14/07/09 01:46
Microphone Placement for Acoustic
Drums
In the early days of rock recording the entire drum kit was often
recorded using a single microphone placed approximately two
drumsticks above the snare drum. If you only have one mic for the
entire kit that’s as good a place as any! Back when rock and roll
was born, music was recorded in mono. A few years and some
technical advancements later we had stereo and multitrack
recording. This allowed for three microphones on the rum kit. One
mic in the kick drum and two microphones over the drum kit to
capture a stereo image. This is referred to today as an inverted
pyramid technique. It’s still a very good way to capture the sound
of a drum kit especially if you’re looking for an ambient sounding
kit. However for this technique to give you professional sounding
results you have to have two things.
First you have to have a well maintained well tuned drum kit and
second you have to have a very good drummer. You need the kind of
drummer that will sit behind the kit and play a while, listen to
the playback and then adjust their playing style and the way he or
she attacks the kit to suit the recording. You need to get the
balance of the kit pretty much perfect because you won’t have much
flexibility to balance the sounds of the kit later on in the
mix.
This is why discreet or semi discreet mic placement techniques are
more widely used. This involves more microphones. In this type of
setup you have microphones in kick drum, on the snare drum, on each
tom and a pair of overheads. Sometimes the hi hat has it’s own mic
sometimes not depending on the style of music. Reggae music would
most certainly call for a hi hat mic where blues, or heavy rock
might not. This is because the sound from the hi hat will leak into
the snare drum mic.
If that isn’t enough microphones for you I have done sessions in
professional studios where there were microphones both above and
below the toms and the snare drum, in front of and inside the kick
drum, on the hi hat, two more microphones over the kit and as many
as six additional microphones placed elsewhere in the room! This is
overkill, but when you have the gear to do it why not try it!
Although the drums did sound amazing in the finished product I have
had equally amazing results with far fewer microphones.
Tags: Drums
10/06/09 04:33
Recording
Acoustic Drums
Recording acoustic drums in a home studio environment can be a
daunting task. With the myriad of software based rhythm creation
tools out there and all the amazing tools to get incredible
sounding guitars, killer bass and exquisite vocals, one would
wonder why anyone would go anywhere near a drum kit with a
microphone anymore. Unless of course you have a drummer! Here are
some ideas to help you get solid drum sounds.
Preparation
First thing you want to do is dampen any and all reflections you
can. The last thing you want is sound bouncing all around the room
getting into the wrong microphones! Next the Tuning of the drums is
very important. Start by making recordings of the kick and snare
drum. Then listen back and decide what needs to be done in terms of
tuning and microphone placement. This process of trial and error is
boring and tedious and you’ll be glad you did it! Once you have the
kick and snare squared away, move on to the toms and finally the
cymbals. Here are some tips for microphone placement.
Recording
You have some decisions to make here. Depending on the band and the
type of project you must decide if you want to record the entire
band live off the floor or if you want to use the traditional
“drums and bass” then over dub the guitars, keys and vocals etc.
Sometimes you luck out and the guitarist has some sort of effects
device that allows direct plug in. This way you can have the entire
band wear headphones and play together. You can keep only the parts
you want to use with the understanding that only the bass guitar
and drums need to be near perfect performances. If you can record
the other musicians you should because you never know when these
tracks can be added in to thicken the sound or provide a slightly
different texture.
If you have any questions about digital home recording, use the
contact form at Http://www.MaximumHomeRecording.com
Tags: Recording, Drums
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