[Harbidge]

Hello

I have mic'd drums many ways in the past but have only just got back into recording in the last 12 months.  On this recording

I used the "Recorderman Technique" to record the drums.  As my audio interface only has 2 inputs I needed a technique that would sound great using 2 mics as I wanted to, and have, released the song/album. 

Heres a link to the Recorderman 2 Drum Mic Technique

What I did and used:

I set the mics up exactly like the video using string.

I first used a matched pair of se3300e's as the first video I saw said matched pairs were the way to go.  I ended up using 1 se3300e over the drummers head and a Rode K2 to the right of the drummer as the K2 picked up more bottom end and more of the kick and floor tom.  The mics went into my old behringer 2 channel mic pre amp and then into myfocusrite saffire 6.  I recorded into cubase. 

When mixing the takes I EQd them so they were similar sounding then grouped the channel.  I then used Cubase Vintage Comp really hard and the standard Cubase Comp only slighthly.  I then used Cubase multiband Comp to shape the sound of the whole drum kit and then used the Da Tube plugin as a sort of glue (kind of like an old tape machine would) to bring the whole sound of the kit closer together.  I then went to town on the EQ so to make the kick and snare more prominent.

Has anyone else tried this and what results did they get?

Anybody else have any cool techniques for micing drums with only a few mics?

I was happy with the result.  It sounds like a drum kit as you hear it from the drummers perspective.  I would probly mic the kick and snare up to if I had the inputs but am more than happy with this.

[James Nighthawk]

Well well, that is very interesting. It did look a little bit like an advert for the microphone company though, more than a how to video. What can I say, I am a cynic!

My recommendation for a budget drum setup would be 3-4 mics. Bass drum bespoke mic (good ol D112 works well!). Snare SM57 - ideally under the snare but depends on the sound wanted. And a single (or double) condenser overhead (C1000 always works a charm). Even in my studio, I have used this setup for live recordings when bands want a lot of songs demo'ed in a short period. I don't want to set-up and check 10 mics as that can take ages especially with rough drummers/drum kits, so I do this, and have had amazing results.

The important thing is that here I can edit the snare and BD mics later. The setup in the post above is all or nothing. And will lack kick and snap in the BD and snare in most styles.

Although I have never tried this exact setup, I must say....

[estreet]

Because I like to record live as much as possible and my Korg d888 can only record eight tracks simultaneously I often use just two mics on the drums. These would be the Rode NTK (the big valve one) for overhead and, since my AKG D112 got nicked, a very cheap dynamic on the BD which seems to work fine. I actually prefer the two mic sound a lot of the time. On both these videos the drums were recorded live like that:

[Ramshackles]

Blumlein is a great 2 mic stereo technique IMO. Very natural sound...you need figure 8 mics and is very dependent on the room; so not necessarily budget...
Drums in this song were done that way:

(They dont start til about 2 mins) and then I used a whole load of different EQ.

I have a pair of Apex 205's which have been HEAVILY modded which are nice for that job

Got to say I wasnt a great fan of the sound in the clip you posted explaining the technique, although it did seem like a very balanced 'capture' of the kit

I do think less mics is generally better on drum kits, but it is dependent on your room.

James, I dont think the 2 mic technique (or even 1 mic) is necessarily all or nothing..of course it depends on a lot on the room and placement, but if you use EQ wisely (maybe more like wildly) you can bring out whats missing in the raw track;
Check out this vid of eric valentine EQing a kit that was done with 1 mic. The before and after is insane!

&feature=relmfu

Cool drums estreet; I think the drums in the second clip were much better balanced than the first one - did you do something different or is it the playing?

[James Nighthawk]

@Ramshackles

By all or nothing I meant limited at the mixing stage. I wasn't very clear! Nice ideas from both you and estreet though

[Ramshackles]

@Ramshackles

By all or nothing I meant limited at the mixing stage. I wasn't very clear! Nice ideas from both you and estreet though

Ahh yes...well you dont have so many options when mixing/cant process drums individually or do wacky things. Buuuut, I hate mixing drums
Recording drums is annoying, but I do think that for the style of music Im generally doing, less is more. 4 mics like you said I think is totally enough A nice pair for the whole kit, one for the kick and one under the snare. Screw the overheads as cymbals are awful

[James Nighthawk]

I have a bunch of new songs at mastering stage with some epic cymbal sounds. My drummer would slap you for such blasphemy

[Harbidge]

Check out this vid of eric valentine EQing a kit that was done with 1 mic. The before and after is insane!

&feature=relmfu

Wow this one mic technique is amazing.  I love things like this.  Less is deffo more.  I cant wait to give this a go on my next project.

Thanks for this estreet, exactly what I was after. ;