Pictures Of Mic'ed Up Drum Kits In The Studio

[bleen]

Originally Posted by mixman499

cool. keplinger is great.

Absolutely! One of my dearest friends.

i just noticed the little shure pa mixer...a cool limiter on that one !!

i have two i use for room mics.

Yeah, I've been running a 57 or random ribbon into it for the squishy goodness.

[jchadstopherhuez]

ok..i will play.

here are a few from a recent session




kick d12 daking
kick woofer at 4047 sytek daking comp
snare 1 ev re15 daking daking comp
snare 2 at35he altec tube preamp
overheads at4031 sytek germanium compressors
mono ovhd GT55 fet sytek urei la4
fok room okt ML52 sytek
stereo rooms sm57 yam pm2k
nuke room sm58 spectrasonics 610
rack tom 421 yam pm2k
floor top blue kick ball yam pm2k
floor bottom 421 yam pm2k

no tracks that i can post yet...just some semi bad pictures... ( i need to stop my next mic or guitar purchase and get a decent digital slr !)

best,

jchristopherhughes

[Chadlington]

stike

[manthe]

Originally Posted by Chadlington

stike

Holy crap! Where do you even start? How many tracks?

[Roy Harter]

That kit has Mike Portnoy written all over it. What a monster. Amazing. I used to take piano lessons from his keyboardist back in the day. His rig was a little less "elaborate" back then.

[sethmeister]

Originally Posted by Chadlington

stike

Mike Portnoy?

ETA: Oops Roy beat me to it!

[Ari-M.]

Originally Posted by stealthbalance

here's my 2 cents-
s

awesome!!!.....very nice job sir

[Ari-M.]

I like to play....

[PheelTheMusic]

Originally Posted by Roy Harter

That kit has Mike Portnoy written all over it. What a monster. Amazing. I used to take piano lessons from his keyboardist back in the day. His rig was a little less "elaborate" back then.

Are you referring to Jordan Rudess? His nephew is one of my close buddies. Got to meet the Dream Theater guys several times.

Chadlington: Where is your studio located? Rudess' nephew invited me to a Dream Theater session on Long Island a while back but unfortunately I wasn't able to attend. Funny if you were doing the engineering. Small world.

[Chadlington]

That was at Avatar in NYC. Systematic Chaos record. Amazing musicians, Northfield's the king at tracking monster kits.

[seaneldon]

I've spent the last 2 nights experimenting with an M/S pair on the floor in front of the drums. In this particular case, it's a Gefell M296 omni doing mid, and our beloved Gefell UM75 doing side. REALLY deep, throaty sound.

AEA R88 over the kit, Josephson e22S right outside the kick drum.

There's a myriad of sounds in here, and it's actually encouraging me to use automation on the drums to get different tonal-blends in different sections of the tune.

Sorry our room's a little "busy"...it's tough to photograph the right way.

[andychamp]

Originally Posted by seaneldon

I've spent the last 2 nights experimenting with an M/S pair on the floor in front of the drums.(...)

Got any soundfiles?

[seaneldon]

floormsdrums.mp3

Originally Posted by andychamp

Got any soundfiles?

Faders at unity, everything hard panned, kick drum up the middle. No processing at mix. STC-8 did invisible kick drum tightening at tracking. Gearslutz is unhappy with a WAV file, so have an MP3.

Not really a "pop kit" kinda sound. Much more suited to the kind of stuff that I do, however. Definitely something to try when not under the gun of precious time.

Enjoy!

edit: For the folks that care to know...preamps were as follows

Kick - Sebatron VMP2000e, pad at first position. Backed off JUST before overdriving.
OH - Prototype two channel, dual gain stage unit
MS - Chandler TG2 to Electrical Audio M/S matrix

[ImJohn]

Originally Posted by rcm

This is certianly the most interesting drum micing I have ever done. 4 kick drums, 16 toms, snare and 40 cymbals. I tried to do the whole kick with two mics, but because of the angles things are set up (tiered and in a horse shoe), I had to end up using 11 tracks ;-(

All toms are miced from the bottom because there was no acess or room from the top.

