Recoderman Overhead Drum Technique

[sk8fever55]

Hey everybody, I was surfing the web and stumbled on this really interesting method for recording drums. It's called the recorderman technique. It only involves two mics and sounds great. It seems really simple because it only takes two drum sticks and some string and the microphones get in phase with each other. Some people were saying that they also use close mics too with the overheads. I haven't tried this method yet but have any of you?

Heres a link for more info:
Recorderman overhead drum mic technique - Hometracked

Here a to a sound clip of this method:
The Morning Rain » More drum experimenting

[brandondrury]

I plan on giving the old Recorderman method a go on my next session. I tried it back in 2002 or so but at the time I was such a dumbass that I really should give it hell again.

The notion of keeping the kick and snare in phase in overheads is noble (very noble) but there are some potential downsides to it. It's very possible that a person could get into "tech" mode and simply slape up two mics without any real regard for they are being placed. For me, I want plenty of toms in my overheads and a controlled amount of cymbals that are NOT harsh. Different placements will get you different things so who knows.

Give it hell. It's certainly not a bad place to start especially for a beginner who hasn't spent years dealing with phase / comb filtering issues.

Brandon

[sk8fever55]

Thanks alot, that was a very helpful reply. I can't wait to get some good microphones and start recording. For months i've just been researching stuff all over the web and trying to learn as much as possible about recording until I save up enough money to get all my equipment. Sometime i'll post some of my old stuff that I did with just a walmart microphone that I pluged directly into my computers soundcard. I've actually gotten some pretty good recordings out of it. Thanks again.

[brandondrury]

Sometime i'll post some of my old stuff that I did with just a walmart microphone that I pluged directly into my computers soundcard. I've actually gotten some pretty good recordings out of it.

I'm not surpised. I could post some bad recordings I've made with my $2500 Soundelux U99.

Brandon

[mikromort]

The recorderman method is great when you want to do something quick, it does take the thinking out of the picture. It can be a little snare heavy and weak on the toms, depending on the song

[sk8fever55]

Originally Posted by mikromort

The recorderman method is great when you want to do something quick, it does take the thinking out of the picture. It can be a little snare heavy and weak on the toms, depending on the song

Does the fact that it is quick make it less effective than other methods? If it takes the thinking out of the picture then I can focus more on the music. When I listened to sound clip the snare sounded full and present not necessarily heavy. I guess it's subjective to the listner. The toms didn't sound weak to me. I thought they had alot of clarity.

[mikromort]

Well like I said, "depending on the song" . Really playing devils advocate here anyways, I've had really good luck with recorderman. However like I said, I had problems more with the "control" of the toms for a heavier tom sound. If you eq to get some bottom end out of them, you'll find the snare will of course get crappy sounding and the kick will start to sound like crap too, but remember drummers may sound different. Just going by what I've experienced, you might experience something different.
Recorderman is the best method I've used with minimal mics and a good acoustic sound. If I'm doing demo work, I do this set-up first, but a full set up I use the xy technique

[brandondrury]

Does the fact that it is quick make it less effective than other methods?

What you are really asking here is "Is there a benefit to taking more time to mic a drum kit?". The answer to that is "depends", "sometimes", "yes", and "maybe".

Brandon