Drums Mics

[drums192]

I'm having trouble for a good micing solution for my kit (seven drums, four cymbals including hi-hat). I was looking at the CAD Premium 4 piece ,then getting either a AKG D9000 High Performance Mic and hang it over the set, or a Shure PG56-XLR Dynamic Drum Microphone and do the same thing with it, then getting a Behringer Xenyx 1202 mixer and getting an XLR female to 1/4" male for the last mic. That way, it's all under $350 which I'd like, so if you have any suggestions or think that's a good idea, please post, thanks!

[thesilentdrummer]

Don't Skimp on Drum mics. It has taken me 3 years, but I finally saved enough to get enough close mics for my set. But close micing isn't the only way to mic up the set (the Beatles sound can easily be produced with two overhead mics).

But first, I should ask what your idea is for your micing arrangements? It sounds like you have 4 toms, a snare and 2 kicks (or is it 5 toms and 1 kick??). am I right? and do you intend to close mic the whole kit?? That would take (counts on fingers...) 7 mics plus 1-2 overheads to capture the cymbals, and 1-4 room mics (if you want to get fancy). As you can see, that gets up in price fast. Also, though it would certainly work, I would rather see a condenser mic as an overhead. The AKG D9000 and especially Shure PG56 are traditionally not overhead mics. I would rather use the MXL 990 as an overhead. And I would go with any "kick mic" for the kick drum, be it the Audix D6, shure Beta 92

Ok, mindless rambling is over. what I would do is out an SM57 on the snare. Then, I would pick a kick mic for the kick drum. Slap up two overheads in a stereo configuration, and presto! You have a good sounding kit ready. this leaves you plenty of money/input space for things like bottom snare mic, room mics, Hi hat mic (not entirely necessary.)

Basically, though, I am trying to steer you away from drum mic packages. With that CAD thing, for 140 bucks, you get 4 mics and 3 rim mounting clips. I just but a semi-cheap Drum mic clip. It cost 15 dollars. Lets be hypothetical and say the 3 drum clips in the CAD package cost $20 combined. That means that each mic is word about $30. I know that I wouldn't buy a mic worth 30 dollars. But enough from me, I know nothing.

Brandon wrote this article, "Drum Microphone Packages: Why I Don't Like Them". Its insightful, so give it a read.

[dannyman]

Under $350, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. The only way to get an excellent (as opposed to mediocre) tone out of mic'd drums is to have one mic. per drum. The only exception might be haning one mic. over two crashes if all you're using is two crashes, that is... You can buy a nice Roland electronic drum set for half of what it costs to mic. your drums well. Yeah, there are exceptions to the rules, but the only people who can do this are experienced studio engineers. Also, you'll need to do a fair amount of editing inside your recording software to get the drums to sound the way you really want. That's my take.

[Baron]

Originally Posted by drums192

then getting a Behringer Xenyx 1202 mixer and getting an XLR female to 1/4" male for the last mic.

Arh.....Naaaaaaa........

The 1/4" input on that channel is for line level input, like a keyboard etc. You cannot put a -50dB mic signal into a line input expecting +4dB, and expect to get anything other than a lot of noise or hiss when you gain it up.

The other problem with this mixer is that it will only allow you to stream a two track (effectively a stereo mix) output to your PC. That means if you realise that one of your mics was too loud, etc, then too bad. You now have to re-record the whole thing.
Why not get a multi input, audio interface instead of the 1202 then you could record each mic to a separate track.


Baron

[drums192]

With everything you guys are saying that I'd need to spend a lot more to get good sound, do you think I should just get a relatively inexpensive electronic kit and use that to record?

[thesilentdrummer]

Originally Posted by drums192

With everything you guys are saying that I'd need to spend a lot more to get good sound, do you think I should just get a relatively inexpensive electronic kit and use that to record?

its up to you. I personally don't really like having electric sets. dannyman swears by them. So if you can record and like the sound you get from an electric set go for it. As far as cheap electric set, forget it. If you plan on home recording being an inexpensive hobby that can churn out songs similar to commercial quality for relatively little money/time, think again. This is an expensive hobby. Granted, if you are willing to invest some time/money into it, it can be very rewarding.

