How a pro mics up the drums (Hiili Hiilesmaa)

[ahjteam]

Yo!

I just got some amazing footage from a friend of mine to my email and it was just so mindblowing that I decided to share it with you guys. Sharing, forwarding and translating of this message is recommended, especially for all gearwankers and studiogeeks a la gearslutz. I highly suggest that you think about all this after you have read the text...

First, some footage for ya (2048x1536 and under a megabyte each):

http://www.ancarasite.com/img/studio2008/ancara_studio_big_01.jpg (Hiili setting up the mics)
http://www.ancarasite.com/img/studio2008/ancara_studio_big_02.jpg (View from the throne)
http://www.ancarasite.com/img/studio2008/ancara_studio_big_03.jpg (The monitor room)
http://www.ancarasite.com/img/studio2008/ancara_studio_big_04.jpg (Final setup)

Source: http://www.ancarasite.com/index.php?sivu=media

Then some backgrounds

• The band is called Ancara (http://www.ancarasite.com) from Southern Finland. The band started in 1985, and from 2003 in its current name. The musicstyle is hardrock a la Dio and Iron Maiden. The band is in Timo Kotipelto's owned "High And Loud" record label
• The band is recording their third album, its released in Q1-Q2 2009 all over Europe
• The producer on the album is Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Apocalyptica, 69 Eyes, Teräsbetoni, Amorphis, Lordi, Sentenced, Sepultura...)
• The studio is Matrixtor studio in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The recording platform is HD Protools ja the monitors are Genelecs (longer gearlist at www.matrixtor.com)
• The drummer has been playing drums for 23 years, and he is called Timo Rajala. Timo is "I break 1-2 drumsticks already during the soundchecks on livegigs because I hit the snare on the rim" kinda hardhitter. He is lefthanded, so don't get confused why the set is "flipped".
• The set is Tama Starclassic with Remo Emperor heads on toms ja Remon Pinstripe on the kick, cymbals are Paiste Rude-series ja sticks are Vic Firth (American Classic 5B, I think)
• As you can see from the pictures, the snare and the toms have Shure SM57 on them and the snare is miced only from the top. Hihat and ride are miced with Shure SM58. Pay attention to the microphone angles, distances and alignments. Not sure of the kickmic, but I think its either Shure Beta 52 or AKG D112 because of the round end of the mic in picture 1. Afters these, there is only Glyn Johns micing (one small diaghram mic from the top and one from above the floor tom), nothing else. Or atleast I didn't see any room or ambient mics from picture 2... Not saying they aren't there. But no triggers anyway.
• Also notice how the hitting spot on the snare isn't marked to the center, but marked with a huge cross a bit away from the center
• The playroom seems to be like someones livingroom with stairway upstars, parquet floor, a wall full of windows, a stilt in the middle of the room right in front of the drums and the drummer almost at the corner of the room. Pretty "optimal", eh?
• Also notice the TP roll on the third picture

So think about questions like "Why didn't Hiili use some more expensive mics" "Why use SM58 to mic cymbals" "Why so minimalistic micsetup and not a setup that covers all aspects" "Why Glyn Johns micing" "Why that recording space" etc

What can I say? "It's not the gears and spaces, but the user"


OK: the BIG question: How does the set sound? Well... You will hear it in Q1 2009 when the first single comes out

- Anssi Tenhunen

 

[jeffadies]

very cool. it's always nice seeing how people mic up drums. thanks for posting that.

 

[EdwardPayne]

Nice to see. There's no rights or wrongs micking anything, it's the result that counts.

 

[Trevor Marks]

ooh man, Hiili is one of my favorite engineers of all. I've followed is work for about five years now. His drum sounds are some of the best out there IMO. It's awesome that he's getting some attention here as well!

These pics are great. Thanks

 

[006]

Ah, so the secret is just arranging the drums backwards!!! Why didn't I think of that?















~006

 

[Machinated]

Is that just one overhead or am I missing something?

Recorderman/Glynn Johns method maybe?

 

[ze kink]

I also now that when he recorded the drums for KYCPK, he played them at a faster tempo and then slowed them down to get more sustain and fatter attack. I wonder if he does that often?

 

[ahjteam]

Is that just one overhead or am I missing something?

Recorderman/Glynn Johns method maybe?

LTR: "Afters these, there is only Glyn Johns micing (one small diaghram mic from the top and one from above the floor tom), nothing else."

 

[Machinated]

Haha, maybe I should learn to read the whole post....

 

[dontletmedrown]

Interesting that the drums are setup in the corner. I generally wouldn't want a window so close to my OH mics.

 

[Seizure.]

Weird setup... i wish i had some more time to experiment myself.
Too bad i don't have my own room for drums yet.

 

[ahjteam]

Interesting that the drums are setup in the corner. I generally wouldn't want a window so close to my OH mics.

...or a column like that

 

[izzyrock]

Who mixed the album? I heard something on their myspace sounds pretty good
Sounds like Mikko Karmila did it

 

[ahjteam]

Who mixed the album? I heard something on their myspace sounds pretty good
Sounds like Mikko Karmila did it

The previous album "Beyond the Dark" was mixed by Arto Tuunela (Finnvox engineer and guitarist/vocalist of Major Label. I mix both bands live)

 

[izzyrock]

Thanks for the info
Its funny, but he sounds a lot like Karmila's mixes

 

[nwright]

so, with this OH mic technique, how do you pan them in? Also, in general, how would you pan them in relation to the HH and ride? I know it's subjective, but since it's the "Glyn Jons" method, how does he do it?

I know nothing about it.

 

[korpse pop]

Found this video on youtube, seems the mics are panned hard L/R and this technique sounds surprisinly good to me

 

[Sloan]

I've used that overhead method quite a bit and it's great if your limited on mics. I'll see if I can dig up some clips or something.

 

[KeithTidd]

Glynn johns is awesome for a natural sound with very few mics.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Thanks for sharing! I've only experimented with this overhead technique on a very limited basis, but damn, it's impressive!

-0z-

Edit: Just tried this out with two overheads: VERY cool. Easy as hell to get a great sound. Kick kinda pulls to one side, so I'll have to try it with a kick mic soon, but very cool nonetheless. If you're gonna try it, just make sure to roll off everything below 60-65hz or you'll be wondering why the fuck your floor tom is so overpowering!