My huge drum session!

[Slaytex]

I recorded my buddy Zach Irvin, the drummer from "The Lights Fluorescent" last night. We were going for a big, Steve Albini type drum sound, so I decided to use my 3 car garage for the room. The setup was very simple.

I used:

Kick - Beta 52 - API 3124 - FF800
Snare - SM57 - API 3124 - MC77 - FF800
Rack tom - AT4050 - FF800
Floor tom - AT4047 - FF800
Room L & R - Cascade X-15 ribbon - API 3124's - FF800

I really wanted to capture the kit as a whole instrument instead of tight close miced sounds. I used the X-15 stereo ribbon mic about 10-12 feet in front of the kit about tom height to get the vast majority of the kit sound which worked awesome (I love this mic). I then used the 4 close mics to mainly capture the attack and low end ass to fill in the room mic.
We were very lucky as the setup only took about 45 min. and we didn't have to mess with mic placement at all as all the mics played nicely together.

The rest of the band was having a hard to getting together so Zach decided to record everything solo with no click or reference tracks... But he did a great job holding it down.

Here is 1 of the songs to check out. The tracks are all unprocessed and all the faders are at unity except the room mics which are at -6 from the rest of the tracks.

Band aid drums!

Please let me know what you guys think.
Thanks.

[jchadstopherhuez]

sounds great.

you def have the best thing EVERYONE needs for great drum sounds.


a GREAT drummer.


i need to check out one of the cascade stereo ribbons. i use a pair of fatheads right now...and love em.

nice work.

jchristopherhughes

ps....4047 ROCKS on toms !!!

[Slaytex]

Originally Posted by mixman499

sounds great.

you def have the best thing EVERYONE needs for great drum sounds.


a GREAT drummer.

Hell yeah... He made this the easiest drum session ever.

I agree on the 4047, I've had an incredible time finding something it doesnt work with.

Thanks for the kind words.

[wannabeengineer]

Where are the OHs?

[Slaytex]

What are overheads?







We didn't use any. We used the X-15 to capture the whole kit. I just used mic placement to get a good balance of the kit.

[Kris]

I've tried to use the 4047 on floor tom before and noticed a ton of bleed from the other drums... You've inspired me to give it another try.

[Slaytex]

Anyone want to hear just the stereo room mic?

[jchadstopherhuez]

Originally Posted by Slaytex

What are overheads?







We didn't use any. We used the X-15 to capture the whole kit. I just used mic placement to get a good balance of the kit.

right !!

same here.....i often have a mono coles or similar over the kit...but usually the cymbals come from the stereo rooms !!

i would be interested in hearing the x-15 solo tracks...i have always loved the royer stereo mic....be curious what the x-15 can do.

nice job again !!

jch

[jchadstopherhuez]

Originally Posted by Kris

I've tried to use the 4047 on floor tom before and noticed a ton of bleed from the other drums... You've inspired me to give it another try.

bleed CAN be good.

i often get GREAT tom sounds with the 4047 about 4-8" away. the bleed usually works well in my world.

best,

jch

[Slaytex]

Originally Posted by Kris

I've tried to use the 4047 on floor tom before and noticed a ton of bleed from the other drums... You've inspired me to give it another try.

Yeah, it's a bit tricky getting them placed right but it's well worth it in the end. I tend to try and not fight bleed as long as the bleed compliments and balances with each other. If I liked the close miced sound, that would pose as a problem though...
Thanks.

[platypipros]

Originally Posted by Slaytex

Anyone want to hear just the stereo room mic?

sho' do

[Slaytex]

Here's just the room mic (X-15 stereo ribbon) which was 10-12 feet away in front of the kit at the same height as the toms.

Stereo room mic only!

Enjoy!

[NeilEngle]

Originally Posted by Slaytex

Anyone want to hear just the stereo room mic?

why yes... yes I do... lol

those drums sound SICK man!!

How do you like the FF800?
you obviously like it enough?

[wannabeengineer]

Originally Posted by Slaytex

What are overheads?

We didn't use any. We used the X-15 to capture the whole kit. I just used mic placement to get a good balance of the kit.

ha, I hear you. Sometimes a nice "area" mic'ing works so well. I tend to always use OHs too to capture the entire tone of the kit, not just cymbals. Mix that in with some great room mics. Just so nice.

