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.

Making The Most of What You Have

If there's one secret to recording that I've learned over the years it's this:

Making a great master does not depend on the number of buttons and whistles you have. What is important is having a great song, played by great players, on great instruments, in a great room. All the other details are secondary.

The best pre-amp in the world isn't going to help a bad song, a bad band, an out of tune guitar, or a song recorded in a gymnasium. The key is found in the primary qualities of a project.

That being said, suppose you have all the necessaries for a great master, but only have one pre-amp or just a four-track analog cassette recorder? What then? Well, there's a key to making the most of what you have.

In my studio, I use Pro Tools LE 6.4 with a Digi002 interface. Tracks aren't a problem for me. My greatest shortcoming is a lack of gear. When I decided to get involved in recording, I chose to get one good microphone, one good pre-amp, and one good compressor. I think this was a wise decision. The other option was to get a number of second class components; the plus there is a variety of character in my recorded signals. I'll take the same class A signal over a second-rate signal any day.

The way I make the most of what I have is through a process of "bouncing" to disk. Bouncing originated with four-track recordings; with the Beatles, if I'm not mistaken. They often get credit for this, but someone else may have done this before them. Bouncing is a process of "reducing" many tracks to just one or two. If you figure that Sgt. Pepper was recorded on a 4-track recorder, you can see how bouncing can come in handy. Since I have an unlimited number of tracks, this isn't an issue for me...most of the time.

Where I find bouncing helpful is in applying an outboard compressor or a plug-in that eats up CPU power. Often I'll apply my Distressor to a vocal channel and "record" the new signal with an applied EQ (and Autotune if the client can't sing). My new channel has all of the sheen, dynamics, and tunage as the original track, except now I have an unused Distressor I can apply to another track. I also have extra CPU power at my disposal.

Aside from "bouncing," using analog/tube pre-amps can help digital recordings sound more pleasant. You don't have to take out a loan to get a decent tube pre. ART makes a great TUBE MP that has phantom power (for condenser mics) and an adjustable tube saturation. These boxes are particularly good on vocals. If you can afford to get a Vox Box, that's a great pre-amp...I think it's tube based. I don't have one of these. Warming up the signal a bit will ease up on the native shrillness of digital recorders.

If you only have four to eight tracks, reduction bouncing can be your friend. It also helps with your mixing; you'll have to commit to a signal as you bounce it. There's no turning back (that is, unless you have an "undo" feature; this is helpful but it also takes out the fun of commitment).