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A good mic to record my drums wiff'...need advice!

JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
edited December 2007 in Strut Central
So, I want to get a decent mic to record my drums with. I don't want to record individual drums, I want to jam out and make some live breaks and all that good stuff. I've been limping by with recording through my headphones and that sounds like I'm recording in a tin can...terrible as shit. So, I've got roughly 100 bucks to mess with. What should I do? Condenser mic? Hellllllp....

  Comments

  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,419 Posts
    if youre going for a raw sound, just use pretty much any mic you can find. its not so much the mics but what you do with the recording afterwards that really makes the sound. ive gotten a great sound out of $60 radio shack bullshit mics. the way i rock it is one on the kick and one overhead (but aimed at the snare)

    get the levels to your liking, add some compression (and reverb, if you like) and you have a solid break.
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    I had the same mindstate as you, when I first started recording. Now, that I've gotten my feet off the ground. I have a bit of a different mindstate. Recording equipment is a Frickin' expensive hobby. No way around it. There's no such thing as a quick $100 do all mic. Back in the day they could get around with recording drums with 1 mic, those were all EXPENSIVE Ribbon mics usually in a room with plenty of natural reverb(wood rooms with tall ceilings). They were recorded to tape, usually with Tube preamps.

    How are you recording?

    What Mixer?

    What Preamp?

    Keep in mind that none of it will sound great without a decent preamp.



    - spidey
  • crazypoprockcrazypoprock 1,037 Posts
    the only mic that costs $100 worth getting is the sm-57 or sm-58.

    mabe you should look into getting a used handheld tape recorder with a built in mic...might get some good sounds if you are in a good live room and place it above the kit.
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,419 Posts


    just recorded that with two horrible radio shack mics running through a reverb box into an old sony NR unit, into my computer no compression or anything...maybe not a sound youre looking for but im pretty pleased with it. watch out, sloppy as usual.
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts


    just recorded that with two horrible radio shack mics running through a reverb box into an old sony NR unit, into my computer no compression or anything...maybe not a sound youre looking for but im pretty pleased with it. watch out, sloppy as usual.

    1 - That sound is all I'm looking for.

    2 - Diggin the funky style too.

    I'm gonna holler back but I'm busy taking care of my dogs....one of them (not sure which one) just ate a bottle of Frickin' prescription pills...fuckin crazy asses. At any rate...

    Long story short, that shit was dope as hell and I'd love to hook my system up to record at that quality.
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,419 Posts
    it takes a lot of trial-and-error to get things sounding how you want. lots of things come into play...drum tuning/dampening, mic positioning, recording levels, mixing...but once you finally manage to get the sound you want its all worth it.

    i'm no professional or anything and i dont even know a whole lot about recording, but i am trying to get the most out of what little i have to work with, and it takes some time....haha
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,419 Posts
    Back in the day they could get around with recording drums with 1 mic, those were all EXPENSIVE Ribbon mics


    which are probably 10 times as expensive NOW....haha
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    it takes a lot of trial-and-error to get things sounding how you want. lots of things come into play...drum tuning/dampening, mic positioning, recording levels, mixing...but once you finally manage to get the sound you want its all worth it.

    i'm no professional or anything and i dont even know a whole lot about recording, but i am trying to get the most out of what little i have to work with, and it takes some time....haha

    I'm all about making some shit happen with the cheap stuff....hey, less is more...Steve Gadd proves it every day (with the beats, that is).

    I think even aside from the issue of getting a mic, will be the issue of getting decent equipment (kit wise)....

    I've had the same pearl 5 piece export series since middle school....complete with the shitt B8 PRO symbols.

    I'm gonna need a real ride cymbal, at least.
  • hemolhemol 2,578 Posts
    If you're only rocking a single mic I would advise against a sm58, or sm57, as they are generally used for closer miccing, so throwing one in a room will not lend much character to your drums.

    I would recommend a set of in-ear (they fit in your ears, but by no means do they have to be placed in yoru ears) binaural microphones from soundprofessionals.com, or building your own stereo pair if you are comfortable soldering. If you buy mics from soundprofessionals they will cost you about 70 dollars, and they will give really good results.

    One thing to think about when recording is acoustics. Keep track of how placing the mics relative to other objects/architecture will affect your sound.


    What are you recording to?
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    If you're only rocking a single mic I would advise against a sm58, or sm57, as they are generally used for closer miccing, so throwing one in a room will not lend much character to your drums.

