Drum mics - time correction - phase and stuff

[scribe]

Hey there,

When recording drums do you :
1 - Time correct the close mics to the overheads?
2 - Time correct before tracking the rest of the band?
3 - Time correct at all?

By looking at multiple wave forms, in particular overheads and kik drum, is it possible to tell if they are out of phase. Is this what the (-) is in (for eg) cubase editor. there is no (+)

cheers.....

[TonyB]

Originally Posted by scribe

Hey there,

When recording drums do you :
1 - Time correct the close mics to the overheads?
2 - Time correct before tracking the rest of the band?
3 - Time correct at all?

By looking at multiple wave forms, in particular overheads and kik drum, is it possible to tell if they are out of phase. Is this what the (-) is in (for eg) cubase editor. there is no (+)

cheers.....

I haven't tried to look at phasing on my Sonar. I go by ear and adjust either the physical location of the mics and/or reverse phase as an option in Sonar.

I intentionally set up a "studio drum kit" that doesn't move with the same mics, location, settings, etc to minimize re-configuration and phase issues between sessions and between songs.

[scribe]

Hi,

I think my last post should of read 'time alignment' not 'time correction'

Anyways.....

Thanks for the reply Tony. I haven't used sonar and not real sure what you mean about a studio kit.

I take great care placing my mics around a kit and check phasing via my analog desk.

I guess what I am getting at is, after you have recorded the drums do you line up each instrument as to where it is in the overhead tracks by moving the wave forms.

For a mic under the snare, would you line up that mic with the top mic then both of them with the overheads??

For that matter, what about bass mics and d.i. Should we line up the D.I to the mic or round the other way or doesnt it matter.

Am I really complicating things for myself??

[TonyB]

Originally Posted by scribe

Hi,

I think my last post should of read 'time alignment' not 'time correction'

Anyways.....

Thanks for the reply Tony. I haven't used sonar and not real sure what you mean about a studio kit.

I take great care placing my mics around a kit and check phasing via my analog desk.

I guess what I am getting at is, after you have recorded the drums do you line up each instrument as to where it is in the overhead tracks by moving the wave forms.

For a mic under the snare, would you line up that mic with the top mic then both of them with the overheads??

For that matter, what about bass mics and d.i. Should we line up the D.I to the mic or round the other way or doesnt it matter.

Am I really complicating things for myself??

Sorry about that, but I think moving the waveforms with respect to each other can have a phasing effect as well.

What I mean about studio kit, is that I have a set of drums in the studio all mic'ed up and they don't move if they don't have to. Of course, depending on the drummer, song style, etc things need to be tweaked. And of course, many drummers like to bring their own kit, which means I need to start the process all over again.

Consider the rule of thumb that 1msec equals about 1 foot. So if you have your kick mic about 1 foot from the front of the kick then in theory you have a 1msec delay, which you probably won't notice, but if you did, it would have a sense of fullness to it with a 1msec delay between the kick and DI'ed bass.

[brandondrury]

When recording drums do you :
1 - Time correct the close mics to the overheads?
2 - Time correct before tracking the rest of the band?
3 - Time correct at all?

I don't think when you do it is that crucial. It won't effect the other performances added later. It's not like you are changing the timing of the performance.

I've time corrected a few times. I wasn't that impressed by it. I didn't hear a whole lot of good coming out of it personally.

You can see the waveforms going up and down but this visual isn't always useful. It depends on what you are dealing with. If the second track is of dramatically different character, it may sound better when it's not in perfectly aligned phase. This has been my experience anyway.

Brandon