(its Terrry Bozzio if you are wondering)

Very cool! Details on mics, pres, positioning etc? Any audio or video clipc?!

[Lynn Fuston]

Here are a few. Three different drummers, two different studios, four different sessions.


Dan Needham, drummer.


John Hammond, drummer.


John Hammond, drummer.


Paul Leim, drummer.

[andychamp]

Originally Posted by seaneldon

Attachment 55268

Thanks for the files, cool sound.
I'm amazed by how much more present the toms appear, compared with the kick.

[bob st john]

recording basic tracks for extreme V, Kevin Figueiredo on drums...i'll upload pictures once the server allows it again...

NRG Studio A, North Hollywood; october/november 2007. neve 8068 (simply the best IMHO), studer 827 and protools HD (drum tracks and some bass tracks used from the analog) and lastly good old 499@+9 (had some new old stock 456 but didn't want to chance it)

nothing terribly exotic here...amazing sounding room (albeit a little splashy if you're not careful) on the kick (which is double headed with no hole) a 421 on the beater side (note that there is no pad on the head...k figg is a monster hitter and we were lucky to get 3 takes out of each kick head) and a 47 fet on the front (for some reason, the 47 is not positioned in this picture...it typically was on the upper right hand side of the kick). 67 on the rack tom (up high...about 10 inches), 87 on floor tom (-10 pads on both). 414's for overhead (not my favorite but they worked well in this room). beta 57 on the snare, km 84 on hat and ride. the room mics were probably the more exotic of the setup. in the foreground, you can see a royer stereo ribbon mic; on the sides of the kit about 5 feet up and 15 feet from the kit are coles 4038 ( i just LOVE those mics!). a good amount of the drum ambience/drum sound comes from the overheads and the royer...the coles fill in the space between the three, sonically. yes, the 414's are in a curious position...MS setups didn't work well with the room and i wanted to be able to have a somewhat controlled ambience on the tracks...with 4 other room mics we had plenty to work with...

precious little processing was used...dbx 160's on the coles and a little bit of filtering down low (that double-headed kick is a real PIA at times with all assortment of SLF energy...not to mention it had to have tuning checked CONSTANTLY between takes)

no bottom snare mic was used...a goodly amount of that rattle came through the 421 although the beater without a pad had a good SMACK to it...

kit sounded great on analog...but kfigg is without a doubt one of the top 5 drummers i've worked with in 25 years of recording...great technique and natural balance which few drummers seem to have some days...

[Pearl.masters]

recording a couple of weeks ago really happy with the drum sound! finally thought i should upload pics!





Tom

[bleen]

Two sessions this week:

kick in: D6->Vintech 473->Distressor
kick out: Lawson L47FET->Vintech 473
snare top: Beta57A->Vintech473->Distressor
snare btm: SM57 pointed at floor->Vintech 473
OHs: 414->Portico->Fatso
hihat: 57->Millennia
toms: EV408s->Millennia
rooms: Fatheads->Shure M267 mono mixer with lititer set to "stun"
kit back: AT4047->API 3124









Then a jazz record with drum builder Gregg Keplinger:

kick - Lawson L47FET -> Vintech 473
snare/kit/"crotch mic" - 57 -> Vintech -> Distressor on "stun"
OH - AEA R84 -> Millennia
wide OHs - AT4047s -> Portico pre's -> Fatso
crush mics - Fatheads -> Shure M267 mono mixers with limiters on "crush-to-death".