[Slaytex]

Originally Posted by NeilEngle

why yes... yes I do... lol

those drums sound SICK man!!

How do you like the FF800?
you obviously like it enough?

Love the FF800. Pre's work good for stuff like toms and scratch tracks. I like the converters a lot though. It's one of those peices of gear that people say is just ok, but if you can't make great sounds with it, you probably can't with something better either.


I assume you are a Full Sail guy (Winter Park)?
Thanks.

[Jake 2.0]

Great sounds!! overheads sounds great.

[heyman]

There is quite alot of "heft" going on there .. Cant wait to hear them with some eq and the kick and snare up a little bit..

Very nice Clayton..

[Slaytex]

Originally Posted by heyman

There is quite alot of "heft" going on there .. Cant wait to hear them with some eq and the kick and snare up a little bit..

Very nice Clayton..

Thanks, I can't wait myself to mix these things. I'm really looking foward to tracking the gtr's and bass next. I'd love to hear it in the context of a full mix. I'll post those clips as we progress.
Thanks.

[Kore]

Great job! Would love to see a picture of the space, any session pics?

[heyman]

Clayton, can you give us some more info on the garage.. Dimensions,... Where the drums on a concrete floor? more details..!

[Slaytex]

The space is far from glamorous, it's just a garage so I didn't take any pics. You know lawn mower's in the corner and a workbench with tools all over... The garage is all concrete floors and the ceilings are about 12' high. I had 22 bass trap's/gobo's at my disposal, but after the initial sound check I said screw it, it sounds so damn good let's not mess with it if it ain't broke. I can take a pic of the space, but like I said it's not where I would usually track something. My main goal was to get a very raw tone from the drums and to capture them as one instrument instead of individual drums like we hear a lot nowadays. To me when I think of natural huge raw drums I think big hard spaces with no rules, so naturally I chose a big ass garage in it's natural state...

Thanks for all the interest.

[Slaytex]

Heyman, I forgot to say that the drums were put on a 4'x8' old oriental rug just to keep it from sliding. Other than that it's just a big garage. There's a possibility that we may do a few more songs later this week due to everyone being happy with how it's coming along. If that's the case I'll be sure to take some pic's of the setup.

[dannyjones]

wow.

Thats all I gotta say! haha.
I've heard both takes with everything and just the ribbon, and that ribbon picks up the kit very nicely.
The room you were in has a nice sound too. I'll have to find a three car garage I can borrow for a session!

[allencollins]

sounds good. Best 3 car garage Ive ever heard!!! Got an Impulse?
What compressor(s) did you use? Too be honest I think the 'room only' sounded not so good
but all together it sounds real good.

keep up the good work. Post the complete tune when youre done

[ampegfreak]

sounds good!

[EJW]

I think it sounds pretty good, but perhaps a bit too much room for my taste...in other news you have a wonderful drummer on your hands!

[Slaytex]

Originally Posted by allencollins

sounds good. Best 3 car garage Ive ever heard!!! Got an Impulse?
What compressor(s) did you use? Too be honest I think the 'room only' sounded not so good
but all together it sounds real good.

keep up the good work. Post the complete tune when youre done

Thanks Allen, the only compressor I used was my MC77 on the snare. I tend to only lightly compress stuff while tracking and use it more for color on the way in. I used it at 8:1 which just had a really thick tone to it, and had the input set fairly low. I used the fastest release and slowest attack actually.

I agree about the room mic only sounding just ok, but I would say that about all the close mics as well. But when they are all together it just rips your head off. I love it.

I think we will be tracking the bass next. I hear he uses a Ampeg SVT stack so that should be fun!

[Slaytex]

Here is my rig. I use it with my laptop running Nuendo 3 and my Focal Solo 6's.
That's about all I have.

[Dan]

Best garage I've ever heard.

sounds like fun!

[nickynicknick]

Nicely done Slay...you are right that the rooms and the close play nice...a little too much room for me too...however...the song will dictate where that goes...would you post just the close mics too? would be fun to hear that as well...that drummer is your greatest drum recording tool....be fun to see how it builds.

Nick