Drum recording help please!

[Impervious]

I'm recording a 6 song EP of a project of mine, and I'm starting out with the drums. I need some advice on what I should use where and how to mic everything.

I have (5) SM57s, (2) AKG C1000s, and (1) SM58. My interface is a MOTU 8pre, and I have an alesis DM5. The room I'm going to be tracking the drums in has 15' ceilings, and wooden floors.

The drummer has 3 rack toms and one floor tom, one bass drum with EKit triggers on his pedals, and quite alot of cymbals. What I usually do is close mic each tom with a 57, use the AKGs for overheads in an X pattern, a 57 on the snare top, and triggers direct out of the dm5. I would like to get a snare bottom in the mix too, but I don't think I have a mic that will work well for that (I've tried the 58 before, and it didn't seem to work too well).

I'm willing to spend some money, if there's anything relatively cheap (200$ or less, preferrably..) that could help the production sound alot better. I would really appreciate any tips anyone can give. I've recorded drums before, but I know that I can get a better sound than I get currently. I really need some tips on overhead placement, and snare drum mic placement. I usually aim the 57s at the center of the toms, about an inch above the head and 1/4" from the rim of the tom. Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[scorpio01169]

what is your routing? and samples of what you have done so we can know the starting point

 

[Impervious]

What do you mean by routing? I have the trigger module main out going into my 8pre, and I use drumagog to replace the kick sound. Everything is just plugged into the 8pre, then into my computer to sonar 8 producer.

Here's a sample of a recording I did recently. I haven't replaced the kick or done anything other than panning and levels. The recording I'm going to be doing will be a different drummer, but this is a good example of the raw sound I get.

https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=714012012&email=551ce2f36055373220c2c9b77d0e8167


Thanks again.

 

[chonchball]

I'll trade you an entire Audio Technica drum mic kit for 2 of your SM57s

 

[crosstalk]

Stick your 5th SM57 under the snare. I personally would go with XY or ORTF for overheads, but others will probably say to go with a spaced pair.

If you haven't already, check out Acoustic Drums for Metal by OzNimbus

 

[Zorran]

spend that money on steven slate drum samples. boom.

 

[Impervious]

Stick your 5th SM57 under the snare. I personally would go with XY or ORTF for overheads, but others will probably say to go with a spaced pair.

If you haven't already, check out Acoustic Drums for Metal by OzNimbus

Thanks for your help! I have definetly been doing a space pair pattern, and I think my overheads are one of the biggest problems. I'll definetly try both of the other patterns when I start the project. 57 under the snare sounds like a plan.

Should I place a 57 between two of the rack toms then, and mic both of them with one mic?

 

[crosstalk]

Thanks for your help! I have definetly been doing a space pair pattern, and I think my overheads are one of the biggest problems. I'll definetly try both of the other patterns when I start the project. 57 under the snare sounds like a plan.

Should I place a 57 between two of the rack toms then, and mic both of them with one mic?

Ah, sorry I didn't see the 3 rack toms and was thinking you had a spare 57.

You said you tried the 58 under the snare, have you tried it with the windscreen off? I've heard it makes a difference, but haven't had the need to try it myself.

I'll also +1 to getting SSD LE with the money and replacing everything. If you did that you could even put the 58 on a tom and replace it and use the 57 on the snare if you want to keep the natural snare going.

Do you have enough inputs for all of this? With a snare bottom mic I'm counting the need for 9 inputs.