Q & A with Mike: Recording Drums

The following is a question I received via e-mail. The writer thought my reply was helpful enough to be posted on the Studio Blog.

Mike,
Let me just start by saying that I am a huge fan of both your music
and your studio blog. I actually stumbled on your website when I was
researching the wicked guitar tone I was hearing on a Athenaeum
album, which by the way is probably my favorite guitar tone i have
ever heard.

As an aspiring musician who is getting into home recording, I have
been really enjoying your Studio Blog. I am writing you to ask you if
you have any advice on recording drums, as far as microphone
selection and placement goes. I am slowly building up my studio, and
it seems like this is going to be the biggest hurtle for me.
Thanks very much, and keep writing great music!
Sean McGrath
http://www.birdseyeviewmusic.com/
http://blog.seanmcg.com


Sean,

Thanks for your message. I’m glad you are liking my studio blog. I never know who's reading out there.

Drums are considered the second most difficult instrument to record, next to the acoustic stand-up bass. (That's what I've been told, anyway). I often pay someone else to record drums for me. It usually helps to have a good sounding room and a wide selection of microphones for this stage of recording.

I've seen a lot of different techniques that I'd be happy to share with you, though.

For the kick drum, it's sometimes a good idea to take the front head off of the drum. This allows for a full "wapft" of air to circulate when the drum is hit. Usually people will use two microphones on a kick; one for the low, thump and one for the attack (usually placed near or around the kick beater near the pedal).

On the snare, try using a Shure 57 on both the top and bottom of the drum. The top will afford some attack and the bottom will give the snare sound. As a rule of thumb, when you are recording a drummer, ask him or her to bring as many snares as he or she has. This is where you'll get a good variety of sounds to work with. Also, make sure that the snare mic is picking up as little of the ride and hat as possible. This can be tricky. Usually placing it at a 45 degree angle, equidistant from both the ride and the hat does the trick. Experimentation is key, here. All drummers are different, so there's no stead-fast rule.

The trick with toms is to make sure the drummer really hits them with a proper intensity. I've recorded quite a few "Johnny Tap-a-Rounds" that deliver the weakest tom performances. I'm not sure what kind of microphone to recommend, although a dynamic mic of some kind makes the most sense to me.

Overheads are usually done with some form of stereo matched pair condensers. It's very important to watch the phase on these microphones. In Pro Tools, or any waveform based recording system, it's easy to see if your overheads are in or out of phase. If the peaks of one are where the troughs of the other are, then they're out. Adjust one of the two until they are in phase (or, until the peaks and troughs occur at the same time).

Room mics are only good if you have a good room. If you have a bad room, you probably won't use them. I recommend a condenser for this too. I've seen some great room sounds achieved with just one microphone, although it's common for two to be used.

I don’t ever use hat mics. The overheads usually pick up the hat just fine.

Mics can get expensive. I really like the Audix drummer pack that has all the mic's you'll need to record drums...I think it clocks in around a grand.

Compression is a matter of taste. It is a good idea to have a few limiters around for the kick and snare. To set a compressor to a limiting value, set it at a ratio of 10:1 (or, for every 10 dB over the threshold, it is reduced 1 dB).

I hope this is helpful. Let me know if it is and I'll post this response on my blog.
All the best,
Mike G.