Recording cymbals, hats and toms with overheads.

MindMunch

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Jan 17, 2011
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Is there any tips on how to record cymbals, hats and toms using only two overhead mics? I know it´s pretty guetto to record toms and hats without close mic'ing, but I wonder if anyone here ever tried. Would a pair of AT4040 fits better for this scenario (toms and stuff) than a tradicional "pencil condenser" pair?
 
Getting enough hats out of the overheads is easy to be honest. Toms on the other hand are going to be difficult. Best advice I can give is to get your overheads low as you can get away with to try and get a better drums/cymbal ratio.
 
Here´s the thing. I´ve finally got my place to track drums, but I don´t have special drum mics yet and my budget is very limited right now.

My plan is to:

1) Close mic the kick with a SM57
2) Close mic the snare with a SM57
3) Use two AT4040 as overheads to capture the rest of the kit (hats, cymbals and toms)
4) 100% sample replace the kick and snare tracks.


I realize it´s odd to capture toms with the overheads, but that´s what my budget allows me today so, instead of buying a pair of SDC, I was thinking about picking a second AT4040 (I already own one) to use as OH. I´ve read on the Glyn Johns method that LDCs are better than SDCs for this task. Having a second AT4040 also would be handy on other stuff.

About the micing mehod, I´m not sure about what to use: the traditional OH in stereo, the XY method or one of these infamous methods such as the Recorderman or Glyn Johns.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!
 
seems pointless to waste the mics if the're limited and youre only going to sample replace anyway. Maybe you can DIY some cheap triggers and then use the 57s for toms.