    I would recommend a set of in-ear (they fit in your ears, but by no means do they have to be placed in yoru ears) binaural microphones from soundprofessionals.com, or building your own stereo pair if you are comfortable soldering. If you buy mics from soundprofessionals they will cost you about 70 dollars, and they will give really good results.

    One thing to think about when recording is acoustics. Keep track of how placing the mics relative to other objects/architecture will affect your sound.


    What are you recording to?

    Whoa, in-ear microphones? I've never heard of that.

    I record into my vestax o5 pro mixer

    Which goes into my desktop PC's (some old machine I made a few years ago) Audigy Sound Card

    And the software used to record is SoundForge.

    ***

    I'm sure there is a much better way to do this, altogether, which I'm open to hearing.

    Again, my main set-back is $$$, so try to keep that in mind.

    Thanks for the help.
  • hemolhemol 2,578 Posts
    Whoa, in-ear microphones? I've never heard of that.

    I record into my vestax o5 pro mixer

    Which goes into my desktop PC's (some old machine I made a few years ago) Audigy Sound Card

    And the software used to record is SoundForge.

    ***

    I'm sure there is a much better way to do this, altogether, which I'm open to hearing.

    Again, my main set-back is $$$, so try to keep that in mind.

    Thanks for the help.

    Your setup sounds good to me. Until fairly recently I was rocking a similar setup. For the first couple of years its way more about finding your style in using gear in general, and coming up with good sounds through innovation, creativity, and patience as opposed to getting pristine sound with expensive gear. Fuck around with the amplification on the mixer--you can compress the signal by boosting the lines and squashing the main output.

    You can get a lot of sonic depth by cloning tracks, running some hard filtering with an eq, panning tracks differently, and adjusting volume levels. Also, play around with different sampling rates and bit settings on your software and find what is going to give you the results you want.
  • bass_feverbass_fever 974 Posts


    This is as good of a deal as any if you have preamps with phantom power. $100 and you get a large diapram and a small diampham condensor...Versatile for many recording applications.
  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,783 Posts
    I took the pricey route for micing my drums:

    SM57 aimed at the snare

    Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic for the Bass

    2 condenser mics for overhead (x/y) Shure SM81 Condenser Mic & MXL 990... obviously I should have two of the same but I ran out of dough.

    I haven't had the time to record for awhile.

    The wife and kids were away in Arizona for a week earlier this way while I stayed at home during some remodeling. We emptied out our dining room and removed the old grungy acoustical tiles. I set up a mock recording station and made some beats that sound rather large.

    Check it out:

    DRumz

  • hemolhemol 2,578 Posts
    I took the pricey route for micing my drums:

    SM57 aimed at the snare

    Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic for the Bass

    2 condenser mics for overhead (x/y) Shure SM81 Condenser Mic & MXL 990... obviously I should have two of the same but I ran out of dough.

    I haven't had the time to record for awhile.

    The wife and kids were away in Arizona for a week earlier this way while I stayed at home during some remodeling. We emptied out our dining room and removed the old grungy acoustical tiles. I set up a mock recording station and made some beats that sound rather large.

    Check it out:

    DRumz


    Natural acoustics, or added reverb?
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    I took the pricey route for micing my drums:

    SM57 aimed at the snare

    Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic for the Bass

    2 condenser mics for overhead (x/y) Shure SM81 Condenser Mic & MXL 990... obviously I should have two of the same but I ran out of dough.

    I haven't had the time to record for awhile.

    The wife and kids were away in Arizona for a week earlier this way while I stayed at home during some remodeling. We emptied out our dining room and removed the old grungy acoustical tiles. I set up a mock recording station and made some beats that sound rather large.

    Check it out:

    DRumz


    It sounds great, but I don't think I'm going for that sound, per say. I mean, it sounds way better than the tin can I'm stuck recording in right now.
  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts
    just go for glyn johns settup

    under $400 in mics:

    mxl - v67g - left side*
    mxl - v67g - right side*
    octava mk219 - center/kick*
    sm58 - snare

    done

    add more for flava.. like close mic the toms, mic the beater side of the kick.. sometimes i thorw a DIRT cheap omni fro man old reel to reel up to give me that "radio shack dirt" to add into the mix

    conversly you could snag a pair of those $95 apex ribbons and use them fer stereo overheads, im planning on adding a pair to do just that.


    * really any LDC will do for these.. i recomend the v67g cause its cheap as fak and sounds AMAZING.. $90 a pop.
  • UnconSciUnconSci 824 Posts
    Im no expert.. but just realize the proximity effect comes into play with mic placement. The closer the mic is to the source the more low end it grabs.

