Mixing drums with 4 mics

[deathtotaliban]

OK, so my friend in a different state has recorded a few tracks with his band . They didnt have enough mics to mic every drum, they only have 4 mics. The did two oh's and one on the snare and one on the kick. What im wondering is how to mix the OH mics to get the toms to stand out. i can handle the kick and snare fairly well but Im just wondering what i should try on the OH. Usually i just cut everything below 600hz but that wont work cuz that will get rid of most of the toms. Anyway, any help would be great thanks a lot.

Jordan

 

[Torniojaws]

I guess you could try to find the estimate exact Hz range for each tom and try to boost those with a tight Q.

 

[egan.]

OK, so my friend in a different state has recorded a few tracks with his band . They didnt have enough mics to mic every drum, they only have 4 mics. The did two oh's and one on the snare and one on the kick. What im wondering is how to mix the OH mics to get the toms to stand out. i can handle the kick and snare fairly well but Im just wondering what i should try on the OH. Usually i just cut everything below 600hz but that wont work cuz that will get rid of most of the toms. Anyway, any help would be great thanks a lot.

Jordan

It's hard to say w/o hering it but I would try to shape the sound of the OH's so that the kit sounds pleasing. I would do this w/ the kick and snare tracks muted and then adjust them so they compliment your overheads. Usually I would Hi pass around 80-100hz and then end up pulling some lo mids but obviously it depends on the tracks you are dealing with. Sometimes you can 'massage' out more stuff using compression, but again this depends on what you are working w/.

 

[deathtotaliban]

yea i totally forgot to ask what mics and shit they used for the oh's. I know they used a beta 52 on the kick and a sm57 on the snare but otherwise I'm not sure. Actually I think they used a pair of shotgun mics, really nice beyer ones, and they sound fairly decent for mics that pic up such a narrow area. Anyway Im gunna give it a go once i get home and ill post some shit. Thnx

 

[Gomez]

You can do GREAT stuff with 4 mics.

I normally do:

2 x Room mics (Nice mics please)
1 x kick
1 x Snare.

You need a nice, reasonbly sized room that sounds good.

Then put the 2 room mics through a nice (and fast) compressor (1178 - Distressor)

Bonham A-Go-Go :Smokin:

 

[deathtotaliban]

Bonham A-Go-Go :Smokin:

forgot to mention they're metal

 

[Gomez]

Nothing is more metal than Bonham.

 

[deathtotaliban]

celion deon comes close

 

[Gomez]

celion deon comes close