NEED HELP WITH MY DRUMS and MIKES

[Max Schad]

hey guys, thanks for looking, and hopefully having some sweet advice.
I have a 1985 slingerland chrome drum set. 4 rack toms, big ones. one floor tom. one pork pie snare. a 20'' bass drum. All A-Custom Zildjian cymbals. 14'' hi-hats. 17'' crash. 15'' crash. 20'' ping ride. 12'' wuhan china. an old 17'' k zildjian china.

the hats are on the left, obviously. the 15 and 17 are on the left/middle of the bass drum. the big china, and ride are on the right side of the bass drum.

this is my whole set-up. here is my mic list.
CAD 7-Piece Mic Kit. a cheap little kit with two overheads (matched pairs) 4 tom mics, one snare. 3 SM 57's. Shure SM 81. Sterling Audio ST 44. Marshall MXL V67Q stereo. AKG D112. and Shure PG 52.

I have a firepod, and i can only do 8 tracks of drums. Unless i group some of them.

does anyone have any suggestions? how to utilize the 57's in the right places. if i should use an under snare mic? if two bass drum mics are necessary. what i should do about having all those condensers, and a matched pair.

please help!

thanks

[ImJohn]

Lot's of ways to tackle this but try this:

Put up ONLY the 2 overheads. position/record/listen/reposition/repeat until the set sounds as good overall as posible.

THEN add a mic on the snare. Start with the SM57 probably and then
position/record/listen/reposition/repeat until the snare sounds as good as posible. if you aren't happy with the sound try the other mics you have.

THEN add a mic for the bass drum. Try the obvious choices first but don't be afraid to try any mic and position. position/record/listen/reposition/repeat until happy.

Now record a while and listen back to how the kist sounds with just those 4 mic's. Try different balances and in a whole band mix if possible. If you are happy STOP and don't ad any more! Just because you have stuff doesn't mean you have to use it! (unless you are me and we are talking about cash and credit! )

If you are not happy, think about what is lacking in the sound and either reposition more OR add another mic in the 'weak' area.

You could always put a mic on each pair of rack toms and one on the floor tom and put a room mic somewhere if your room sounds nice (or not) but if you don't really need it why bother?

Best of luck!

[Hamburg58]

Always start with one mic first. Pick one of your condensers. Sit it in front of the drum kit. Track for about 30 seconds. Go back and listen to it....Save it and mute it...Try to listen and see what sticks out to to you, what's too loud...

Let's say the ride is pretty loud...This could be the cymbal, this could be the mic...Let's also say the kick is pretty overpowering.... Move the mic a little higher and to the right....Record again...Go Listen to that 30 seconds...Is it better or worse? If it's better, keep moving the mic until you find a sweet spot....There's where you'll sit your first overhead. You'll probably work you way back around the kit...But depending on the drummer/drumkit, is really where the mic placement should go....So play with it!

Make sure if you're using matched pairs, you're careful with phasing...Use the matched pair as overheads...As far as the 57's go, they're great on snares..i wouldn't use one for the top and bottom of a snare, that defeats the purpose of getting a different sound...The live dynamic mic pack you have might not be bad on the toms...Again, 57's are great for that as well...When a drummer knows how to tune his drums, mics are almost irrelevant..

As far as the stereo MXL goes, do the same thing you did with the first mic that you put on the kit except use it in the room...Make sure you pan when listening to a stereo mic as well...Sometimes these room mics go great in the middle of the room, sometimes they're great near the floor, sometimes they're great backed up into a corner at the top of a room...Just experiment...There is no "wrong" way to mic or record a drum kit...Just do what sounds good to your ears...They're far better judgement than any book you could ever read!

Good luck!

[Rea]

you can pick the first mic place it anywhere and record 12.2 sec. go back and listen. at least five times.
try the same thing in another input until you have compared all inputs. now move the mic about an inch and repeat the above.
after your done with that repeat all with another mic.
once you went through all mics (you should be about 92 yo now) you may sit down and play music. not sure you are going to capture the spirit of times by now...

i suggest you concentrate on the arrangemnt and performance. that's where the sound is.

[theSoundFactory]

Do you have to play on all 5 toms?

1-2. I'd use the MXL stereo mic as overhead
3. one of the CAD overhead mics on hihat
4. a 57 on the snare
5. D112 on kick
6-7-8. two rack toms and one floor tom miced with the CAD tom mics

but that's just me.. I've never liked drumkits with a zillion toms