apex smoothed the cymbals out & provided a solid snare smack.

[CedarSound]

Like I do for a lot of other things, I think Oktava mc012's can be cool in that setup, especially if you have something out in front that can pick up some of the body of the kick & snare. I like what mc012's do with cymbals.

I did a session this past weekend with a three piece rock band and ended up using the MK-012s in recorderman over the kit (one overhead pointing down at the snare, and the other over the drummer's right shoulder), but I added a D112 on kick and a 57 on the snare, just to add some punch. Oh, and a 4050 for a room mic, about 6 feet out in front of the drums.

The drums came out sounding great. Probably the best I have gotten so far in my basement studio. I will mention that she is a very good drummer, with a very nice DW kit, that had brand new, freshly tuned heads, and my room is well treated with a cloud over the drums, so yeah, that probably helped a little!