Recording Drums - Room mic in MONO!

[KT1]

I watched the Ann Mincelli edition of pensado's place - loved it! such a great interview. I noted she mentioned recording drums not in Mono but room mic was in Mono. I love the sound on some of those alicia keys songs. the tone of the drums etc..I like some MONO. What are your thoughts?

[Red Mastering]

I have heard whole drum kit recorded by 1 mono room mic,
and it sounded awesome,
you need good drummer, good drum set and good sounding room,
I like oldschool approach, 1 room mic plus sometimes 1 or 2 overheads - that's it
As much as I adore S. Albini and his ideas about sound and music business, I would set 2- maybe 3 mics in room, instead of 13...(recording inUtero)
anyway every engineer has it's own vision and ideas,
I've noticed that I am getting into 'less is more' approach,
instead of setting dozen mics, set 1 or 2, but spend some time on positioning and monitoring them,
but if you have bad sounding room - then maybe close mic'ing is the only way out...

[KT1]

Originally Posted by Red Mastering

I have heard whole drum kit recorded by 1 mono room mic,
and it sounded awesome,
you need good drummer, good drum set and good sounding room,
I like oldschool approach, 1 room mic plus sometimes 1 or 2 overheads - that's it
As much as I adore S. Albini and his ideas about sound and music business, I would set 2- maybe 3 mics in room, instead of 13...(recording inUtero)
anyway every engineer has it's own vision and ideas,
I've noticed that I am getting into 'less is more' approach,
instead of setting dozen mics, set 1 or 2, but spend some time on positioning and monitoring them,
but if you have bad sounding room - then maybe close mic'ing is the only way out...

Sure i like minimal too - same applies for how you record. I think i loose a lot of body by having to large a kit up. I prefer to mic small and have no toms etc set up. Prefer the basics. Recently i have been tripple micing the snares top/bottom and body. It's just incredible the different tone you can get from drums dependent on how they are tracked..

Tell me more about the positioning in the basic set up - especially with one overhead. Where would it be positioned?

Yeh that many mics scares me! Phase and all sorts of problems..

[JoRillo]

That was a great episode, a lot of good information.

I can't really speak on mono vs stereo room micing, only ever done it in stereo. I'll have to give mono a shot.

[Red Mastering]

I would try to position 1 mic in front of kick drum, but obviously at least 1m distance from outside skin,
it really depends on drummer/room relation, and obviously mic/preamp
Good large condenser should do,
as I said before - set it and monitor and then move around to find sweetspot
the secret is placement, you need to find it yourself
good luck

[JoRillo]

I know it would be "Whatever sounds best" - but generally speaking, would you have the mic angle horizontal facing the kick/kit or would you want to be a bit above the kick and kinda angled down a slight bit to try and pick up everything kinda evenly.

[KT1]

Originally Posted by Red Mastering

I would try to position 1 mic in front of kick drum, but obviously at least 1m distance from outside skin,
it really depends on drummer/room relation, and obviously mic/preamp
Good large condenser should do,
as I said before - set it and monitor and then move around to find sweetspot
the secret is placement, you need to find it yourself
good luck

I think i understand - It's still off center of set. Rationale. I'm just curious how much of the sound is from this mic ya know? is it just color or are taking real substance from that mic? What impact what that have to the hat all the way over - balancing would be tough right? I mean assuming still taking from mics would you compensate with one side of the room? I'm a little confused..

[Red Mastering]

as I said above - drummer/drum set and room versus mic/preamp - those things condition sound, so I won't be able to give you exact answer,
in general - think about catching whole room, so moving mic further off kick will give you more room, closer kick - more kick&drum set less room....
same with positioning up/down-
this is audio, set mic and record it and have assistant in drum room to move around with mic - there's no other way to find it, 30-60 min most and you will get it,
if you got good mic, pre, drummer , etc
u87 actually works very well in such setup, or u47
but I'd go with se2200 (I can't remember exact model), and we recorded drums on this particular 1 mic (preamp was some tasty redd I think)
it sounded awesome (but again room was great, very good drummer and great drum setup - without it you fail)

[kevbrowne]

I always have mono room mic
At the minute I am into having the kit facing into the corner of the room
and having the room mic a few feet behind the drummer.
The kick isnt as loud but the overall sound is more meatier and more defined

[KT1]

Originally Posted by Red Mastering

as I said above - drummer/drum set and room versus mic/preamp - those things condition sound, so I won't be able to give you exact answer,
in general - think about catching whole room, so moving mic further off kick will give you more room, closer kick - more kick&drum set less room....
same with positioning up/down-
this is audio, set mic and record it and have assistant in drum room to move around with mic - there's no other way to find it, 30-60 min most and you will get it,
if you got good mic, pre, drummer , etc
u87 actually works very well in such setup, or u47
but I'd go with se2200 (I can't remember exact model), and we recorded drums on this particular 1 mic (preamp was some tasty redd I think)
it sounded awesome (but again room was great, very good drummer and great drum setup - without it you fail)

That makes sense. I have all those requirements .

[KT1]

Originally Posted by kevbrowne

I always have mono room mic
At the minute I am into having the kit facing into the corner of the room
and having the room mic a few feet behind the drummer.
The kick isnt as loud but the overall sound is more meatier and more defined

The corner? really. The room we generally use is shaped like an L. I have found the best position actually facing the wall len end of the room a little off center. In other words placed in the top of the L facing left hand side. This is room dependent for sure.

[Red Mastering]

ok, here another tip
ask drummer to play and simply move around the room and listen how the sound change,
when you find some sort of idea where it's a good place, stand there and move your head(ears) upward/backwards left/right etc,
you should be able to find where drums sound as you like, then bring mic and again try to find sweet spot with this area,
cranking good preamp with great mic, and checking how it translate is also a good idea,
not necessary a way out - sometimes you are after different kind of vibe...
again this is audio - so testing testing testing, more testing less talking on GS forum)

[KT1]

Originally Posted by Red Mastering

ok, here another tip
ask drummer to play and simply move around the room and listen how the sound change,
when you find some sort of idea where it's a good place, stand there and move your head(ears) upward/backwards left/right etc,
you should be able to find where drums sound as you like, then bring mic and again try to find sweet spot with this area,
cranking good preamp with great mic, and checking how it translate is also a good idea,
not necessary a way out - sometimes you are after different kind of vibe...
again this is audio - so testing testing testing, more testing less talking on GS forum)

Agree with testing. I need something to do during work (day job)

[Storyville]

A mono room mic is really useful for creating a "deep image". It works the same way our vision works. When something is close, our eyes can pinpoint the width of it - but when something is far away it looks like it converges on a single point. Like perspective in a drawing. If you've got a full band playing and they're right in front of you - you've got your keys on the left, drums center, guitar right. But if they're a thousand feet away - they're really all in the same spot.