ShortScale.org

Today I recorded the drums for my next big uni assignment. It's the closest I think I've come to achieving the sound in my head (pretty much Steve Albini's drum sounds, haha) and I'm super happy with it.

We recorded in the room where we have our lectures. It's pretty big and has quite a few mirrors and windows, which can be covered up with curtains, but I chose not to because I wanted a really big reflective sound. We set up the microphones thusly:

- AKG D112 just outside the kick.
- Sennheiser MD421s close mic'd on the snare and floor tom. We didn't use an under snare mic, and the drummer doesn't use any other toms.
- Jecklin Disk with two Neumann KM100s (omni pickup pattern) at head height a couple of feet in front of the kit.
- Two AKG C414s (figure of 8 pickup pattern) as room mics. We tried to set these up so that one side of the mic was pointing towards a mirror and the other side was pointing at a window (hence the figure of 8 pattern), in order to mostly pick up reflections.
- Some cheap shitty dynamic microphone in the ceiling, usually used as a 'listen' mic. This actually sounded amazing, so I think I'll have it pretty high in the mix.

I initially wanted to use an AKG CK91 on the snare, because I read somewhere that Albini tends to use pencil condensers on snares. Unfortunately we tried that and it sounded terrible, so I went back to the MD421, which is pretty much my go to mic for EVERYTHING.

I was meaning to get some photos, but I forgot... I got kind of lost in the moment, haha.

Any other cool drum recording setups people have used?

As far as I know (not a lot) Albini likes Josephson e22s on snare:
http://www.josephson.com/e22s.html




This is a kit I tracked a while back on a metal project that I am currently mixing. Interesting to me because of the triggered kick and too many damn cymbals. Also drummer is left handed / goofy.

Dixon Demon shells
Joey Jordison Snare
Pearl Tru Trac kick head (trigger)

Kick - Trigger
Snare Top - SM57
Snare Bottom - Audix OM2
Toms - Audix i5 x3
Hats - Cheap dynamic 'just in case'
Ride - Shure Unidyne
Overheads - MXL 603s x3
Room/Ambient - Nady RSM-4 x2

The cymbals are pretty close to the kit and each other, I should have gotten him to spread everything out a bit more, but it worked OK. I made sure to get some samples to mix in and reduce clutter. I'm trying not to rely on samples too much, but it's so common in metal it would be hard to get 'that sound' without.

That looks pretty interesting. I've never used triggers before but we had a lecture last week on drum replacement. It doesn't appeal to me because I'm not a big fan of that clicky metal sound, I tend to prefer a more naturalistic drum sound. Even still, I think it's good to know how to do stuff like that, in case you're working with a band who wants that sound. I'd be interested to hear the finished product.

I can't actually remember any of the drums or cymbals used, I'll have to ask Mr. Drums. I can tell you that the ride cymbal had a big chunk gouged out of it.

Don't be fooled by the misconception that triggering/samples are for clicky metal sounds. Samples are pretty much standard for most modern production of any kind to either replace or enhance. I generally try to stay away from straight up replacement as much as possible and try to get samples of the drummer's actual kit. One of the best reasons to do this, in my opinion, is for toms - you can mix in the samples and have a good natural sounding decay without having to worry about cymbals or other drums bleeding through...

Check out some of SSD clips:
http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/

I think we've got those Steven Slate samples on the computers on campus actually. Our lecturer used them when he was demonstrating drum replacement. They sounded okay, but still not as good as an actual drum kit, to my ears anyway. Although I suppose he only had an hour lecture to talk us through it AND demonstrate.

Recording a demo for my band this weekend, so far having the follow setup:

2 EV 635a for overheads
Sehnheiser E835 on floor tom and snare
Behringer B1 or MXL R40 Ribbon on Kick
EV Cardinal on high tom or for room mic


Not really too concerned about it, but we are tracking live in one room with loud tube amps. I'm going to try to dampen some of the bleed with matresses, but embrace the rest of it. Cannot wait.

Drum micing tips for what I have so far?

cobascis wrote:Drum micing tips for what I have so far?

What other mics do you have available?

I definitely would not use the ribbon on kick or close to any other source that moves a bunch of air, as you can tear the ribbon. I like ribbons for amps/overheads/room.

Sloan wrote:

cobascis wrote:Drum micing tips for what I have so far?

What other mics do you have available?

I definitely would not use the ribbon on kick or close to any other source that moves a bunch of air, as you can tear the ribbon. I like ribbons for amps/overheads/room.

Another sehnheiser dynamic, possible a shure bass drum pedal could be borrowed. A bunch of cheap sm58 type dynamics

cobascis wrote:EV Cardinal on high tom or for room mic

If you're tracking all the instruments live in one room, there's probably not much point in having a room mic for drums, unless you're planning on using it to kind of 'gel' all the instruments together.

Today I spent a couple of ours in one of the Mixing Studios at uni. I corrected a couple of mistakes in James' playing and did an initial mix. Here it is if anyone's interested in hearing.