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Drums with two mics....


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Ughhhh posted got messed up. Using two oktava 219 currently into focusrite 2i2 and ipad. Looking for a better pair for stereo recording or a stereo mic. Have MXL V57M and a pair of 603s I don't love. "Super indie" and "311 style jam" we're oktavas as OH and kick.

Looking for a better more open sound. (Lots of EQ and comp on those to suit music and just make mics sound better. Tried ribbons- not good for my small concrete space. Looking for a natural sound between early rock (Zeppelin) and jazz. Don't wanna submix just want to work with two channels. And hopefully get decent stereo. "Recorderman" method did not work with those oktavas- sounded all sorts of wrong and phased.
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You may want to work on some sound absorption. If the room is concrete that may be the cause is the issue and using some blankets hung on the walls can help neutralize some of that reflection.

 

Bands Like Zep did some of those recording in stairwells and used both close micing and distant to get that big in concert sound to the drums. Drums sound good with reflection but too much in a confined space can be worse then none at all

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With one on kick and one overhead, you can pretty much forget about stereo. :(

 

Have you tried something like an XY pair out in front of the kit and aimed down at it? Or you can try placing them directly over the drummer's head, facing forward and (again) slightly down.

 

The main problem IMHO is that with two mikes, it's really hard to get stereo and enough kick for rock. A three mic (four being even better IMO) setup is generally what I consider the minimum needed to decently record a rock drum kit in stereo - one kick, two overheads, maybe a snare mic too - usually with the overheads in a Glyn Johns configuration, but spaced pairs or behind and above the drummer's head in a stereo Blumlein pair are other methods I use from time to time as well.

 

If you're going to track drums, IMHO, a four channel interface would be a very good investment, and it, along with some acoustic treatment (as WRGKMC suggested) would be very helpful in your quest for better drum sounds.

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I was thinking maybe like one over head and on or near the kick/floor tom....so it's semi stereo. Think Led Zeppelin and weird panning haha. I have no problem having it panned weird but I agree that I need to have a mic at least near the kick...I guess I'll experiment with what I have.

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Well, it certainly won't hurt anything to try that kind of positioning and see what you think. :)

 

The Glyn Johns approach is similar - one overhead, and one over to the far side of the floor tom, pointing across it and towards the snare and hi hat... but again, it also adds a kick drum mic to that two "overhead" setup.

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Well... I love the vibe of Super Indie. The drums are a bit dry if anything. I'll tell ya, mono would be perfect for your style. Just more ambient. If it were me, I'd do the "one over snare" and "one out front of kick" method. Back the mic off a bit to get more room and to let the sound of the drum bloom a little. Put some stereo room on the over mic later if you think.*** But get the sound you want at the mic first. Back them off and get the room too. The over mic at the level of the drummer's head pointing straight down at the snare, the kick mic off at least a foot.

 

Now THAT'S super indie

 

*** If you want natural unnaturally... send the snare over mic out into the room you tracked in, through some small PA speakers or your monitors. After you've tracked, Mic up the room in stereo and blend that in. Then bounce the whole thing to 2 tracks after EQ. And don't forget to EQ your kick aggressively. SCOOP 300-400Hz a lot. Add some 80Hz. Add some 3-5k. That's your sound

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