first time recording drums... tips?

[motyl]

hi

we`ll be recording drums for my bands ep, we play some sort of mix of hardcore, funk and hiphop/rap (www.myspace.com/fnku). I`d love too get somewhere near the sound of Stuck Mojo`s "Rising" . We have this gear available:

interface: presonus fp10 + behringer ada8000
mics: at4040, audix i5 , samsons qkick, qsnare, 3xqtom ,2xc01 , c02h , sm58, ddrum kick trigger


we`ll probably won`t record kickdrum, only click from ddrum.

drumset is kick, snare, 3 toms, 1 hihat, ride, 2xcrash, china, splash

i think that due to lack of experience we`ll have to gog kick and toms, but the drummer uses a lot of different hits on snare (rimshots etc) so ot`d be good to record good snare and probably only mix itd with some sample. Will be using jordison snare.

any tips?

 

[TheWinterSnow]

i would keep it naturally as possible, i wouldn't replace anything, so record with the kick drum. just remember to get all the mics and drums way from each other to reduce bleed. With basic mic techniques you will get a good basic sound, its how you mix, that will determine how good your kit is going to come out.

 

[Unavailable]

I know it's a long read, but you'll get a lot of useful information out of this: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/217656-acoustic-drums-metal-guide.html

 

[schust]

I know it's a long read, but you'll get a lot of useful information out of this: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/production-tips/217656-acoustic-drums-metal-guide.html

+1

all these things are covered in the above thread, but these were especially important for me:

1. make sure you're overheads are in phase
2. use space-pair for OHs. X-Y is a dawg and i'm pretty sure only useful for jazz.
3. get good signals recoreded from all mics. you always have the option of triggering the acoustic signal (e.g. kick, toms, snare) after the fact should you want to and a good signal will help make that easier
4. make sure your drummer lightens up on the hat. it'll kill ya in the mix if he doesn't. same on crashes.
5. use good mic positioning to "void" out other aspects of kit you don't want to bleed in. example: make sure the void part of the 58's field on your snare is pointed at the hat to minimize it's bleed. i'm assuming you're using the 58 on the snare.

these are by no means the complete list, but a few i personally found out the hard way on. again, all covered in the above great thread.

 

[motyl]

ok, i`ll record both kick from qkick and ddrum, we have enough inputs so in case it`ll be useful . On snare we`ll try to use combination of sm58 and qsnare. And about ride and hhat - on which would you reccomend condenser c02?

 

[Machinated]

Tuning the drums right is really important, use new skins too.

Also give yourselves options with room mics, I hate mixing drums without one. It can add another dimension to the drum sound. Stereo room mics is better IMO and try and get plenty of room in there by getting them far away from the kit.