The drumkit is the band's biggest beast and needs special treatment. Set it up in the right place and the right way. Add mics and acoustic aids. Get your beats sounding great the quick and easy way.
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TechTranscript
00:00 In this episode we're going to focus on micing the drums with a 4 mic setup.
00:14 Before you start micing the drums, make sure the kit is tuned and free of buzzes and rattles.
00:20 You can tame unwanted ringing sounds with dampening products such as gaffer tape and
00:25 gel strips.
00:27 As we mentioned in a previous episode, the dynamic close drum mics we're going to be
00:30 using aren't going to pick up too much unwanted noise from the other instruments.
00:36 This is also known as mic spill or bleed.
00:39 This is because they'll be close to the loud sound sources of the kick drum and the
00:43 snare.
00:44 We'll be using condenser mics positioned overhead to capture the sound of the overall
00:49 kit, but inevitably they may be sensitive enough to pick up some of the guitar sounds
00:54 too.
00:55 There are numerous different setups for recording drums, but we're using 4 microphones for
01:00 this recording to show how to achieve a clean drum sound.
01:03 We're going to address the 2 overhead mics positioning first.
01:08 As mentioned before, these are the mics that capture more of the ambient, natural sound
01:12 of your drum kit being played in the room, and help produce a clearer cymbal sound.
01:18 Positioning our 2 overhead mics 6 feet above ground level and aimed down at the kit will
01:22 help create a balanced sound for our drums.
01:25 It's important that these 2 mics are equal distances from the kit to ensure the sound
01:30 from the drums hits them at the same time and avoids unwanted phasing.
01:35 As a rule of thumb to help with this, think 3 to 1.
01:40 If the mics are positioned 2 feet above the cymbals, make sure they are 6 feet apart.
01:46 You can monitor for mic phasing by having one signal in the monitor headphone mix and
01:50 then fading the second in.
01:52 The sound should remain full with plenty of bottom end as you do so.
01:56 If there's phasing between the 2 mics and the sounds are cancelling each other out, adjust
02:00 the positioning of the mics as necessary.
02:04 The batter head is the side of the kick drum which is hit, and as a general rule, the closer
02:09 your dynamic mic is positioned to the batter head, the more kick drum attack you'll get
02:13 from the sound.
02:15 Moving it further away from the batter head will give you a rounder sound.
02:19 We're using a pillow inside the kick drum as a muffler too, and this helps reduce unwanted
02:24 overtones.
02:25 There are specialist drum products available to do this too.
02:29 It's an optional method some players prefer to give a punchier, less boomy sound.
02:36 From the top of the snare, position the second drum dynamic mic a couple of inches above
02:41 and an inch from the edge of the snare.
02:44 Positioning here helps to retain the sound of the drumstick impacting the snare.
02:48 The further you move the mic away from this starting point, the more room, air ambience
02:52 and reverb you'll inevitably pick up.
02:56 The closer you go, the more bottom end you'll add.
03:00 Experiment to find the sound you feel is best for the recording, and make sure you feed
03:05 back info and guidance to the drummer as you do so.
03:09 For this session we're using an AKG mic kit, but a Shure SM57 is also a reliable, affordable
03:16 dynamic mic for snare, because it can handle the high sound pressure levels and mid-range
03:21 frequencies well.
03:24 Microphone spill from the hi-hat to the snare mic is a common problem with recording drums.
03:29 You can help address this by making sure any other cardioid dynamic mic for the snare is
03:34 directly facing away from the hi-hat.
03:37 More importantly, it might also be a matter of your drummer being more sensitive with
03:40 their hi-hat work to ensure it's not overly dominant.
03:44 Or even trying to move the hi-hat further away from the snare drum.
03:49 Remember to experiment to fine tune angles and make sure someone monitors the sound as
03:53 you go along.
03:55 Check the effects of each mic placement and feed back info to your drummer on how they
03:59 might need to change their performance approach.
04:02 Finally, it's important for the drummer, and indeed the band as a whole, to remember to
04:06 allow for the vocals in the dynamics of their performances.
04:11 Bands often respond to the vocal in their performances live, so play with those vocals
04:15 in mind, dropping down on certain sections to reflect the vocal lines.
04:19 We're going to be overdubbing the vocals in a separate session later.
04:23 (upbeat music)
04:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]