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Drum Mic Placement- Mono overhead, 2nd room/ambient?

ghostsontheroad

ghostsontheroad

Jul 2, 2010
238
9
St. Louis, IL
#1
Hey!

Been a long while since I've been on here. I've been piecing together a project studio and have recorded some demos and such. I would like some advice from sound engineers and hobbyists alike on Drum Mic Placement. First off, I do not have matching condensors. I'm wanting to track with 4-6 mics. I recorded a demo with an unmatched pair of Neumanns and I ran them as stereo/overhead/room mics about 3' above the drums and about 5' in front of them. They actually came out sounding pretty great. My friend who mixed it was super annoyed about the phasing/inprecise mic placement. I'm sure he had to work on them more than he wanted.


Anyway, I've decided to just use one main large diaphragm condensor as is pictured as a Mono overhead, BUT where should I put a 2nd large diaphragm condensor as a room or ambient. Since I'm forgoing the stereo overheads/room mics, does there need to be a measurable distance with the 2nd mic? Where is a good place for it. I'm using dynamics on the bass drum, snare, and toms.
 

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#3
It's seems you are imposing an odd and detrimental limit on yourself by not having at least one matched pair of mics. I'd re-examine that... you can get a decent enough pair for like a hundred bucks...

As for placement with the technique you've described, to lessen phase issues be sure to place the further mic at least 3 times as far from the drumset as the closer mic. Walk around the room while someone is playing and put the mics where it sounds the best... and definitely look up the Glyn Johns technique mentioned above.

But for real, get a pair of small diaphragm condensers, put them a few feet directly above the drums. For a tight focused sound, use XY (mic diaphragms in the same place and angled 90 degrees apart). Use room mics to taste for a more ambient sound, placing them where the drums sound good in the room. Use two, use one, whatever works. The "3 times as far" rule will help but there is no sure fire way to eliminate phase problems when you have severalis live at the same time.
 
#4
Another vote for the Glyn Johns technique. It will minimize the differences in the two LDCs, and as a bonus, it will keep you from having mono cymbals and stereo drums as @Dima B mentioned above.

@And I makes a very good point about grabbing a matched pair of SDCs for this type of work. Even a cheapo pair will do a surprisingly good job and not set you back very far in terms of cash. One thing to watch with inexpensive SDCs is the amount of SPL they can handle before getting nasty. If their ability to handle transients isn't high enough, you might find yourself having to place them higher than you'd like to keep them sounding clean. A cheap pair of LDCs will offer you more headroom at the mic, but in general LDCs trade headroom for "smoothness" when compared to SDCs, and having a "smooth" sound really helps with drum overheads.
 
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#5
I'm probably just going to go with two unmatched "room mics". I don't use overheads in the same way as I've seen them demonstrated. Both the room mics aren't that far away either...I got a lot of luck with 4 mics in the drum kit in a great sounding room. I used a beta52 on the kick, a sm57 on the snare and then two higher quality large diaphragm condensers about 3' above the cymbals but about 4'-5' in front of the drums. I do wish I had a pair of matched mics, but I might just experiment with placement and not think so much as a stereo image...more like different mics capturing different parts of the drum kit. It's not like it's "one instrument," as a guitar or Cello might be thought of. I just read a few articles about the mono drum mic and wanted to get some opinions. Thanks!
 
#7
silky smoove said:
If you're sticking with those four mics, there's no reason not to use the Glyn Johns technique. It's easy to setup, aleviates a lot of phase problems, and will probably sound better than a room placement as described.
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Cool, yeah- I'm definitely going to give that a shot. It looks great. I watched an old YouTube video about recording drums with four mics and it ended up being the glun johns method. I didn't remember them mentioning it. I'm going to go with my two best condensors though unmatched and hope for the best. I play dirty Indie rock crap these days so, I'm sure it will work out. Thanks!
 
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#10
A variation on the GJ method (best if you have a 5th mic, though) is a more distant kick drum mic for a different balance of snap to body and room ambience. But it really depends on the music as to whether it fits, so you want the close mic too.
 
#11
Here's a two mic system that Bob Clearmountain (Worked with Springsteen, the Stones, and a bunch of other artists) uses:


You could probably use a third mic as a distant room mic and blend to taste, or add a mic to the snare. I tend to use Mono overhead a lot just to avoid phase issues for rough and ready recording. I prefer an "over the drummer's right shoulder" position - gives a good sound and picks everything up nicely.

For a 4 mic setup, I like the "Recorderman" approach. Less reliant on a good room than the Glyn Johns method.

But like anything else with micing and recording, it is more about trial and error. Move those mic's around, and listen to the feed to see what you prefer. When you get the sound you are looking for, hit "record"
 

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