Indoor Drumline Recording

WVUtubadude · 25th October 2009

I am currently looking in to the best way to record an indoor drumline competition. The groups are generally your typical marching band drumline, but they are performing on a basketball court rather than a football field. The biggest problem I can think of would be reflections off of all of the flat, hard surfaces that make up a typical gym.

I was thinking of using shotgun mics in, more or less, an A/B configuration. I have never really used shotguns before, but it is my understanding that they are highly directional, and would be good for reducing the off axis sounds.

Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

RbShffr · 25th October 2009

I used to be in a pretty competitive indoor drumline in high school. Learned so much about discipline, working as a team, running a rehearsal and a long list of life skills. I never recorded one during a competition, only in an auditorium.

Things to consider - dynamics range from loud to extremely loud, the drums are designed to be played outside and project so they sound particularly obnoxious in an extremely reverberant gym, and they are most likely moving around the whole surface of the designated area (usually a mat folded in a specific way so that the creases make a grid to help you find each set).

I would probably avoid shotguns and go for warmth. Gyms are extremely reverberant with hardly any absorption and usually have loud hvac systems, but people are used to this.

Ideally, I would have an AEA r88 or Royer sf12 in the center and a pair of schoeps mk21's (wide card) as flanks. Other brands can be substituted of course and ldc's would work great as well. If you don't have access to a stereo ribbon mic, I would go with an ortf with condensers in the center. It would be good to have some inline attenuators on hand for any condensers you will use and set levels pretty low because there will be some very high peaks.

Proper pit spots might be impractical because setting them up would probably interrupt the flow of the performance, but they would sound great if you think you can swing it. The groups are timed and judged from the moment they enter the gym to the moment they leave the gym so they might not appreciate interruptions.

25th October 2009	#1
WVUtubadude Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2009 Location: West Virginia/Pennsylvania Posts: 904 Thread Starter	Indoor Drumline Recording I am currently looking in to the best way to record an indoor drumline competition. The groups are generally your typical marching band drumline, but they are performing on a basketball court rather than a football field. The biggest problem I can think of would be reflections off of all of the flat, hard surfaces that make up a typical gym. I was thinking of using shotgun mics in, more or less, an A/B configuration. I have never really used shotguns before, but it is my understanding that they are highly directional, and would be good for reducing the off axis sounds. Any other ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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25th October 2009	#2
RbShffr Gear Head Joined: Oct 2008 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 49	I used to be in a pretty competitive indoor drumline in high school. Learned so much about discipline, working as a team, running a rehearsal and a long list of life skills. I never recorded one during a competition, only in an auditorium. Things to consider - dynamics range from loud to extremely loud, the drums are designed to be played outside and project so they sound particularly obnoxious in an extremely reverberant gym, and they are most likely moving around the whole surface of the designated area (usually a mat folded in a specific way so that the creases make a grid to help you find each set). I would probably avoid shotguns and go for warmth. Gyms are extremely reverberant with hardly any absorption and usually have loud hvac systems, but people are used to this. Ideally, I would have an AEA r88 or Royer sf12 in the center and a pair of schoeps mk21's (wide card) as flanks. Other brands can be substituted of course and ldc's would work great as well. If you don't have access to a stereo ribbon mic, I would go with an ortf with condensers in the center. It would be good to have some inline attenuators on hand for any condensers you will use and set levels pretty low because there will be some very high peaks. Proper pit spots might be impractical because setting them up would probably interrupt the flow of the performance, but they would sound great if you think you can swing it. The groups are timed and judged from the moment they enter the gym to the moment they leave the gym so they might not appreciate interruptions.