Miking Drums - Unorthodox but effective techniques
Everyone agrees that recording a live drum set can be one of the most challenging things. Dealing with phase issues, bleed, SPL levels and all that can be tough. For that reason some people take a minimalistic approach with just overheads and a kick mic. Others will still mic up up the whole kit. Here are some unorthodox techniques that you may not have tried, but can yield some very interesting and good sounding results.
Toms. Pain in the butt. "There's too much ring!" "I keep hitting the mics with my sticks!" "The cymbals are bleeding in and the gate settings just aren't working!" These are just a few things you might here drummers and engineers saying during a session. Here's an interesting idea: We like to stick a mic all the way in to the kick drum to get the sound of the beater on the head along with the sound of the drum inside. Why not do the same with toms? Remove the bottom skins and stick the mic up inside of the drum. If there's too much ring you can take some small spare pieces of foam and mount them inside the drum. This sill definitely keep you from hitting the mics with your sticks (you can't!), and bleed will be lessened considerably since now the mics are inside the drums. Give it a shot.
What about miking the bottom skins on a drum? It's common practice to mike the underside of the snare and sometimes even the beater side of the kick drum. But sticking mics under there can get bulky and the drummer may not like it. How about killing two birds with one stone? This is a great trick I've used many times and it works great as long as the mic is placed correctly.
Grab a mic with a Figure-8 pattern on it and place it halfway between the bottom of the snare and where the beater hits the kick drum and have each side of the mic pattern facing those points. Record that mic to one track, but make sure you flip the phase on it (either use a phase flipped cable or do it within your DAW or o your console) because on each of those drums there is another mic capturing the air moving in the oppposite direction. Voila! You've captured both sounds with one mic effectively. Now if you want to you can go and separate each hit into two tracks so you can process the snare and kick separately. Or you can leave it as is and just compress it a little and some flavor to the kit in general.
Lastly, here's the most minimalistic technique I've ever heard of. Place a stereo mic (or two mics set to XY or MS) about 5-9 feet out in front of the drum kit, and set it to be no higher than teh height of your rack toms. That's it! Obviously there many factors are involved. Mic placement is critical. The type and size of room you are in will have an effect on where you want to palce the mic and also may effect whether you use a cardioid or omni mics. For an even more minimalistic approach use a single mono mic instead of a stereo mic. It just may be the sound you're looking for!
Have you ever tried any "different" techniques when recording drums? I'd love to hear about it. Good luck, and remember as I always say, the only rule in recording is, there are no rules!
Toms. Pain in the butt. "There's too much ring!" "I keep hitting the mics with my sticks!" "The cymbals are bleeding in and the gate settings just aren't working!" These are just a few things you might here drummers and engineers saying during a session. Here's an interesting idea: We like to stick a mic all the way in to the kick drum to get the sound of the beater on the head along with the sound of the drum inside. Why not do the same with toms? Remove the bottom skins and stick the mic up inside of the drum. If there's too much ring you can take some small spare pieces of foam and mount them inside the drum. This sill definitely keep you from hitting the mics with your sticks (you can't!), and bleed will be lessened considerably since now the mics are inside the drums. Give it a shot.
What about miking the bottom skins on a drum? It's common practice to mike the underside of the snare and sometimes even the beater side of the kick drum. But sticking mics under there can get bulky and the drummer may not like it. How about killing two birds with one stone? This is a great trick I've used many times and it works great as long as the mic is placed correctly.
Grab a mic with a Figure-8 pattern on it and place it halfway between the bottom of the snare and where the beater hits the kick drum and have each side of the mic pattern facing those points. Record that mic to one track, but make sure you flip the phase on it (either use a phase flipped cable or do it within your DAW or o your console) because on each of those drums there is another mic capturing the air moving in the oppposite direction. Voila! You've captured both sounds with one mic effectively. Now if you want to you can go and separate each hit into two tracks so you can process the snare and kick separately. Or you can leave it as is and just compress it a little and some flavor to the kit in general.
Lastly, here's the most minimalistic technique I've ever heard of. Place a stereo mic (or two mics set to XY or MS) about 5-9 feet out in front of the drum kit, and set it to be no higher than teh height of your rack toms. That's it! Obviously there many factors are involved. Mic placement is critical. The type and size of room you are in will have an effect on where you want to palce the mic and also may effect whether you use a cardioid or omni mics. For an even more minimalistic approach use a single mono mic instead of a stereo mic. It just may be the sound you're looking for!
Have you ever tried any "different" techniques when recording drums? I'd love to hear about it. Good luck, and remember as I always say, the only rule in recording is, there are no rules!
Harmony Studios Inc., Danny S.,
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