[rodreb]

I've been tracking drums lately and I'm noticing so much bleed in all my close mics that it is driving me crazy. I'm pretty happy with the actual sound of the drums I'm getting, it's just all the bleed that is getting to me.

I'm typically using dynamic, cardioid, mics....

typically about 1" to 2" from the drum heads....

I try to position them to take advantage of the cardioid pattern as much as is possible....

but when soloed, there is so much bleed in each mic from other elements of the kit it just doesn't seem right.

The kick mic isn't too bad but the snare mic is getting almost as much cymbal as the overheads and also quite a bit of floor tom.
The tom mics are also getting a lot of cymbal and a fair amount of snare but, of course I can usually gate the tom mics a bit.

I'm tracking with all drum mics peaking at about -6. Is this too hot? Am I running the mics too hot so they are picking up way beyond the actual drum they are supposed to be getting? Is this a ratinal thought or am I completely off base here?

How hot are most people tracking drum mics?

Thanks in advance for any advice / thoughts on this question.

ROD