[lpkyer]

Originally Posted by bleen

Two sessions this week:

kick in: D6->Vintech 473->Distressor
kick out: Lawson L47FET->Vintech 473
snare top: Beta57A->Vintech473->Distressor
snare btm: SM57 pointed at floor->Vintech 473
OHs: 414->Portico->Fatso
hihat: 57->Millennia
toms: EV408s->Millennia
rooms: Fatheads->Shure M267 mono mixer with lititer set to "stun"
kit back: AT4047->API 3124



Then a jazz record with drum builder Gregg Keplinger:

kick - Lawson L47FET -> Vintech 473
snare/kit/"crotch mic" - 57 -> Vintech -> Distressor on "stun"
OH - AEA R84 -> Millennia
wide OHs - AT4047s -> Portico pre's -> Fatso
crush mics - Fatheads -> Shure M267 mono mixers with limiters on "crush-to-death".

Isnt that 2 sticks? Looks like an inspiring place. Any idea what brand are those black diffusers on the wall?

[bleen]

Originally Posted by lpkyer

Isnt that 2 sticks?

Indeed - I manage the room.

Looks like an inspiring place.

It's a killer room to work in! Very comfy.

Any idea what brand are those black diffusers on the wall?

Ha! They were dense shipping foam for aircraft pistons/parts. Purchased at Boeing Surplus for $2/ea!

[Kronos147]

We set up the old Ludwigs with the 24" kick for today's session.










D-122 in the kick, MXL v77 out.
KM-140 top snare, SM57 bottom
MD-421 tom and floor
KM-184 hat
KM-140's for overheads

[Kadden Heart]

[QUOTE=bleen;2023275]Two sessions this week:

kick in: D6->Vintech 473->Distressor
kick out: Lawson L47FET->Vintech 473
snare top: Beta57A->Vintech473->Distressor
snare btm: SM57 pointed at floor->Vintech 473
OHs: 414->Portico->Fatso
hihat: 57->Millennia
toms: EV408s->Millennia
rooms: Fatheads->Shure M267 mono mixer with lititer set to "stun"
kit back: AT4047->API 3124



,..i'm sorry,..did you say 57 pointed at the floor?
why so? what sort of sound does that yield for you?

,..now if you'll exscuse me i have to go rent out a local room and satisfy my odd sexual urges to mic things.

[bleen]

Originally Posted by Kadden Heart

,..i'm sorry,..did you say 57 pointed at the floor?
why so? what sort of sound does that yield for you?

Still gets the sizzle of the bottom head, but it's MUCH less harsh and papery. Blends better with the top head.

[jeronimo]

Originally Posted by Kadden Heart

Still gets the sizzle of the bottom head, but it's MUCH less harsh and papery. Blends better with the top head.

Really??? That´s something I need to try out!!!

I´ve been very, very happy with a 451 on the bottom snare... actually, it´s the only one that made me confortable with the tone (for bright, snappy snares)

[lpkyer]

Originally Posted by bleen

Ha! They were dense shipping foam for aircraft pistons/parts. Purchased at Boeing Surplus for $2/ea!

Hehe looks great too !
I just read the presentation on your studio's website and I really like the philosophy behind it. It really is something every studio owner should read and apply... Would love to visit one day too !

[NandoOg7]

Kick - D6
Snare Top- 57
Snare Bottom - 57
Rack Tom - 421
Floor Tom - 421
HH - NT5
Ride - NT5
OHs - 414 ULS
Above Drummer - u87
Rooms - c1000

[skydogsound]

In the spirit of recording drums, I've been working with pro tools recently with my modded digi 002 slaved to my apogee ensemble. I have some video clips of my friend Kenny Burns playing various configurations of my Gretsch kit at Welcome to Skydog Sound

I'm using pretty standard stuff... sm57's on the snare and rack tom's, sm56 below the snare drum, atm25 on the floor tom, beta52 on the bass drum, Rode NT5's for overheads and Rode K2 for the room mic.

I put most of the mics through my 3 stereo demeter mic preamps. The room mic, under snare and on the five piece kit the atm25 went into the preamps on my ensemble since the digi's mic pre's are pretty much useless.

