Internal mic debate....

[Jordon]

Ok, here's the deal, I have a band coming in in a couple weeks that I've worked with before, and I'm tracking a fantastic drummer and a pretty nice kit (It's a Pearl Export, but I'll be damned if this thing doesn't sound fantastic). We also have a great selection of snares to choose from and his cymbals are top-notch and in great shape. To top it off, his technique is great, so needless to say, I'm pretty damn excited! Tracking drums (even as a guitarist by nature) is my favorite stage in production.

My current input list is looking something like this:

1 - Kick In - Beta52A
2 - Subkick - Subkick
3 - Snare Top - SM57/Audix I5
4 - Snare Bottom - SM57
5 - Side Snare Top - SM57
6 - Tom 1 - 421
7 - Tom 2 - 421
8 - Tom 3 - 421
9 - Hihat - SM7b
10 - Ride Group - SM81
11 - OH L - Gauge ECM87 (For very inexpensive mics, these things actually rock pretty hard for overheads in my low-ceiling room)
12 - OH R - Gauge ECM87
13 - Room Mid - TLM103
14 - Room Side - 414


That would be my standard setup with most projects, but I'm looking to change things up. I know that once we get into the studio and start getting tones, we'll be trying different mic setups, but I wanted some opinions on things I might try. Unfortunately, since it's slow this time of year, I haven't had as many chances to "screw around" as much as I'd like.

First, the floor tom: I'm getting pretty sick of the 421 on floor toms, and I know the 414 rocks for it, but what about the TLM103?

Bottom snare? I'm thinking of throwing a 421 on the bottom, any experience? I've always gone either 57/57 or 57/414.

I'm also going to be trying the Mid-Side technique for the room mics. Since I have a small-ish live room, I think it may give me better results than a spaced pair. For this, I was thinking either a 414/TLM 103 combo or a 414/SM81 combo, but I'm just not sure. Either would probably be just fine.

Anyway, I may be over-analyzing things, but isn't that the point of being an AE?


Thanks dudes.

 

[chrisrivalry]

have any spare sdc's? I love putting them on the snare now.

 

[Toxic_Lord]

The 421 on botton snare can be great! I love the Mid-Side technique for the room mics!! Look the pics! Works fine with small rooms!

All Kit
http://imageshack.us/f/30/img4353t.jpg/

Over Heads
http://imageshack.us/f/845/img4392k.jpg/

Room Mics
http://imageshack.us/f/714/img4396ex.jpg/




PD: Is the SM7b good for the Hihat?? I ever use Condenser mics for it.

 

[Jordon]

No spare SDC's, though I'm thinking of grabbing an AT 4051 or two. Just not sure when I'll be able to do so.

Hey, Toxic, U87's for OH's?

I love the 7b for hats. Beats the hell out of an SM57 IMO. I'm one of those weird guys that likes to ride the hi-hat mic in a mix, so having something that sounds nice is key.

 

[Lucas D'Angelo]

There are two things that I LOVE to do when tracking drums :

- Using TWO snare top, a 57 as usual but aligned with a 414 ! The 414 gives you the fuller range, those lows that you cannot catch properly with the 57..... If they are perfectly aligned (that's pretty easy) , it sounds great , they complete each other really nicely
About the 414 as a bottom snare mic, I've tried it before, it's nice, better that a 57 (you get a clearer high-end) , but anyway i'm never really happy of my bottom mics haha

- About the ROOMS : There's a "classic" that I like to do, using one mono room in front of the drums (about 1-2 meters away) , that if possible runs directly into a 1176 in brit mode (if you don't have one of those you can just keep the track and throw a plugin on it later)
That gives you a hyper mega smashed mic that blended with the rest sounds awesuuuummm, gives a live a punch and glue !
Maybe try that and use sampled stereo rooms to get a larger space as your tracking room is pretty small ?

Keep us updated man

xx

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

Id go with a Beta 52 on floor toms; used that on the last album I recorded and the tom sounds huge!
Also I'd use a SDC on top snare to get a bit more "crack" in the sound; usually i have that mic sidechained with a gate to the 57 track for some extra pop in the snare.

 

[JeffTD]

I'd go with the 414 as a second snare top and just use the mono TLM103 as a room mic. If you really want a stereo room sound down the road, you can mic up your room with the u87 clones and blare your monitors at them.

Since that'd use the 414, and if you're really sick of the 421 on floor toms, swap that with the Beta 52. I've found the B52 on a floor tom really only sounds great if the guy hits hard and very consistently so, but the kick is probably the easiest drum to convincingly replace in the mix, and the MD421 can sound really cool as a kick-in mic anyways.

 

[JamesNorman]

Second the 414 as a snare mic along with the 57. 414 kills all around the kit.

 

[Jordon]

I LOVE the 414 on the snare, top and bottom. Wish I had about 6 more of them at my disposal!

Set up the studio kit today just to screw around. Found a cheap little CAD SDC, a tiny thing, in the back room. No idea where it came from, but I figured I'd tape it to the top of the 57 on the snare, and holy hell, the blend was really good. Definitely has more jonesin' for a good SDC to put on the snare. Suggestions?

 

[chrisrivalry]

I use an ADK SC1 for snare, pretty decent little mic, has a lot of low end in it.

 

[Trevoire520]

You could try mic'ing the side of the snare. There can be quite a bit of spill but you get a awesome crack from it!

 

[burst]

Do you really need this sub-kick? If those guys playing metal, something like 91 as inner mic and 52 or 421 as outer mic will work better, just make sure to separate 'em from the bleed with absorbers, blankets etc.