Room mics on drums.....

[I was The Funk]

Are {censored}ing awesome!!!!!!

 

Did a drum session in a warehouse. Used a room mic as part of an 8 mic setup for the kit. All the tracks sound badass, but I love the room mic because its sort of like a reverb track, but cooler. I can sort of turn the energy of the drum mix up or down with it, or isolate it with the overheads to make a diffuse mix, or bring those down and bring up the close mics for a dry mix. But its seemless, totally natural and very dynamic.

 

Used an NTK for the room. 7-8 feet high. 8 feet from the kit and pointed at the kit.

 

thanks to Where for the idea!

[LIMiT]

YA they are!

 

Just watch for phase problems with your OH's.....

 

 

In mixdown, I like EQing the room mic so that it's more focused on the snare/kick (taking out mostly cymbals)....crushing it, and blending that with my O/H's. Adds a 'natural ambience' to the snare, along with beefing it up.

Sounds great on aggressive rock stuff.

 

So many things you can do with properly placed room mics.

 

-LIMiT

[where02190]

I love the NTK as a room mic. Typcially I put it below cymbal level. If you have a good compressor (EL-8 Distressor in nuke mode is killer) Smash the hell out of it.

 

Room mics and OH's are IMHO 90% of a great drum sound.

[UstadKhanAli]

And the better the room, the better the room mic.

[varakeef]

 

I love the NTK as a room mic. Typcially I put it below cymbal level.

 

 

How far from the drums you typically put it?

[where02190]

Typically I place the NTK at chest height to the player, and about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way across the room from them. Basically it's aimed at the vertical center of the kick and snare.

 

Also, consider changing the stock tube to an EH gold 6922. Much smoother high end, and a bit more bite to the low mids.

[I was The Funk]

 

Typically I place the NTK at chest height to the player, and about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way across the room from them. Basically it's aimed at the vertical center of the kick and snare. Also, consider changing the stock tube to an EH gold 6922. Much smoother high end, and a bit more bite to the low mids.

 

 

 

 

Yeah...the room we were recording in was a warehouse packed with brewing malt. Ceilings had to be at least 50 ft. Room was probably 200 yards long and about 40 ft wide. So I just said, "this seems like far enough away" and put up the mic in a way that i thought would capture the most ambiance. Could have been lower, but i like how the sound came out.

 

The biggest problem with the space was that the lighting there created a lot of noise, so we had to bring in a few portable lights and turn all the lights out in the warehouse to get it quiet enough to record in. there was also noisy refrigeration equipment on one end, so we had to use the other end to isolate ourselves. We through a bunch of blankets on electrical equipment as well. The price you pay for being a guerrilla producer with no studio and no budget.

 

But as I said.....the drums turned out killer.

[LIMiT]

As far as placement...

 

I kinda cheat and measure the distance from my snare to the O/H's, X that by 3, and thats where I start with distance.

 

I'm the same as Where with height. below cymbal height. I listen until the kick and snare are as centered as I can get them.

 

Cheers,

 

-LIMiT

[where02190]

Indeed following the 3:1 rule of distance from OH and room mics is crutial.

[numrologst]

this may seem weird...But alot of time for me, the further the room mics are, the more cymbals they grab... Too far, and nothing but cymbals...

 

I've been a fan of closer room mics lately...Really brings alot to the table for cool snare sounds, and really huge sounding toms

[LIMiT]

 

this may seem weird...But alot of time for me, the further the room mics are, the more cymbals they grab... Too far, and nothing but cymbals... I've been a fan of closer room mics lately...Really brings alot to the table for cool snare sounds, and really huge sounding toms

 

 

Well...ya...

 

placement is key, as is mic selection.

 

It also depends on what your plan is for that particular room mic. See my 1st post.

 

-LIMiT

[FastRedPonyCar]

We just finished recording a song in a studio this past weekend and the guy had 16 mics on his kit.

 

He had 2 on the snare. One above, one below, one on each tom, 2 on the kick (one in the opening of the head and another right outside), 2 overheads that were right next to each other about 6 feet from the ground directly over the center of the kit and he also had 2 about 10 feet away that were both just a few inches from the ground.

 

The drum track came out really well.

[Antman261]

Did they actually use all those tracks?

 

I often find myself hitting the mute button a lot if I've used more mic's then I needed for any given instrument (though it's nice to have a few options when you get to mixing)

[wztonz]

 

We just finished recording a song in a studio this past weekend and the guy had 16 mics on his kit. He had 2 on the snare. One above, one below, one on each tom, 2 on the kick (one in the opening of the head and another right outside), 2 overheads that were right next to each other about 6 feet from the ground directly over the center of the kit and he also had 2 about 10 feet away that were both just a few inches from the ground. The drum track came out really well.

 

 

While I almost always track a ton of close mics, I rarely if ever use them. It's more to apease the drummers ego than anything else, and for the ones I know understand and prefer the 3-4 mic approach, I no longer bother, since I know I won't use them anyway.

 

I find more mics simply adds muck to the mix in a good room with a good kit. a pair of OH's and a good room mic can make a good kit in a good room sound huge.