Recording a drummer with a slightly odd drum setup

[onetruth]

Hi everyone!

I'm recording a metal band this weekend who sound a lot like converge (only my 2nd paid session!) and the drummer in the band plays a slightly unusual drum setup. He's left-handed, but plays open-handed on a right-handed kit setup. Here's a quick drawing to illustrate the kit setup (drummers perspective).....

so as you can see, he plays only 1 rack tom which he has dead centre above the kick and the ride is squeezed in between the hats and the rack tom.

my question is do I need to be wary of anything in particular when micing up the kit? am i going to encounter any problems/issues with this kit setup? i only ask because this is the first time i've recorded a drummer who isn't right handed. my main concern is bleed from the ride into the snare and tom mic's.....and also the slightly odd stereo spread of the cymbals once recorded. should i be worried at all?

i'm aiming to put 1 overhead mic about 1-1.5ft above the ride cymbal and the other in between the crash and china....both angled away from the kit and more towards the cymbals (found that tip when searching this forum!) to reduce the amount of kit in the overheads (i'll also most likely HPF somewhere up to 600hz). can anyone advise whether this is a good starting point?

when it comes to mixing, will panning the rack tom slightly to one side create any phase issues with the OH's as the drummers rack is positioned centrally above the kick? I'm guessing probably not as I'm going to filter the OH's quite a bit?

Apologies if these questions seem a little basic.....I just want to do a good job for my friends band.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions

 

[Paulie!]

I can't see the posted pic at work so I'm working under the assumption that he's using a rack and two floors and only has a ride/hat on the left and a crash/china on the right... this is based of the descriptions you gave... so bear with me

1: Kick
2: Snare
3: Tom
4: Floor 1
5: Floor 2
6: Hats (from underneath)
7: Ride (from the rear and above aimed between the bell and edge)
8: Crash/China Mic

You could "undermic" the crash and china, this would get you more isolation from the kit.. and if you had an ninth channel to work with you could mic the crash and china seperately.. and if you work with mic placement to get the bleed as minimal as possible, you can pan them how you like in the mix...

Hope that helps!

 

[greyskull]

that doesnt look too bad TBH, I've dealt with MUCH worse.

 

[Trevoire520]

My drummer has the exact same setup minus the bigger floor tom. Just make sure to get a nice stereo image in your overheads (with the snare centre'd if you decide to go for a full kit sound)

With a relatively small setup like that you might find that the drummer has things spaced out well, making it easier to record than a normal kit. If you're worried about cymbal spill in your drum mic's then get the drummer to raise his cymbals, place your mic's to get the best rejection from the cymbals and use some foam baffles (Auralex aural expanders are good)

 

[Fox Mulder]

^ This + ask him to hit the cymbals a little soft.

 

[onetruth]

Excellent! Thanks for the advice guys.

Trevoire520 - what is the best to way to make sure the snare is centred in the overheads? Should i go as far as to use a tape measure and measure the distance from both mic's to the snare and make sure they're the same? i'll be making sure I adhere to the 3:1 rule aswell. I'm most likely going to use the OH's just for cymbals and filter out everything under 600hz but I best make sure I get the snare centred as you say, just in case I do decide to do something different when mixing.

Maamar Huq - Cheers for that.....i spotted that tip on glenns sticky thread about recording drums. i'm definitely going to advise the drummer to hit the cymbals soft.....and also spread his kit out as much as possible.

 

[Trevoire520]

Yeah just get the tape measure out dude, that's how I do it on my drum mic'ing anyway. You could try to get the snare and the kick centred, but that's quite a bit tougher I think.