Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - New to recording drums HELP!! What equipment to buy?

KeithMoonwannabe · 1st September 2008

first and foremost to making good drum sounds is making the drums sound as good as possible before they hit any microphone.

Position the drums in a room where they sound best. If possible try to treat the room acoustically so you don't have slapback, echoes, standing waves, boominess, tinny-ness, etc. Usually packing blankets, auralex foam, cds, blankets, drapes, etc work well. You could go on for days about expensive/inexpensive ways to treat rooms for drums (or any source). I prefer keeping a "live" sound with as few standing waves as possible for drums. But that's personal preference.

Take your time fine-tuning the entire drumset A Drumdial and new heads are a great investment. Play unmiked try to sound as good as you can without the help of mics and other equipment. Remember mics pick up what they hear they can't pickup or add what doesn't exist. this is why tuning of the room and drums "together" is crucial to getting good recordings.

Honestly, I don't think analog EQ, compression, gating, better preamps or mics are usually the issue to getting good drum sounds. A lot of bad drum sounds are from bad drummers playing poorly tuned kits in bad sounding rooms. The most expensive recording equipment in the world won't make anyone sound better than they actually are, in fact it usually reveals more of the bad stuff.

A lot of people are overwhelmed when trying to track various instruments the best way to sound good is to actually sound good.

I would invest in treating your room and spending time tuning and playing then into mics then to preamps, then into effects.

Unfortunately a lot of it will just come with experience.

If you want suggestions on mics there are many nice mics available a lot of it depends on the sound you are aiming for. If you want more of a natural reproduction I like the Audio-Technica and Sennheiser mics, if you want more of a progressive/contemporary EQ'd sound go with Audix mics, if you want a nice warm neutral sound go with Shure mics. Overhead mics are also important to invest in. Here on the forum in the low end the two most popular that have been suggested to me (and I tried both and these people are being honest when they say they are good) are the Audio Technica ATM450 and the KEL HM1. The Kel's have a nice darker character making them good for all kinds of music, the A/T have a brighter sound with a nice punchy low-mid perfect for POP and ROCK.

Here's how I mic my set now:
2 Audio Technica ATM450 overheads
(in X/Y, ORTF, or Spaced Pair)
1 Audio Technica ATM250DE on kick
(using an earthworks kickpad on the dynamic element)
1 Audio Technica ATM650 on snare batter
3 Sennheiser e604 on toms
(not superb mics but they do their job and pretty well)
1 Sterling Audio ST79 FOK mic

keep in mind that's just the go-to sound I've come to like and it may or may not suit your needs but I like to build my drum sound by focusing on the FOK and overhead mics then adding in the spot mics to accent the sound a little more. I have other mics and configurations I like to use but this is my default. Again a lot of this comes from getting a good natural drum sound instead of a processed good drum sound. It's easier to get great sounds this way.

BTW, getting 2 KEL HM1 and a KEL HM2 is a great trio of drum mics. Just make sure you can reverse the phase on the HM2 when you use it or any mic as a FOK mic.

Just remember don't rely on processing rely on what's natural. You are a human and musicians are supposed to have feeling, don't be a robot.

1st September 2008	#3
KeithMoonwannabe Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 2,219	first and foremost to making good drum sounds is making the drums sound as good as possible before they hit any microphone. Position the drums in a room where they sound best. If possible try to treat the room acoustically so you don't have slapback, echoes, standing waves, boominess, tinny-ness, etc. Usually packing blankets, auralex foam, cds, blankets, drapes, etc work well. You could go on for days about expensive/inexpensive ways to treat rooms for drums (or any source). I prefer keeping a "live" sound with as few standing waves as possible for drums. But that's personal preference. Take your time fine-tuning the entire drumset A Drumdial and new heads are a great investment. Play unmiked try to sound as good as you can without the help of mics and other equipment. Remember mics pick up what they hear they can't pickup or add what doesn't exist. this is why tuning of the room and drums "together" is crucial to getting good recordings. Honestly, I don't think analog EQ, compression, gating, better preamps or mics are usually the issue to getting good drum sounds. A lot of bad drum sounds are from bad drummers playing poorly tuned kits in bad sounding rooms. The most expensive recording equipment in the world won't make anyone sound better than they actually are, in fact it usually reveals more of the bad stuff. A lot of people are overwhelmed when trying to track various instruments the best way to sound good is to actually sound good. I would invest in treating your room and spending time tuning and playing then into mics then to preamps, then into effects. Unfortunately a lot of it will just come with experience. If you want suggestions on mics there are many nice mics available a lot of it depends on the sound you are aiming for. If you want more of a natural reproduction I like the Audio-Technica and Sennheiser mics, if you want more of a progressive/contemporary EQ'd sound go with Audix mics, if you want a nice warm neutral sound go with Shure mics. Overhead mics are also important to invest in. Here on the forum in the low end the two most popular that have been suggested to me (and I tried both and these people are being honest when they say they are good) are the Audio Technica ATM450 and the KEL HM1. The Kel's have a nice darker character making them good for all kinds of music, the A/T have a brighter sound with a nice punchy low-mid perfect for POP and ROCK. Here's how I mic my set now: 2 Audio Technica ATM450 overheads (in X/Y, ORTF, or Spaced Pair) 1 Audio Technica ATM250DE on kick (using an earthworks kickpad on the dynamic element) 1 Audio Technica ATM650 on snare batter 3 Sennheiser e604 on toms (not superb mics but they do their job and pretty well) 1 Sterling Audio ST79 FOK mic keep in mind that's just the go-to sound I've come to like and it may or may not suit your needs but I like to build my drum sound by focusing on the FOK and overhead mics then adding in the spot mics to accent the sound a little more. I have other mics and configurations I like to use but this is my default. Again a lot of this comes from getting a good natural drum sound instead of a processed good drum sound. It's easier to get great sounds this way. BTW, getting 2 KEL HM1 and a KEL HM2 is a great trio of drum mics. Just make sure you can reverse the phase on the HM2 when you use it or any mic as a FOK mic. Just remember don't rely on processing rely on what's natural. You are a human and musicians are supposed to have feeling, don't be a robot.