4 Mic Drum Setup for Home Studio

[swankz]

Hi,

I'm finally going to be setting up my drums in my new home studio, a low ceilinged room of about 14' by 13' in the basement of my house. I will worry about acoustical treatment at a later date, but right now I'm looking to settle on mics. I figure 1 kik, 2 OH and possibly 1 on snare. The only mic I currently own is an SM57.

For about $1000-$1500, what do people suggest for the OHs and kik, asuming I use the SM57 at least initially on the snare.

BTW, I favour kind of a warm 70s sound. At least initially, I'll be going direct into my MBP through my Metric Halo preamps.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[lucey]

Well this is Low End Theory ... no offense

You need to fix the room first or it wont matter the mics or pres.

Dead ceiling, live floor, diffused/dead walls, bass trap the corners or the kick will wobble. 703/705 $500.
Audix D6 $250
Chinese Ribbon mic $300
Josephson C42 $450 (or another ribbon)

around $1500

your Shure on the snare - Priceless ... maybe.

[swankz]

Yeah, I guess I could repost in Low End.
Thanks for the advice. Any thoughts on the RE 20 for the KIK, instead of a D6?

I will, of course, be treating the room, but I'm focussing on that separately.

[kats]

2 X c42's as OH's in a recorderman's set up works good in a low ceiling. Forget LDC's.

Put your 57 on snare for back up (or sample replacement) and choose a kick mic flavor that you like - AKG/ Audix whatever.

Heavy blanket over the ceiling, live floor and you'll be ok

[edvdr76]

Originally Posted by ian@emrigroup.c

Hi,

I'm finally going to be setting up my drums in my new home studio, a low ceilinged room of about 14' by 13' in the basement of my house. I will worry about acoustical treatment at a later date, but right now I'm looking to settle on mics. I figure 1 kik, 2 OH and possibly 1 on snare. The only mic I currently own is an SM57.

For about $1000-$1500, what do people suggest for the OHs and kik, asuming I use the SM57 at least initially on the snare.

BTW, I favour kind of a warm 70s sound. At least initially, I'll be going direct into my MBP through my Metric Halo preamps.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Well, going with your budget I'd say you bargain hunt and get a couple of AT 4050's and a Audix D6 for your kick. You should have some dough left over for a couple more mic's for your toms or for some Beer!!!!!!

[dial_it_in]

Hey, I have a suggestion for you. Try a d112 for the kick and two 414's for OH mics. It will be at the top of your budget but you should be able to round them up for that on ebay or something like that. The 414's can be used for numerous things and they have nice pattern choices as well as pads. The 57 should definitely be on the snare. By the way, sometimes the d112 gets slighted, I feel wrongly. If you really experiment with positioning the mic you will find that, in the end, they give plenty of punch, attack, and low end in the mix.

[GPl]

Originally Posted by kats

2 X c42's as OH's in a recorderman's set up works good in a low ceiling. Forget LDC's.

Put your 57 on snare for back up (or sample replacement) and choose a kick mic flavor that you like - AKG/ Audix whatever.

Heavy blanket over the ceiling, live floor and you'll be ok

I was going to say the same more or less. As for a diff mic selection, how bout 2 x shinybox46l's for OH, the 57 mic'n the snare shell side, and an ev N/D868 in the kick drum.

[The Byre]

Well, for what it is worth, I am mixing a drum kit at this very moment and we tracked ten mics (D6 on kick, D2 & D4 for toms, AKG414 for OH and DPA 4061 for the room as PZMs) and I have ended up just using the D6 on kick, D2 on snare and the two DPA 4061s on the drum room windows as PZMs. Fed the lot through a stereo compresor and that was all that we needed for a good solid sound.

You can use the 57 for snare and so you just need the D6 and the 4061s, which should be about $1,300 all in.

[TheArchitect]

Use the 57 on the snare. I like a Shure Beta52 on kick drums. For solid overheads on a budget I would choose the Kel HM-1's or for a bit more a pair of Rode nt-5's. The Rodes will be a bit more airy and the kel's a bit more meaty. You could look into an audix i5 for snare also if yo like. That's probably 400-600 for the mics, depending on choices, that you don't already have. Next step would be some acoustic treatment of the room when funds allow. Preamps are an important piece but you will get bigger improvement for you dollar investing in the room treatment first in my opinion

[mltamisin]

Earthworks drumkit package will work for you.

[hurricaneE]

Originally Posted by mltamisin

Earthworks drumkit package will work for you.

That's what I was thinking. -E