Carl Franklin

Carl,
You rock, do you have more of mixes like this one?

Thanks, Maxim

[www.ipattern.com do you?]

Yes... http://www.pwop.com/samples.aspx

It's funny that you should mention drum sounds - when I first listened to that clip (when you pointed me to it a couple days ago), I actually took note of the drum sounds.

Given that you only had two mics, you did quite the job - especially with the crash, which didn't peak and came off smoothly.

Pretty cool.

I actually figured out the mic placement by sitting at the drums with headphones and moving the mics around until it sounded great.

"don't need to spend more than $200"... True enough, but if you compared the two mics you used to two really high class mics in the same mic positions the difference would be pretty noticeable. (Don't get me wrong - you clearly were listening carefully to get the kit to sound like this with the pair of mics you used - good job!)

If you ever get the chance to have your hands on a pair of Earthworks SR77's or omni's I would encourage you to try the experiment again and then compare. There are plenty of possibilities - but all the ones that would be 'clearly different', including the Earthworks are in the $700-2000 range (oops - so much for $200).

You might find it interesting to also mic the kick, and then you can mix an eq'd bit of that back in to get the head snap and bottom without bringing in more room sound or altering the feel of the rest of the kit. I have used the Rode NT3 condensers for kick, and for under $150 it's pretty surprising. Makes a good overhead mic also.

As you've pointed out, mic placement is critical to getting good results. If more people would be willing to spend time to get the placement just right there would be a lot less need for fancy gadgets later on in the process ;)

Out of curiosity, what system are you recording on?

I actually have a pair of AT4033s, and about 9 other mics. I normally mic the whole kit with various mics, but I was really surprised at what cheap mics well placed could do. I thought the sound I got was perfect for the tune.

I have 2 presonus Digimax units, a couple Laylas, and I record using Cool Edit Pro 2.1 (usually)

Have you any experience with Sonar 3.0. I've been on the cusp of spending about a grand on an Ardvark 24/96 and upgrading the ProAudio 9.0 that comes with it to Sonar. Had my eye on a pair of Audio-Technica Pro 37R mikes to go with it.

Going to record a punk band tomorrow wth only 2 Shure Beta58s. Hope it works?!!! Got another cheap Shure Vocal Mic - will probably just shove that on into the bass drum to get a bit more out of it.
Recording through a Beringher 4 Channel mixer into Garageband for Mac OS X. Might just get that real old trashy 70's UK punk sound!

Got any suggestions besides going out and buying condensor mics?
The kit is a very good Tama in a very small room with mostly bare walls! Can this be done?

Set up the mics like 3 feet in front of the drums. If you want a wide sound, place them far to the side pointing in to the same point. If you want it tighter, move them closer to the middle, but always point them to the same point in space to avoid phase cancelation, which doesn't sound good, even for punk.

Thanx for the advice!
Just got another mike (Samson R11) from a friend to use, seems like another cheap vocal mike, so now got the 2 beta58's as overheads and the cheap Shure for inside bass drum.
Where should I put the Samson to help the sound? I thought of just putting it up to the snare?

Any help?

When you say "about 4 feet from the kit on either side pointing to the middle of the set".....is that 4 feet above the kit on either side or were the mics at

tom level, etc....just curious....sounds great!

Hi Carl Franklin!

Great job, I have a queastion where did you get the backingtracks from, can you download it somewhere?

Hi Carl Franklin,

The mics I've got are: a Studio Projects B1 (condensor mic), a Shure SM57 (dynamic) and some old Sennheiser microphones (RichtMikrofones) such as a MD 421N. Because they're really different  this set-up doesn't seem a good solution for me.

What do you think about placing the SP in front of my drum about 4 feet from the kit and the Shure just above my Snare Drum?

Greetz, Brecht aka WhiteKite (FlyingWhiteKite@gmail.com)

Sorry, but sounds like kid toy drums for 20 $.

P.S. just my personal opinion...

i have 2 cad condenser mics (low end mics) and a Behringer 802 mixing board how can i get the best sound out of what i have with my drums. could you tell me what to set my mixing board settings to and where my mic placement should be. i want a really tight sound, like when you hit the snare i want the full effect out of it, and a nice crisp sound from the cymbals. some one please help me!

Aaron Porta

AaronPorta@sprint.blackberry.net

          or

Portaotty667@aol.com

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