No ride toms? And you’ve been playing for 30 years? Is this a hiphop thing or did you always play without the toms? What genre do you play the most? Jazz perhaps? Even then, one nice highpitched tom is very handy.
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Well, whether or not I take your drum micing approach has yet to be seen. But I appreciate that you do have a clear approach, and that lot’s more than what I’ve got right now. This will give me a good starting point to kickoff this drum micing thing. Thanks.
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| What genre do you play the most? |
Sometimes bad hippy rock and roll, sometimes stuff that can’t be defined other than the ubiquitous “alt-country”. I’ve used all different setups over the years, but keep coming back to 3 or 4 piece as I get older and more crotchety. Half the time these days, a drum kit is more likely to include 2 or 3 different pitched metal bedpans, no hi hat, and a triangle for a ride cymbal than it is drums. A conga instead of a snare, a floor tom, or maybe a 30" concert band kick drum instead of a traditional 22" kick…you get the idea. The music I’ve been enjoying playing lately is heavily improvised, and most definitley NOT traditional rock and roll. My training is big band and be-bop, for whatever that’s worth.
And I’ve tried that ATM25 on just about everything. I don’t have too many hypercardioid mics so for big ensembles the pickup pattern comes in handy. It’s cool on bari-sax, for the body of an upright bass, cello…I like it on lower register stuff better I guess. I have mics I like better for guitar cabs and voices, but it’s a fine mic and very cost effective. I’d certainly buy another (and I have 2 now) than get another 57 or 421 (which I have 3 of…). You like that ATM25, then you should seek out the Beyerdynamic M88. Another winner for many applications there…
| Quote (sweet @ July 19 2005,22:53) |
| 1.) any recommendations on an interface to track drums? I'm thinking about the Firepod. 2.) does the SM57 make a good snare mic? 3.) any recommendations on a set of good drum mics? 4.) are dynamic mic's ok for overhead/cymbal mic'ing? If not, then I need condensers obviously, is phantom power any big challenge? 5.) does the Firepod have phantom power? Hmmm... can you tell who is thinking about recording drums for his band, but never has before (drum machine = easy  )? |
sweet,
i'll answer questions 1 and 5. i've got the firepod and used it on drums and it did very well. and yes, all 8 inputs have phantom power.
lates
t-willy
Clava, the idea of pzm mics on the ceiling for a low basement is brilliant. I have had so much trouble with the sound of OH mics in my very low-ceilinged basement I have found myself just moving the mics closer and closer to the drums. Helps. but right now they are pretty much on top of the cymbals. I have one pzm mic, I’ll see if I can scrounge up another, and give that idea a whirl. Actually, I will try it with one this evening. Totally cool. 
If you read what clava wrote, he talks about using only one. I know that everyone uses 2 overheads mics, but why? I suppose it has to do with whether or not you want to record your set as stereo or mono - or is there more to it than that?
The current default of 2 OH mics is for stereo reproduction. Stereo drums are fine, and I do make use of them, but not as a super wide pan. You know, where the fill starts on the snare WAY over on the right and finishes on the floor tom WAY over on the left? Sounds cool to some folks, and more power to 'em I say; just sounds bogus and contrived to me so I avoid it.
You could hang 2 PZM’s over a kit for some stereo effect. In fact there’s a legendary guy in Chicago named Adam Jackobs that records virtually every indie band playing a show that he can. Sometimes that’s 6 or 7 bands in a weekend. He’s been at it for about 15 years and has this monstrous tape collection including stuff like the Smashing Pumpkins in tiny clubs before any of you folks had ever heard about them. He uses a pair of PZM’s on a sorta V shaped rig he made and his recordings sound pretty good. I suspect 2 PZM’s on a big surface like a ceiling would have too much low freq. build up and 1 is easier to hang for a trial and avoid phase problems; that’s why I suggested only 1…
| Quote (soul&folk @ July 21 2005,13:02) |
| Oh, one more thing - Sweet, I apologize for hijacking this thread. But perhaps clavastudio's answers will help all of us.. |
No need to apologize. I'm reading with great interest!
Hijack away!
With two mics for OH it helps to pay attention to the distance to the snare. If they are not equidistant it can pull the snare from center - which is bad if you want the snare centered, otherwise, who knows? With one you wouldn’t have this problem - although you’d still have the snare get to the OH a bit later than the snare mic. IN that regard I’ve been experimenting for some time with moving the OH tracks to line up the snare hits with the snare mic track. Sometimes is sounds better (“tighter”) sometimes not.
too much for me to read about drum miking:p