Overhead tips?

Shaun Werle

Shaun Werle

Member
Dec 30, 2009
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Brodheadsville PA
I usually am not impressed with the way my overheads come out. The most recent band I did I used nt5's above the cymbals, sm7b on hats, and At4040 for room and it sounded pretty good. My cymbals just seem too prominent and dry. Any tips on positioning, eq, and compression?

-Dylan (Shaun's brother)
 
I recommend moving the mics until you get the best sound you can.
perhaps its the room you're in?
perhaps it's the cymbals being used?

depending on your needs & genre, you may need to mic hihats.
HP 300hz-600hz depending on your needs. however, some projects don't need much of a hipass at all
I also do check to see if a bit of surgical EQ can help get rid of any ill produced tones I may get from the room or the cymbals. but that's not always needed.
light compression. just the even out the the peaks.
 
In terms of being dry, I am going to say that it is your room. You will need a room with more ambiance to get more of a wet/ambient sound. Maybe try throwing a very very light splash of a hall type reverb after eq. In terms of eq, just HP around ~500 and take maybe a little bit of the lower mids out as they tend to take away from the brilliance of the cymbals and make them sound...wooly.
 
TheWinterSnow said:
In terms of being dry, I am going to say that it is your room. You will need a room with more ambiance to get more of a wet/ambient sound. Maybe try throwing a very very light splash of a hall type reverb after eq. In terms of eq, just HP around ~500 and take maybe a little bit of the lower mids out as they tend to take away from the brilliance of the cymbals and make them sound...wooly.
Click to expand...

+1 to very very light splash of reverb.
definitely don't go crazy with that.
 
Could be the room, but play around with the placement and stereo technique as well. One of my favourites is ORTF just above the drummer's head. XY often works too, so does e.g. a 414 as a mono overhead if that's your thing. Spaced pair in my experience is quite difficult to get to sound good (I don't like my oh's very wide), but I think I need to try combining it with a mono overhead...

I like to HP lower, around 200-300hz, and cut around 400hz if there's any whooshing/ringing problems. I'm back to compressing oh's again, just slightly with a fast attack to get less of the snare transients etc. that I don't really want.
 
Cut around 3 to 4khz with a wide scoop. Notch out any annoying rings. This will make them sit better.

When mic'ing OHs for metal, try to use the mics more as cymbal spot mics rather than true overheads. You will get more control and isolation. If you're tracking in a less-than-ideal room, it's better to add room verb/samples/impulses after.
 
Lately been going the spot cymbals micing route and using a room mic to tie the kit together. When I get a few more mics I might try a mono overhead high above the drummers head too. Used to always go for the spaced pair and while it was nice and wide the definition in some of the cymbals wasn't great and they could get lost easily in the mix.

Phase isn't really a problem when you stick to the 3:1 rule when spot micing.
 
How big is your drum room and how tall?

I feel like little rooms just produce terrible overhead results. Thats been my experience for the most part. Yes you can get them decent with some eq and verb, but I just always felt like drums tracked in a larger room just sound better from the start.

I like a little bit of plate on my cymbals (just a little) or I will send some of my cymbals to my drum reverb to help the drums all gel a bit.
 
Good cymbals, and an angled high ceiling are extremely important. I think the mic choice and placement are secondary to those factors, assuming you place them at least decently...
 
Joshua Wickman said:
How big is your drum room and how tall?

I feel like little rooms just produce terrible overhead results. Thats been my experience for the most part. Yes you can get them decent with some eq and verb, but I just always felt like drums tracked in a larger room just sound better from the start.

I like a little bit of plate on my cymbals (just a little) or I will send some of my cymbals to my drum reverb to help the drums all gel a bit.
Click to expand...

My room 18x25 8' ceilings

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?q=hi&songID=10225455

here's a clip of my overheads, I think they sound decent

Give me some opinions on them with the clip
 
Ermz said:
Cut around 3 to 4khz with a wide scoop. Notch out any annoying rings. This will make them sit better.

When mic'ing OHs for metal, try to use the mics more as cymbal spot mics rather than true overheads. You will get more control and isolation. If you're tracking in a less-than-ideal room, it's better to add room verb/samples/impulses after.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, I will try it out!
 
Strachan of D said:
are you doing a coincident technique or a spaced pair
Click to expand...

Spaced pair. With a mic on the hi-hats and a room sitting prob ten feet away. My room isn't treated yet so i think once I can get a decent amount of acoustic treatment in their it will really reflect on my cymbal tones. For metal the cymbals have to be wide in my opinion. But there's the room mic to balance the whole kit out and added some in a huge room feel.
I don't think my tones are awful, I just think they could be better.
I am always trying to improve.:D
 
Do you record the room with just one At4040? Maybe a stereo pait would be better for more wideness. Or a touch of an stereo enhancer on the OH.
 
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