Drum recording gear & recording for other artists

stefanrun · 11th July 2011

Here's my current setup:

Logic Express
KRK Rokit 6's
Presonus Firestudio
D6
SM57 (2)
Crummy Samson drum mic set (OVH's and Tom mics).

I've gotten pretty low-budget sounds at best with the current setup. I'm wanting to upgrade to the following:

Sytek mpx-4aii
API 512's? ($$$)
Yamaha HS-80m's
Shure Beta52
AKG 414's (pair)
Pro Tools 9

I'm in a position where artists are asking me to record tracks for them at home. I don't want to go overboard, but I don't want to sound like a dumbshit either. Also, I'm engineering myself, which makes this all the more hectic. Is there anything from this list you would add/modify?

Also, as far as an interface goes, If I purchase the Sytek or API 512's, I can bypass the firestudio's pre-amps by going through a line input, correct? Will it shit all over the signal?

Thanks,
S

PaulJalfrezi · 12th July 2011

The AKGs are a very expensive jump from what you've got. You should Google "the recording revolution". That bloke goes through a lot of different things about not splashing out because you feel that that is what's missing and he gets some pretty decent results just from crap mics. His focus is on mic placement instead of just reaching for another one.

Not that I can afford it but I would love to have an ev20 at my disposal to use on the kick.

psykostx · 12th July 2011

As soon as my buddy sends me the song I mixed for him this weekend, I'll put it up on this thread. I'll try to get him to send the raw tracks too. The whole thing was recorded through one sampson USB mic using cakewalk midi drums and all cakewalk plugins (with the exception of the free Voxengo EQ for some M/S fun). It sounds pretty damn polished. The high end pres, converters and mics are really only neccessary for live recordings of really great musicians in really great sounding rooms where you actually want them to bleed together and pick up EVERYTHING as opposed to isolate nearly everything. Other wise you are better of close miking and doing lots of overdubs... some of the sounds you can get that way may suprise you... the click track is your friend

BTW: Don't underestimate those samson drum mics... they are very very good... just don't use any gain on them and hit HARD. Tuning your drums to sound good through them is the key... because they are tuned mics. Also, you shouldn't use mics that are better than your instruments, because then you'll definitely hear how not so hot your instruments sound.

11th July 2011	#1
stefanrun Gear interested Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 2 Thread Starter	Drum recording gear & recording for other artists Here's my current setup: Logic Express KRK Rokit 6's Presonus Firestudio D6 SM57 (2) Crummy Samson drum mic set (OVH's and Tom mics). I've gotten pretty low-budget sounds at best with the current setup. I'm wanting to upgrade to the following: Sytek mpx-4aii API 512's? ($$$) Yamaha HS-80m's Shure Beta52 AKG 414's (pair) Pro Tools 9 I'm in a position where artists are asking me to record tracks for them at home. I don't want to go overboard, but I don't want to sound like a dumbshit either. Also, I'm engineering myself, which makes this all the more hectic. Is there anything from this list you would add/modify? Also, as far as an interface goes, If I purchase the Sytek or API 512's, I can bypass the firestudio's pre-amps by going through a line input, correct? Will it shit all over the signal? Thanks, S

12th July 2011	#3
psykostx Gear addict Joined: Jun 2009 Posts: 479	As soon as my buddy sends me the song I mixed for him this weekend, I'll put it up on this thread. I'll try to get him to send the raw tracks too. The whole thing was recorded through one sampson USB mic using cakewalk midi drums and all cakewalk plugins (with the exception of the free Voxengo EQ for some M/S fun). It sounds pretty damn polished. The high end pres, converters and mics are really only neccessary for live recordings of really great musicians in really great sounding rooms where you actually want them to bleed together and pick up EVERYTHING as opposed to isolate nearly everything. Other wise you are better of close miking and doing lots of overdubs... some of the sounds you can get that way may suprise you... the click track is your friend BTW: Don't underestimate those samson drum mics... they are very very good... just don't use any gain on them and hit HARD. Tuning your drums to sound good through them is the key... because they are tuned mics. Also, you shouldn't use mics that are better than your instruments, because then you'll definitely hear how not so hot your instruments sound. __________________ For mixing, Voxengo SPAN is my most often used tool... it's great when your ears tell you there's something wrong but you can't quite turn the right knob (and it's FREE too!!)

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12th July 2011	#2
PaulJalfrezi Gear interested Joined: Dec 2009 Location: London, England Posts: 29	The AKGs are a very expensive jump from what you've got. You should Google "the recording revolution". That bloke goes through a lot of different things about not splashing out because you feel that that is what's missing and he gets some pretty decent results just from crap mics. His focus is on mic placement instead of just reaching for another one. Not that I can afford it but I would love to have an ev20 at my disposal to use on the kick.