[csimprov]

We had a very large room and decided to go balls out to capture it. We revamped some things after these pictures were taken, as you'll notice there are KM84s as overheads (pictured) which were swapped out for the smoother sounding TLM103s, though we did keep a pair of KM84s up for the ride and hi-hat. The 535 on the top head of the piccolo snare (pictured) was changed to the bottom to get more of a snap. Also, there's a RE20 inside the kick pictured, but we ended up going with a Beta 52. You can see the M160 in front of the kit (close to the ground), but you can't see the one behind it. Also, for the big room mics, we had a pair of U87s about 15' in front of the kit 25' apart, about 7' high, and a U47 in between them about 10' in front of and above the kit to get some round room tone.






16 mics total:

KICK IN > BETA 52 > NEVE 1070
KICK OUT > iFET7 > NEVE 33114 > DISTRESSOR (3:1)
SNARE TOP > SM57 > NEVE 1070 > CHANDLER GERMANIUM (4:1)
SNARE BOTTOM > 441 > NEVE 1070 > CHANDLER GERMANIUM (4:1)
PICCOLO SNARE BOTTOM > C535 > NEVE 33114
RACK TOM > ATM25 > CALREC PQ15S
FLOOR TOM > 421 > CALREC PQ15S
HAT > KM84 > EARTHWORKS 1024
RIDE > KM84 > EARTHWORKS 1024
OVER R (HAT) > TLM103 > API 3124 > TUBE-TECH LCA2B (2:1)
OVER L (RIDE) > TLM103 > API 3124 > TUBE-TECH LCA2B (2:1)
MID ROOM (REAR) > M160 > EARTHWORKS 1024
MID ROOM (FRONT) > M160 > EARTHWORKS 1024
ROOM R (HAT) > U87 > 1272
ROOM L (RIDE) > U87 > 1272
ROOM (MIDDLE) > U47 > UA2108

Converters were iZ Corp. Nyquist. Credit goes to engineer John Shipp.

[edvdr76]

Originally Posted by csimprov

We had a very large room and decided to go balls out to capture it. We revamped some things after these pictures were taken, as you'll notice there are KM84s as overheads (pictured) which were swapped out for the smoother sounding TLM103s, though we did keep a pair of KM84s up for the ride and hi-hat. The 535 on the top head of the piccolo snare (pictured) was changed to the bottom to get more of a snap. Also, there's a RE20 inside the kick pictured, but we ended up going with a Beta 52. You can see the M160 in front of the kit (close to the ground), but you can't see the one behind it. Also, for the big room mics, we had a pair of U87s about 15' in front of the kit 25' apart, about 7' high, and a U47 in between them about 10' in front of and above the kit to get some round room tone.






16 mics total:

KICK IN > BETA 52 > NEVE 1070
KICK OUT > iFET7 > NEVE 33114 > DISTRESSOR (3:1)
SNARE TOP > SM57 > NEVE 1070 > CHANDLER GERMANIUM (4:1)
SNARE BOTTOM > 441 > NEVE 1070 > CHANDLER GERMANIUM (4:1)
PICCOLO SNARE BOTTOM > C535 > NEVE 33114
RACK TOM > ATM25 > CALREC PQ15S
FLOOR TOM > 421 > CALREC PQ15S
HAT > KM84 > EARTHWORKS 1024
RIDE > KM84 > EARTHWORKS 1024
OVER R (HAT) > TLM103 > API 3124 > TUBE-TECH LCA2B (2:1)
OVER L (RIDE) > TLM103 > API 3124 > TUBE-TECH LCA2B (2:1)
MID ROOM (REAR) > M160 > EARTHWORKS 1024
MID ROOM (FRONT) > M160 > EARTHWORKS 1024
ROOM R (HAT) > U87 > 1272
ROOM L (RIDE) > U87 > 1272
ROOM (MIDDLE) > U47 > UA2108

Converters were iZ Corp. Nyquist. Credit goes to engineer John Shipp.

How do you like that C535 on Snare? What else do you use it on? I had one stolen from my studio years ago and can't remember just how good it is to determine if I wanna get another one.....