Micing a drum kit and getting the recorded sound to sound GOOD is no easy task. Segue way: A while back, I invested in some recording gear that I thought would give me everything I needed to play around and just screw off with electronics. Time passed, I made some new friends, and they were in the live gig business. Long story short, I now run sound for many local gigs. After some gigs, I really got into the idea of recording seriously. So I joined this forum and figured out what I needed to get. Still working on the Getting part

So anyways, since I already have mics and stuff for live sound, I decided to tackle the acoustic kit. Without a doubt, recording an electric kit is much easier, but I like the challenge of acoustic kit micing. As touchy-feeling cheesy as it sounds, there is a great sense of accomplishment when I get drums miced up and sounding awesome on a recording. Its just fun, which is what my recording is all about right now. However, since I am not explicitly advertising my services, I *do* do favors for friends. My friends might then refer other people to my skills (live sound/recording), or someone might listen to their CD or see me running sound and ask about my skills. This can lead to small side jobs. Extra cash doesn't hurt.

But unless you are ready to work really hard at this music recording thing, you aren't gonna be making serious money, or even alleviating your costs. You need to be ready to put time, money, and effort into this.

[dannyman]

OK, I recommend getting an electronic drum set IF:
1. You are extrememly knowledgable on drums: materials, brands, tunings, thicknesses, brightness, decays, and about a billion other things.
2. You have excellent technique and years of drumming experience.
3. You plan on doing home recording, whether just for fun or professionally, for the rest of your life.

A cheap electronic kit is just not a good choice for recording (or anything for that matter ). Roland, imho, is better if you want to have a very versatile kit for playing live (or in church or some similar setting). Yamaha, though, is the best brand for recording. The dtxtreme IIs is only $2000, and the sky is the limit on the thing, literally. You can even import and/or create your own samples of SOUNDS, not only kits. However, the dtstreme IIs is now discontinued (GASP!!), as I have the official insider word that Yamaha is introducing a new kit at winter Namm. Undoubtedly, this new kit will be much more expensive, and I really can't think of how I would upgrade the dtxtreme IIs aside from adding more samples (you can add your own a custom samples already). I know musiciansbuy.com is offering very nice deals on their remaining dtxtreme IIs's, so go buy one before it's too late.

[brandondrury]

and 1-4 room mics (if you want to get fancy).

I'd say the 7 piece drumkit is "fancy" and the room mics are essential.

Basically, though, I am trying to steer you away from drum mic packages.
Me too.
Drum Microphone Packages: Why I Don't Like Them

I know that I wouldn't buy a mic worth 30 dollars.

I'd rather pay 30 dollars for a mic than $2,500. But I'd rather have the $2,500 mic.

The only way to get an excellent (as opposed to mediocre) tone out of mic'd drums is to have one mic. per drum. The only exception might be haning one mic. over two crashes if all you're using is two crashes, that is... You can buy a nice Roland electronic drum set for half of what it costs to mic. your drums well.

There are some interesting points here. It is hard ass work and takes tons of practice to get great drum results. I'm still not happy with my drums. There is ALOT that goes into mixing drums that you hear on rock and pop stations. Natural got tossed out the door 25 years ago.

Using a electronic kit to trigger something like DFH is a great way to go for some things....terrible for others. It depends on the drummer, the room, the engineer, your overal resources, your time, budget, etc. The thought of using a drum module (base on a synth engine) makes me want to stab myself, but triggering modern samples is a damn good way to go for a person into the edrum thing.

Brandon

[rockerdude]

Well... My studio drum mic combo is.....2 akg c1000 s series O.H. sure beta 52 on the kik ,sennheiser 604's on the rack and floor toms.nuemann tlm 49 room mic,and a sure sm 57 or better yet a 604 on the snare going through api and millinia preamps into a carvin console through my coverters into pro tools. my drum mix is thunderous.

[DogpitStudios]

2 Kel HM-1s (overheads)
1 shure sm 57 (snare top)
1 Audix D6 (bass drum)

You can add tom close mics once you've learned how to get a balanced sound of the entire kit threw the overheads.

This solution shouldn't run you above $500 and will give you good quality if you spend some time learning where to put the mics. Try the recorderman method for the overheads.

Ben