Drumdojo Drum Tech Magazine
Articles around core technical subjects.
Recording Drums
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| Overhead Micing |
Overhead Micing
Overhead Miking
There are two ways to view overheads:
The
main stereo pair- gives you the bulk of the drum sound, with maybe kick
and snare added for reinforcement. Usually very natural (though Bonham twisted
them into a force of nature), but requires very nice mics in a very nice
sounding room. Most commonly used in jazz, though it's becoming more popular in
other genres.
The cymbals-only approach- you just want to pick up
the cymbals, using close micing for the rest of the kit. You can roll off
everything under 500-800Hz and just have your cymbals left, along with a little
bit of attack from the drums. This is probably heard the most on radio today.
Try both methods, experiment, and find out which one works best for you.
You will probably end up using both for different sounds
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| Separation and phasing isues |
Separation and phasing
Placement of microphones in different positions relative to the drumset and to eaxh other brings a couple of implications that shoukd be considered
- Separation between microphones and the representation of those signals
- The phase relationship between two or more microphpnes each picking up the same signal
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| Recording the bodhran |
Micing a Bodhran
 Recording / Amplifying the Bodhran
(c)Mii - Finland
Reproducing the
sound of a bodhrán can be tricky because of the drum's wide tonal range. In
addition, there are many
considerations along the signal path from the mic to the loudspeaker.
The first of them
is choosing a suitable microphone (or two) for the job. All microphones sound
different and behave differently.
I would like a
bodhrán mic to have:
- good transient response;
some mics are better than others in reproducing sounds with sharp attacks
- excellent frequency
response throughout the audible frequency spectrum; there's lots of tonal
variance with a bodhrán and you want to capture both the low thumping and the
brittle popping
- suitable overall sound; one
microphone's frequency response may suit better to my drum and my playing than
another's
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| Recording Drums 1 | Mic'ing for Recording
Recording Drums
Before we get to actually
using microphones in the studio, we need to look at what makes microphones
different. Once that is understood, you can choose the right mic for the sound
you want.
There are many different kinds of microphone pickup patterns
(how the mic ...
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| Recording a Snare | Recording a Snare Drum
By Lyle Caldwell
Snare - What you usually want is a microphone that will handle the
volume level and emphasize the attack of the snare while minimizing the bleed
from other drums, especially the high hats. A cardioid dynamic is usually the
ticket. Try placing the mic about 1-2&quo ...
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| Recording the Kick | Recording the Kick Drum
By Lyle Caldwell
Bass drum - do you want more click? More boom? Or natural?
To
emphasize the attack, you may want to place the mic inside the drum, about 3-4"
away from the spot where the beater meets the batter head. Try angling the mic
slightly, which allows you to ...
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| Recording Tom Toms | Recording Tom Toms
Toms - not too different from snares in miking technique, but you often
want to choose a mic with more low-end response, depending on tom size and
tuning. As an example, an 8" tom may sound great with an SM57, but a 16" tom may
sound better with an MD421.
You can change the angl ...
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| Recording Hats & Cymbals | Recording Hats and Rides
By Lyle Caldwell
Hi-hats and rides - while you normally get plenty of both in your
overheads, for some styles you may want to have more control on their level in
the mix. Cymbals usually sound much better if you use condenser mics, though
dynamics can work. On hi- hats, try using
...
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