Drum overhead Mic position?
- Thread starter DaveBlack
- Start date
A lot of times I try and angle the OH mics away from the snare so that the snare is in the null and it picks up less of it.
ahjteam
Anssi Tenhunen
Before the Dawn uses the same setup live and apparently its Tuomas' (the guitarist) idea as he used the same technique on his clinics where he played drums. LDC overheads REALLY high and pointing straight down:
::XeS::
Member
Yeah....I try to angles the Oh's away from snare and hi-hat. Try also to put the cymbals "between" oh's and what you want to avoid
Joematthews
Member
- Dec 15, 2007
- 1,547
- 0
- 36
I mic waaayy closer, facing outwards to get rid of that pesky snare if the player sucks. If he has a nice snare and is consistant then I might face them a bit more inwards.
Joe
Joe
Trevoire520
Member
I imagine a line going from the centre of the snare through the centre of the kick, and place the mic's either side of that line, making sure that each mic is the same distance from the snare. This makes sure that the snare is in the centre of the overheads.
I've also used a coincident pair of SDC's before and really liked the phase coherency when the mix goes to mono.
I know most guys like SDC's here, but to be honest on my last drum recording I felt that they sounded really thin (AKG C391B's) compared to when I've used LDC's in the past (C414, AT4050. even Red 5 RV8's) Anyone else had this experience?
I've also used a coincident pair of SDC's before and really liked the phase coherency when the mix goes to mono.
I know most guys like SDC's here, but to be honest on my last drum recording I felt that they sounded really thin (AKG C391B's) compared to when I've used LDC's in the past (C414, AT4050. even Red 5 RV8's) Anyone else had this experience?
MetalMiller
¯\(°_o)/¯
that's like someone telling you which position is best to fuck in
it's gonna be completely different for every situation
2000ContourSVT
Member
Do whatever works best for your current situation. I usually end up doing it the way thats shown in the original post on the rare occasion that I'm recording acoustic drums.
HeadCrusher
Member
That would be this:
Wouldn't the 3:1 rule always be in effect when using the above method? I mean all the close mics are gonna be far enough away from each other and the OHs should be as well.This in combination with the 3:1 rule will work like a charm
it also helps to measure out a piece of string in order to ensure that the OH's are both equidistant from the snare...
::XeS::
Member
The line's technique doesn't work everytime. I mean, it depends by the cymbals position and also by snare/kick position. If I imagine a line and I put the mics equidistant from this line but the mics are totally out of the cymbals,it's not a good idea.
My advice is: try to find a good compromise between the drummer's cymbals setup and the best cymbals position for the recording. Aim the mics away from the snare and HH and try to have the snare centered in the stereo image (record a little performance, pan the oh's and listen if the snare is centered).
I've some difficulties when the drummer's setup is pretty asymmetrical, i mean, 80% of the cymbals to the left, or to the right...it's very difficult here to have a good stereo image. But I think in these cases, micing closer to the cymbals with more mics and with less space between left and right oh's, could solve the problem.
Anyway, with only 2 mics sometime is very difficult to get a decent OH's sound because you have to do a compromise.
My advice is: try to find a good compromise between the drummer's cymbals setup and the best cymbals position for the recording. Aim the mics away from the snare and HH and try to have the snare centered in the stereo image (record a little performance, pan the oh's and listen if the snare is centered).
I've some difficulties when the drummer's setup is pretty asymmetrical, i mean, 80% of the cymbals to the left, or to the right...it's very difficult here to have a good stereo image. But I think in these cases, micing closer to the cymbals with more mics and with less space between left and right oh's, could solve the problem.
Anyway, with only 2 mics sometime is very difficult to get a decent OH's sound because you have to do a compromise.
Before the Dawn uses the same setup live and apparently its Tuomas' (the guitarist) idea as he used the same technique on his clinics where he played drums. LDC overheads REALLY high and pointing straight down:
That picture is from FME and the mics were adjusted by the stage crew. Our FOH guy didn't have anything to do with the positioning of the OH mics. And I can assure you that Tuomas knows nothing about micing and doesn't care about how the microphones are =)
ahjteam
Anssi Tenhunen
Oh. I was mixing Ancara at the same stage earlier and the overheads were much much lower then.
scorpio01169
Member
Melodeath
Moonbow
Tell me more about those Red 5 RV8s!!! I've been considering buying the RV10s for quite some time after seeing them rated just below C414s.
