Reply
Super Contributor
oates
Posts: 865
Registered: ‎12-22-2006

Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

Ideally, I would buy a kit that includes clips etc.....

I already have a Shure 57 (maybe snare or HH)and a Shure Beta 52 for kick drum.  Would a 3 mic Sennheiser e604 kit be a nice sounding option for toms?  I'm mostly recording rock music

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/sennheiser-e604-drum-microphone-3-pack

Solo Album
Please use plain text.
Community Manager
Dendy Jarrett
Posts: 1,758
Registered: ‎07-17-2005

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

Oates- The mics you already have are great choices, and the one's you are considering for your toms are perfect for the "mix" you already have.

The price looks great as well.

D

Bringing the Harmony back to Harmony Central
Please use plain text.
Super Contributor
Posts: 3,913
Registered: ‎10-08-2006

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

What do you have for overheads?
Please use plain text.
Super Contributor
oates
Posts: 865
Registered: ‎12-22-2006

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

Nothing for overheads yet
Solo Album
Please use plain text.
Super Contributor
Posts: 13,272
Registered: ‎08-21-2006

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

Scan EBay for overheads and you can sometimes score a deal much cheaper than buying new. You find those drum mic kits broken up and sold independently all the time. I bought a pair of CAD CM217's for $25. You can buy two for one on sale for about $59 new here http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/cad-cm217-condenser-mic--buy-one-get-one-free?src=3WWRWXGP

That have a low cut filter and the recording quality is very good for a small overhead condenser.

I also bought some of these Audio Technica MB5K's which I got for $20 each. http://recordinghacks.com/microphones/Audio-Technica/MB-5k

Excellent snare/tom mics which I prefer over SM57's which I used to use on the snare. They have a contoured response that fits well in a mix and you don't have to do half as much EQing to get them to fit into a mix.

Drum mics suffer enough from phase issues due to proper placement. They sound better if you don't have to compound the problem with allot of EQing to get them to sound good. Some of your lower latency EQ plugins are Minimum phase. While these let you run multiple EQ plugins with a lower CPU load, they can cause signal phase issues if you have to EQ allot, and in the end your mix sounds all wierded out using them.

Your better EQ plugins are Linear Phase. These keep the signals in phase through latency compensation no matter how large the EQ bumps are. Problem is the better ones suck allot of CPU power and if you run these kind of EQ's on 8 tracks you may run out or resources. This makes EQing drums the most difficult instrument in a mix.

What I do to get around the problem if I do have to EQ the drums is to use a good EQ plugin Like Waves linear EQ and get the track sounding really good, save the EQ setting as a preset, then process/render the track with the plugin. I can then remove the plugin from the track and reduce the resources.

I always prefer the best technique which is to just get the best sound possible sound tracking which comes down to good mics, good room acoustics, proper micing techniques, well tuned drum set and a good drummer. I'm lucky because I bought a studio drum set which is always properly miced and tuned up. If I had to have a drummer come in each session and mic up his set, I'd wind up spending half the session just tweaking the drummers sound, and if like most drummer I know, they have little patience for getting their drums to sound good. God forbid if you have to tell them their drum tuning is off making the recording sound bad.  Good mics can fix a bad sounding set, they can only make the bad tuning/worn heads blatantly apparent. You have enough work to do fixing drum tracks after they are recorded.

Please use plain text.
Trusted Contributor
Rudolf von Hagenwil
Posts: 27,633
Registered: ‎08-09-2005

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

there are 8 channel audio interfaces for $499, maybe even less, i.e.

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SaffPro40/

 

Please use plain text.
Super Contributor
Posts: 3,913
Registered: ‎10-08-2006

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

I think one of the main benefits of having expensive mics is that you will be willing to do a little more of the leg work necessary to get your sound right. When you are using a set of $30 mics it's tempting to throw them up there and say "they don't sound very good, but they are cheap microphones" however, if you shell out over a grand for a set of MD421's, you'll probably work a bit harder to place them right, since we all know some fantastic drum sounds have been recorded on them. Of course if it still doesn't sound right, you can always blame your preamp!

The point is, Tom mics don't need to be fancy, almost any dynamic mic will do. It's all about the placement. If you have a good setup with your overheads, it will also contribute to your Tom sound. If there's a big featured Tom part in the song, I usually mic them top and bottom, if its just fills or rolls, I'll single mic it and usually cut out or ride the fader just for the fills.

One sound investment for good drum recordings is some higher quality mic stands. The big ones on casters will go much higher and this makes a HUGE difference. Cymbals won't sound so washy or overly bright, and to me that's one of the biggest differences between pro and amateur drum recordings. Of course you will need a room with a high ceiling for that to work.

My first drum recording had mics tapped to broom sticks tied to chairs, mics on drum hardware, and mics hung over the rafters in the basement, all run into an 8 track mixer and send into the stereo input on my friends computer, but it actually sounded pretty decent, because we worked on it. So just keep doing it and it will get better each time.
Please use plain text.
Super Contributor
Posts: 13,272
Registered: ‎08-21-2006

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

My first drum recording had mics tapped to broom sticks tied to chairs, mics on drum hardware, and mics hung over the rafters in the basement, all run into an 8 track mixer and send into the stereo input on my friends computer, but it actually sounded pretty decent, because we worked on it. So just keep doing it and it will get better each time.

 

I think we all been there and done that to some extent. Because you have to work at it it forces you to learn. Getting better gear like stands is simply a convenience, and you can save that duct tape for better applications.

I still have an old stereo Radio Shack condenser mic around I recorded many sessions with. I simply hung it above the set from the ceiling and made sure the left and right sides were aligned. Got some decent drum recordings with that thing considering its quality. Have one of those crown type PZM mics too. Those actually do really good if you have a flat surface to place them on. I have it on the ceiling above the drum set as a supplementary mic source. It can capture some nice room ambiance that you can't get from other mic types.

Please use plain text.
Occasional Contributor
kasiviswanath
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎02-20-2013

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

heloo dudes

how to add drum music to a song?
http://www.pricecheckindia.com
Please use plain text.
Moderator
MarkGifford-1
Posts: 2,867
Registered: ‎07-18-2000

Re: Looking for Advice on Drum Mic Setup for Home Recording

Find a drummer.

Mic up his drum set.

Send the track to his headphones.

Have him play along while you record it.

MG
"Thank You, NASA!"
www.pomona1.com
Please use plain text.