Have anyone tried this great overhead-technique?

[Finsmi]

Hi guys!

We are always trying to get that snare dead center, aren´t we? One way of doing this is by offsetting the overhead mics so that the snare goes in the middle, and they still get quite symmetrical according to the rest of the kit. This is a great way of getting the snare in the center of the stereo-field and still get enough cymbals in both mics. This is the way I have been doing it all through my short-lived life as an engineer. But my frustration has always been that the kick always ends up a little more powerful on one side (left for listeners perspective, right is you are using drummers perspective.) Of course, you normally cut away the majority of the kick in the mix anyway, but it will always be there, and it will always be bothering you a bit (or maybe I´m the only one?). Through some heavy mindgrinding, I think I have found a sollution, for me at least. Shout out if anyone of you guys have ever tried this:

What I do is I find the axis that goes through the center of both the snare and the kick. I call this the X-axis, and this will be the center field of the overheads. As you can see on the picture this axis will go on a diagonal through the kit. You can try to minimize this by getting the snare and kick as close as possible. Now, picture a Y-axis that goes through the X-axis in a 90 degree angle, above the kick or snare, or right between them (this will depend on the cymbal-setup.) This will be the axis you place your overhead mics on. When I have used this technique, I have used spaced pair, but it should work on other techniques aswell, I think. In my neat illustration, I had to draw the Y-axis through the kick, or else I would have aimed my right overhead mic right over the tom instead of over the china. Normally, I try to move around the cymbals and even the kit, so that they are somewhat symmetrical in relation to the mics. With some setups (or drummers) this can be a bitch, but please endure. The results, if you do it right, will be a overhead pair where you have both the snare and kick dead fucking center, and a beautiful stereospread of the cymbals and the rest of the kit.

If anyone does this, please share your opinions

 

[Machinated]

depending on the kit set up, i do this kind of thing a lot. really depends on what im trying to capture though.

 

[AllanD]

This is how I learned to mic drums, lol.

 

[BLUElightCory]

This is my go-to method, though it's not ideal for every setup.

 

[mva801]

Depends on the setup, but yeah I do that a lot. If I'm doing an x-y I'll always use that type of axis as the middle point.

 

[botus99]

ABSOLUTELY depends on what you're going for. I've used this method before, it can work for certain things. Doesn't work well with my double bass drum set though. If the bass drum really bothers you, try the old "blanket over the bass drum" trick. It doesn't cancel out the kick 100%, but it certainly helps if its necessary.

 

[greyskull]

I'd do something like that, but only after crying about how many toms/cymbals there are.

 

[luismars]

I use sometimes the same idea but: my center is the snare and my left and right the hihat and the ride, took the idea from the recorderman/glyn johns technique, make sure the mics are at the same distance from the snare and facing the ground. Then change the angle until you have a sound you like.

Don't go crazy about bleeding anyway, drums kits are not symmetrical, try to catch the best sound out of cymbals, close mics will do the stereo panning later.

 

[Diego Rugiero]

I use it, keep in mind that hi hat will be in the center too (like snare) so I recommend mic the hi hat separately if you want to pan it left or right.

 

[colonel_claypoo]

my go to method as well!

 

[xTomx]

I've been using this a lot lately but you don't get a super wide sound like you would do with a regular spaced pair.

If you're worried about getting the snare dead centre, try using an XY OH setup with wide room mics or spaced pair OH with another mono OH above the snare.

 

[Finsmi]

Thanks for the response guys I guess this is more usual than I thought
Hi-hats and toms can be a downer, that´s true. but if you have a co-operative drummer, you can just change the setup a little, and by that get a good stereo pan on these aswell. If you look at the example-pic, the toms here are almost perfectly panned. The Hi-hat is quite centered, but could be moved closer to the cymbal or tom without causing too much trouble.

 

[Melodeath]

I use this method every time. Tried X-Y once and didn't like the lack of width.

Actually I'm surprised so many people here use this, as well. I thought I was weird for doing this haha.

 

[fade_2_black]

Yeah, this is pretty common for recording. Obviously not practical in a live environment unfortunately - but makes for a far more accurate stereo image with single kick drum kits in the studio.

 

[ZanetheVocalist]

I use it, keep in mind that hi hat will be in the center too (like snare) so I recommend mic the hi hat separately if you want to pan it left or right.

This. But if it helps the image of every other piece of the kit I don't mind setting up an extra mic. Why didn't I think of this before? I'll have to try this next time I track drums.

 

[B36arin]

I've been doing this lately, both with overheads and with room mics. As people have said it gives a more reliable stereo image. I like to try to get as similar of a stereo image as possible between my room mics and overheads. Makes everything a bit clearer.