recording drums on two tracks

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Nat wrote:

> Just for the record I'd like to say that recording drums on two tracks
> is madness. Eight tracks are pretty limiting.

Use fewer mics.


Kind regards

Peter Larsen




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Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro,rec.audio.tech (More info?)

In article <e6236419.0408152035.c7e9e31@posting.google.com>, Nat
<ot7doc@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Just for the record I'd like to say that recording drums on two tracks
> is madness. Eight tracks are pretty limiting. Especially on the
> machines that let you just record on two tracks. Maybe if I was good
> at recording, good at listening to drums, I'd suffer less grief. But
> for me, the drums mix is always a bit sour in mixdown -- too much
> ride, too little snare, too little toms, etc. And I can't adjust
> anything, so the only choice is bringing my drummer back in, begging
> my roommate out of the house for a weekend, setting everything up
> again, and then spending another weekend recording only to find that
> the kick drum has disappeared. I'm going crazy.

Back in the 80s and 90s there were a lot of us tracking drums with ever
more mics. My record was 22 on a metal record; top and bottom mics on
the toms (polarity flipped) with shell triggers keying gates etc.
Looking back it all seems absurd. My favorite drum recordings continue
to be a 2-3 mics in a nice room with high ceilings and of course a
great player. I get the impression you are recording in a small room.
Here is where close and multiple micing gets really ugly on anything
heavier than some light brush work. My personal feeling about this kind
of enviornment is to embrace it for what it is. A single radioshack PZM
on the wall (any wall for that matter) will give you a fat and honest
sound. It will sound distinct, organic and no one will confuse it with
a machine. Try it and let your drummer hear it. He may want to adjust
his dynamics but you may both be surprised. Then again it all depends
on the song along with countless other variables. Just keep trying and
dont rule anything out! There are no rules. Some of those mega-mic
setups in the 90s actually worked on occasion;-)

 

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Sonicanuck wrote:

> Back in the 80s and 90s there were a lot of us tracking drums with ever
> more mics. My record was 22 on a metal record; top and bottom mics on
> the toms (polarity flipped) with shell triggers keying gates etc.
> Looking back it all seems absurd. My favorite drum recordings continue
> to be a 2-3 mics in a nice room with high ceilings and of course a
> great player. I get the impression you are recording in a small room.
> Here is where close and multiple micing gets really ugly on anything
> heavier than some light brush work. My personal feeling about this kind
> of enviornment is to embrace it for what it is. A single radioshack PZM
> on the wall (any wall for that matter) will give you a fat and honest
> sound. It will sound distinct, organic and no one will confuse it with
> a machine. Try it and let your drummer hear it. He may want to adjust
> his dynamics but you may both be surprised. Then again it all depends
> on the song along with countless other variables. Just keep trying and
> dont rule anything out! There are no rules. Some of those mega-mic
> setups in the 90s actually worked on occasion;-)

I'm with you there. One of the cleanest drum recordings I've ever
worked with was done in an 8x12 room with a 10' ceiling, assorted cheap
sound deadening (read: cardboard egg cartons on parts of the walls),
with a D112 on the kick, SM-58 on the snare, and a pair of RS PZMs, each
attached to a 2x2' piece of plywood and those arranged in a V shape,
hung about 4' above the drums, and panned hard left and right.

The balance of the toms and overheads was near-perfect and the stereo
image on cymbal washes and tom rolls was amazing. The 58 was blended in
just enough to add some 'snap' and body to the snare.

I've recently done an album with the same drummer (much newer and
better-maintained kit, fortunately) in which we used 11 mics on the kit
- double kicks, snare, one each for three rack toms and a floor tom, one
each for hat and ride, and an overhead pair. I can't say that the drums
turned out significantly better... sure there's more control, but
sometimes the overabundance of sources just leads to cancellation and
other problems too.


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