Drum Mic Technique

Here is an easy mic technique for the drum kit i used in my final project.

Recorderman Mic Technique

Drums which is my favourite instrument of all time, as many people think that its an easiest instrument to play and its only thing is to keep the beat, but as a huge fan of drum instruments itself for me drum beats can either break or make your whole song. We all know drums is the first instrument we record, because it is a base of the whole song and also keeps other instruments players in time and tempo. The traditional way for recording this instrument where it easily takes 8 to 10 microphones which includes overheads. This technique might be real time consuming while mixing and equalising, and there will be more chances of phasing which is one stressful thing for an audio engineer. So instead of using so many microphones, the easy and faster way to record drums is Recorder Man Mic Technique. In this mic technique it consists of only 5 microphones that involves overhead microphones, snare mic, kick mic, and a mic for talkback.

Mic Setup

The microphones I used for recording the drum kit are:

Overheads - 2 Bayerdynamic pencil microphones

Snare - SM57

Kick - Shure Beta 52A

Talkback - SM58

The first mic is placed on the left side (of the drummer) which will be

about two sticks high, and pointed at the snare. The second mic will

be right side (of the drummer) above the ride cymbal or shoulder of the

drummer. Now the important thing to keep in mind is measuring the

distance of the two overhead microphones in order to avoid phasing

that may occur.

The first mic is placed right above the snare which is two sticks high

from the snare. So, to make sure that each of the overhead mic is at a

equal distance from the kit and each other, take one XLR cable and

place the one end at the kick and drummer can hold it with the beater.

While holding that end, hold the other end of the cable in a position

where it meets the length of the first mic and then to the centre of the

snare, which should be in a triangle sort of shape.

Move the high end of the triangle towards the right side of the drummer

and place the second mic pointing down, this might be little time

consuming for the first time but to get it right and at a equidistant is

important to avoid any phase or comb filtering later.

Third mic is placed pointing at the snare which depends on the drummer and what kind of snare sound you are looking for. So here i have placed snare mic 6’’ high from the snare head which gives me that ring and more natural sound of the snare. I think placing mic to close to the snare can choke the sound and bit dull. Then comes the kick which is again essential thing in the song, the sound of the kick can either make or break your song. For the kick, I chose Shure Beta 52A and have placed near the porthole of the kick pointing bit up so that it captures the attack and get more punchy sound. Pointing directly at the beater and in the porthole might sound little muffled which we faced little issues with, as the pillow was in the middle of the mic and the beater. Hence taking the mic bit farther about 1 or 2’’ from kick and pointing up and cutting a bit of a low end gave us more boomy sound. And the last mic placed near the drummer for the talkback, that made the conversation easy.

SM57 mic setup for snare

Shure Beta 52A Mic for Kick Drum

References

"Kick & Snare Recording Techniques | Sound On Sound". Soundonsound.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.

mcglynn, matthew. "Drum Overhead Microphone Technique Comparison". Recordinghacks.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.

"The Glyn Johns Drum Recording Method | The Recording Revolution". Therecordingrevolution.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 6 Aug. 2016.