Recorderman OH Technique ???

[Executioner213]

I just found this, and I had a couple of questions, assuming people here know what it is.

http://www.hometracked.com/2007/05/12/recorderman-overhead-drum-mic-technique/

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/76502-best-placement-drum-overheads.html

http://recording.org/ftopicp-91152.html#91152

1. Would this be useable in metal? Would the quality be desirable or does that really matter with drums?

2. What about double kick scenarios? Do you do it going both ways with 3 mics instead of just 2?

 

[vespiz]

I tried it and when done right, it centers the snare dead-on and produces a nice stereo-image of the set, but somehow I feel that it works on more "traditional" rock/pop settings and the like.. the details tend to get lost when the guitar maelstrom kicks in. Or maybe I just suck at mixing

It does have the virtue of being forgiving in not-so-good rooms.

Anyhoo, for metal I'd look into other OH techniques. IMHO, YMMV, etc..

 

[Arey]

Hey.
I've used this tehnicque with my friend, when we did a few demo tracks for some band. They played something simmilar to rock/jazz/funk.
The quality of the tracks was *quite* surprising, especially since we didn't really have a great room to begin with.
My opinnion is, that the technique is very usable in situations, where quality isn't really needed, for example, a small concert, or, as said before, demo tracks.. It's also a good choice if you can't record enough channels, and you have to compromise. As for making a record with this technique, i wouldn't. Especially for metal. Maybe in some genre of music, where drums don't play as huge roll as in metal.
I didn't try it with double kick, so i wouldn't know about that.

 

[Russtopher]

I've used it in heavier recordings, it does give a nice stereo image of the kit but the toms are mush as soon as the guitars kick in. I usually will copy the OH track, strip out everything that's not a tom hit, then compress and EQ the crap out of the track to get the toms to cut through. The top 3 songs on the MySpace link in my sig were done using that technique.

Used in a straight rock setting it's quite nice; I just started using the "Glyn Johns" method which also uses the 2 OH mics to capture the kit and give you the stereo image and I find that technique gives a lot more body to the toms. I'll have some tracks uploaded by tomorrow for a very indie collab I'm finishing up that used that technique.

NO idea how it'd work (if at all) with double kicks though

 

[nwright]

I've used it on all of my band's recordings so far, and I don't think I'll do it anymore.


I spread the close miked tones out pretty well, but then the highs from the OH's just don't have enough width. Maybe I'm not using the technique the right way, but in setting up the OH mics like the pictures/article says, it always makes the kit sound small. It does center the snare and kick better, at the expense of centering everything else, too, IMO.

 

[HeadCrusher]

I usually will copy the OH track, strip out everything that's not a tom hit, then compress and EQ the crap out of the track to get the toms to cut through.

Does that mean you delete the toms from the overhead or that you delete everything BUT the toms? sorry for the confusion...

 

[KeithTidd]

It's the same concept as the glyn johns setup. I wouldn't use it for metal because there's too much drums in the overheads, which is the opposite of what most people strive for in their metal overheads.

 

[Russtopher]

Does that mean you delete the toms from the overhead or that you delete everything BUT the toms? sorry for the confusion...

I keep one set of OH tracks as-is, and I'll EQ to taste to pull out a lot of the toms, and bring out the cymbals.

The copied pair of OH tracks, those I delete everything BUT the toms So I'm left with 1 pair of OH tracks that are primarily for the cymbals, then another pair of OH tracks that have everything but the tom hits manually stripped out. Hope that's a little more clear!

 

[Russtopher]

It's the same concept as the glyn johns setup. I wouldn't use it for metal because there's too much drums in the overheads, which is the opposite of what most people strive for in their metal overheads.

Very true; however using these setups are good for people who only have a limited number of inputs (like me ) so it's OK that the toms are in the OH tracks since there's no way to record separate OH tracks with individual tom tracks.

It definitely takes a lot of finagling to get this setup to sound good (and *right*) in a metal production, but for quick-n-dirty demos, or recording alt-rock, indie rock, etc. they can fit in very nicely if you don't have a lot of inputs.

 

[HeadCrusher]

thx for clearing things up!

 

[el-biczel]

Metal drums sound - these kind of super dry kit you describe as the best metal kit, is the thing that I personally hate about metal productions.
Just listen to ISIS Panopticon or Ocean and check how much groove is in the room sound and how huge it sounds.

 

[PhilR]

I've used it for non-rock recordings. It gets a very nice, natural sound but it wouldn't be suited to metal.

This was the band in question, we didn't mix these tracks though. The band wanted that job: http://www.myspace.com/whatpricewonderland

Most of you will probably hate it!

 

[jesterroot4]

http://www.myspace.com/mordecaiuk

we used this 'recorderman' technique on our demo, but instead of 2 drumsticks distance from the snare, we used 3. shame i didnt get to do a mix

 

[everybody's x]

FWIW it is the OH setup I always use