Drum Tracking Question

[jeffadies]

In a few weeks i will be recording my first band. My audio interface only has four inputs and i have access to some decent mic's. I have convinced the band to record to a click (they are kids and didn't really want to)...My question is what would be my best option...

A. use XY techniques
B. do multiple takes micing different drums each round.
C. just go for the kick and snare and use the other two inputs to get room sound.

I would like to be able to quantize drums that is the only reason i was thinking the multiple takes route.

 

[GeertSamuel]

Well, if the guy is spot on with the click I'd say, first track the toms, snare & kick!
Then on the 2nd take to overdub do the cymbals and muffle the drums. But it all just depend on how he's with the click!

 

[jeffadies]

thanks. the kid is a pretty good drummer but im not sure about with a click so i guess i should wait and see if he can play it tight enough.

 

[Sly]

Record first kick+snare+two room mics (be careful to phasings), then overdub toms, cymbals, it can be a good way to go.

 

[jeffadies]

thanks guys. i wasn't sure if my thinking was crazy by wanting to do this but i feel better now. While on the topic when quantizing the room mics...im kinda lost on how to go about that.
i know that everyone here does it but i never have seen anyone say how.

 

[ahjteam]

Kick, snare and well placed overheads

 

[alexrookie]

Record first kick+snare+two room mics (be careful to phasings), then overdub toms, cymbals, it can be a good way to go.

this would result in a room without toms.quite disturbing in sound, i guess.

keep in mind, if you really want to do the cymbal overdub scenario, that you have to quantize for the double amount of songs you record.

i did it once, but i played the drums myself and trained for that session 2 weeks.
please don't think, that every drummer nails something like that without practicing for some time.and the most important part is that the drummer knows his songs and what he really wants to play.
and we all know our drummers, right ?!
there is no space for improvisation, it must have bean learned by heart.

seriously, with four inputs and a fair ratio of working hours and clearing, i'd go with snare,kick and overheads. you can generate the toms out of the overheads and soundreplace them. that is a lot of work, as well - but four inputs are four inputs ;-).

hope that helps.

btw, what kind of music is it?

 

[MortenDK]

You say they are kids!!, and you hint that they are not used to play to a click track!!.
Then if I were you I would record Kick, Snare and Overheads and se how long you get with that, cause if they are just kids playing hardrock then it might take awhile to get them to play decent to a click track!!........
And I would use the Recorderman setup when tracking the drums!!.
And as alexrookie said you can generate the toms from the overhead tracks if needed.

 

[KeithTidd]

glyn johns or kick snare overheads

 

[KillFrenzy]

And as alexrookie said you can generate the toms from the overhead tracks if needed.

(2)

 

[cobhc]

Kick, snare and stereo overheads would be my bet, another vote for getting your toms from the overheads.

 

[smy1]

Program it in Superior 2.0 - done!

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

alexrookie has a good point about having to be very well rehearsed while doing drums and cymbals seperately.

How I get around this with bands I produce is I have them play the part drums and cymbals together, but I only record the drums (and now that I have triggers it's even easier!) and then quantize the drums accordingly. This way, when he goes back to do the cymbals, he's not fighting with his own timing and the click at the same time... the drums are to the grid.

It takes a while but it's the easiest way I have found to get solid drum tracks out of drummers that don't really have much studio experience or know exactly what they want to play, etc etc.

By the way, a lot of editing goes into the cymbals after as well. I guess you could argue that it's easier to program it but I don't have the patience to go bar-by-bar with a drummer that most likely is not entirely sure of what he actually plays. Plus real cymbals sound way better than samples, in my opinion.

 

[smy1]

Clowd: good suggestions!

My recipe for programming drums is to let the guy lay down all the drumtracks for all the songs in a few hours. Then send him home telling him you will now "ProTool the tracks just like Metallica does!". When he is gone you simple reprogram using the tracks that he layed down.

Then again, I am very fast at programming drums through a lot of experience ...

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

Clowd: good suggestions!

My recipe for programming drums is to let the guy lay down all the drumtracks for all the songs in a few hours. Then send him home telling him you will now "ProTool the tracks just like Metallica does!". When he is gone you simple reprogram using the tracks that he layed down.

Then again, I am very fast at programming drums through a lot of experience ...

Yeah, that could work if you are a really nice person, but I like to get paid when I'm doing tedious, headache causing, and suicide inducing work like programming/editing drums haha.

 

[AdamWathan]

+1 on kick, snare and overheads. You can get a pretty decent tom sound if you are smart with your placement. Tons of great albums have been recorded over the years without close micing the toms I'm sure.

 

[scorpio01169]

are these guys paying you? if so get a deposit from them...enough to run out and get something like this http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/US1641/ if you can, then you'll be good.

 

[LydonB]

I would absolutely go with a kick snare and then overheads. Just play around with the placement of your overheads and you should be able to get something that will work. I would say do not worry about the room sound at this point because it is easier to go back and put the kit in a nicer room as opposed to getting a nice room sound at first and having a horrible kit sound.

 

[jeffadies]

First off let me say thank you for all of your input. . I would love to be able to charge but i am in no way at the level that i think i should be paid for recording them. It seems like the overall suggestion is to go with kick snare and overheads. If all else fails i will program whatever i have to. I was very honest with them and told them that they will not be getting pro quality so i have some room for error.

Scorpio...that is the exact interface i am looking to get as soon as i can afford to.

Im still not 100% clear on how to replace toms from the Oh tracks but i will do my best.

thanks again guys i really appreciate all of your time.

 

[Morgan C]

Sample replacing the toms from the OHs shouldn't be too hard, most drummers don't play them THAT often, so you can just duplicate the OH tracks and then cut out the bits where he hits a certain tom to emphasise the transients, and then use Drumagog or whatever to replace them, either with samples or with samples from the actual kit (might work better.. sound a bit more authentic using the same toms close-mic'd and OH mic'd, so if they sound good just get him to hit it a few times with a mic on it, then move the mic to the next tom, etc. etc. and get your samples from that).