    I bought a shure mic kit. So i have 3 sm58s a beta 52... and 2 MXL overheads... with a ksm27 condenser to record ambience with from in front of the kit.

    i just need a drum kit now... haha.
  • HawkeyeHawkeye 896 Posts
    The best recording advises I ever got where from Daptone head Gabriel Roth aka Bosco Mann himself.

    Check these two articles he wrote in Big Daddy magazine some years ago.

    He is talking a lot about recording and what you need for recording.

    To me its my bible !!!!!

    I recorded my funk songs exactly like I learned it from that article.

    PART 2 HOW TO RECORD A FUNK 45
    http://www.zshare.net/download/19948126b8ffef

    PART 1 HOW TO RECORD A FUNK 45
    And this is the first part in which he explains how to compose a Funk tune and how you should choose your player

    http://www.zshare.net/download/19947509ce5ab7/


    If you wann hear some music that was created after this manual check for this account:

    http://www.myspace.com/imperialbreed


    Peace
    Hawkeye
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    Nice, I've never seen that before. Thanks Hawkeye.

    - spidey.
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts


    Thanks man. Really good look.

    Listening now.
  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,783 Posts
    I took the pricey route for micing my drums:

    SM57 aimed at the snare

    Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic for the Bass

    2 condenser mics for overhead (x/y) Shure SM81 Condenser Mic & MXL 990... obviously I should have two of the same but I ran out of dough.

    I haven't had the time to record for awhile.

    The wife and kids were away in Arizona for a week earlier this way while I stayed at home during some remodeling. We emptied out our dining room and removed the old grungy acoustical tiles. I set up a mock recording station and made some beats that sound rather large.

    Check it out:

    DRumz


    Natural acoustics, or added reverb?

    This was created al natural. Like I said... its a bigger John Bonham type said vs. a warm condensed dead sound.
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts

    This was created al natural. Like I said... its a bigger John Bonham type said vs. a warm condensed dead sound.

    That's what it is. I couldn't describe it very well in the post where I addressed your sound. You have the biiger Bonham sound spot on, IMO. I'm looking for the condensed warm goodness, I guess.
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    I took the pricey route for micing my drums:

    SM57 aimed at the snare

    Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic for the Bass

    2 condenser mics for overhead (x/y) Shure SM81 Condenser Mic & MXL 990... obviously I should have two of the same but I ran out of dough.

    I haven't had the time to record for awhile.

    The wife and kids were away in Arizona for a week earlier this way while I stayed at home during some remodeling. We emptied out our dining room and removed the old grungy acoustical tiles. I set up a mock recording station and made some beats that sound rather large.

    Check it out:

    DRumz


    Natural acoustics, or added reverb?

    This was created al natural. Like I said... its a bigger John Bonham type said vs. a warm condensed dead sound.

    Nice sound RAJ, on my monitors I hear mostly cymbals..

    Bonham to me sounds like big band tuning, pocket drumming, light on the cymbals. Hitting very hard on the kick and toms.

    - spidey
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    The best recording advises I ever got where from Daptone head Gabriel Roth aka Bosco Mann himself.

    Check these two articles he wrote in Big Daddy magazine some years ago.

    He is talking a lot about recording and what you need for recording.

    To me its my bible !!!!!

    I recorded my funk songs exactly like I learned it from that article.

    PART 2 HOW TO RECORD A FUNK 45
    http://www.zshare.net/download/19948126b8ffef

    PART 1 HOW TO RECORD A FUNK 45
    And this is the first part in which he explains how to compose a Funk tune and how you should choose your player

    http://www.zshare.net/download/19947509ce5ab7/


    If you wann hear some music that was created after this manual check for this account:

    http://www.myspace.com/imperialbreed


    Peace
    Hawkeye

    The sound you've created (using these articles as a guide) is definitely Mr. Shitty approved! Sounds bad ass.

    I'm thinking that I'm going to go this route. RadioShack here I come.
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    So, I've tweaked the sound a bit. Tried to take the whole "shitty is pretty" approach and I'm happy with my progress.

    Here's the sound I've come up with:

    DivShare File - lil jam wif mahself2.wav

    NOTE: I've noticed ya'll have that nifty divshare player embeded into your posts. How do ya' do that?
  • BelsonBelson 880 Posts
    It's all about placement - or it is if you want that dirtier, heavy funk sound.

    Get 4 $20 mics.

    One in front of the kick, with plenty of padding inside the drum to cancel out feedback or tonal ring.

    One over you head about 2 feet above.

    One between the hi hat and the snare, stand placed next to your left foot.

    Last one behind you, behind whichever arm strikes the snare.

    After recording....overdrive
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