Recording Drums with one condensor mic.

[Devil Rider]

I need help! I have found myself in the country side with a U89i Mbox and Ludwig drum kit and suddenly need to record some drums for a project. I have recorded plenty of one mic drums before with much crappier mics but I am not enjoying the sound I am getting from it this time round. Obviously I am not going to get an awesome sound but if anyone has any ideas on placement to get an 'even' sound i would greatly appreciate it.

I am just trying to record rumbly drum loops on which to build quite avant sorta stuff for a dance piece.

so yeah basically i am looking for a magic mic placement/polar pattern option technique to save my arse so i can stay away from the city a little loonger! oh and its in a smallish and slightly bright room.

[gsilbers]

Originally Posted by Devil Rider

I need help! I have found myself in the country side with a U89i Mbox and Ludwig drum kit and suddenly need to record some drums for a project. I have recorded plenty of one mic drums before with much crappier mics but I am not enjoying the sound I am getting from it this time round. Obviously I am not going to get an awesome sound but if anyone has any ideas on placement to get an 'even' sound i would greatly appreciate it.

I am just trying to record rumbly drum loops on which to build quite avant sorta stuff for a dance piece.

so yeah basically i am looking for a magic mic placement/polar pattern option technique to save my arse so i can stay away from the city a little loonger! oh and its in a smallish and slightly bright room.

boy.. that sucks that u only have one mic. you can do the M/S technic with one more mic.

you know... one mic in figure 8/bipolar facing to the sides and the other in cariod facing the drums. is that M/S? i think is called M/S technique.

use a speaker to mic the kik drum.

go to radio shack/walmart and get some crappy mic to help out. dont mix it down with the u89 though.

record the kik drum pattern 1st then the snare then the hats all by grabbing the u89 with yorur hand... thats avant gard

[Devil Rider]

i have a sm57 with me aswell so i could do the M/S thing but i think it sounds better with two condensors. I just want some lazy one mic master technique. i am sure it doesn't really exist but who knows. The irony is I am a recent convert to micing drums with 3 or 4 mics as opposed to 20 and now i am trying to use just one!

[cortisol]

A few placements come to mind.

1. u89 in front of the kit and pulled back about 2 to 4 feet and slighly higher than the kick drum in height off the floor. With SM57 close mic the snare.

2. u89 1 ft from kick; height middle of kick and Sm57 aimed through the hardware at the snare about 3 foot away and out to the right a ways as you look at the kit from in front. Nice with a kit played with hotrods/slamsticks.

3. Steveremote from the remote possibilities forum recons that a 1 mic placement by the drummers knee that is away from the hat picks up a great balance of the kit. So place and see if the sm57 will be a good close mic to bring in the detail you wan from lsewhere on the kit.

4. Place a mic over the drummers shoulder near the ear. It will pick up the balance of the kit as the drummer hears it. Then augment with somethig on the kick as it is usually a little lite on picking up the kick from this posish.

Don't be afraid to swop the positions of the SM57 and the u89 as you might prefere it the other way around! I really like the air and depth that a front of kick condenser gives. But I've heard 84k's Led Zep kit drums and now am developing an appreciation for a dedicated dynamic kick drum mic in that position too!

Peace,
cortisol

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by cortisol

A few placements come to mind.

1. u89 in front of the kit and pulled back about 2 to 4 feet and slighly higher than the kick drum in height off the floor. With SM57 close mic the snare.


Peace,
cortisol

That is what I would try first...if that doesn't sound good, I think the kit or drummer would be more of a problem!

[BlueRadio]

I second that notion. Condenser out front, 57 on the snare. If your drummer is good, and your room is good, then you should be fine.

If you want more of a spreaded sound, SERIOUSLY go to radio shack and buy two ultra cheap mics, put them in XY about 15 ft from the kit, and go to town.

[warhead]

U89 over the drummer's head, essentially hearing what the drummer hears.

SM57 in the kick, positioned to taste.

Other than that, room treatment...blankets...whatever it takes.

War

[blackcatdigi]

I'd have to hear the drummer, on the drums, in the room to offer any advice pertaining to placement...

If you happen to have a very capable player (who can balance the kit acoustically) you can achieve a reasonably decent representation of the 'drums in the room' with just one mic.

However, I would advise you to also do some 'sampling type' techniques, in addition. Moving the one mic around the kit to get the best possible sound for each individual element (kick, snare, rack, floor, etc.).

You can then duplicate the original mono tracked performance (multiple times) and sound replace / augment each of the individual elements, one at a time...

Could take a while, but you could very well end up with a nice sound.

That would be my approach...

Good Luck!

[kats]

I'd try the 57 facing down on the snare about 1 1/2 to 2 feet above and use the Neumann in front of the kit, set about 3-4 feet up and about 4-6 ft back. You'll get a drier tighter sound with enough snare from the OH with decent cymbal/tom balance and you can fade in room & lower end from the Neumann.

[Beefsurgeon]

I've found that if you strip the kit down to its bare essentials, you can get a lot of mileage out of one mic. I often set up just a kick drum, snare, hihats, and cymbal to record loops. Then you can put the mic in otherwise impractical locations.

Try putting it near the drummers right hip, a little behind where the floor tom would be. Adjust it so that it is equidistant from the kick & snare. You can rotate the mic to control the volume balance between the kick and snare, and the hihats should come through fine no matter what.

There you go, raw and punchy.

[Lawrence]

I had a guy come in once to check out the studio with a singer he was producing. We did a quick down and dirty recording of the singer with a MXL V69ME while the producer played the drums behind him about 8 feet away.

There were long gaps when the singer wasn't singing where the mono mic only picked up the drums and they sounded absolutely great on playback.

I can only assume it was something about the way the sound traveled through the room while at the same time being deflected by the singers body from going directly into the mic, who was standing between the mic and the kit. A perfect balance of kit and room. Punchy, lively and real.

That was one of the best drum recordings I've ever done, and an accident. I want to try that agan on purpose, put up two condensers and have people stand in front of them as dampers and see what happens.

Just for kicks.