Recording drums for acoustic/ unplugged band- mic choices

[Forceps]

Hi all,

upcoming week I'll be recording drums for an acoustic/ unplugged band.
The drummer is using a jazz kit, with 1 kick, 1 snare, 2 toms and some cymbals.
He'll play with brushes, no sticks.

I have 7 mic pre's:
4x DIGI 002
2x Focusrite Green series
1x Joemeek VC6Q (?)

The mics I have:
1x Sennheiser MD421
3x Shure Sm57
1x Shure Beta 58
1x Audix i5
1x AKG C2000
2x Rode NT5 (matched pair)
1x Rode NT1000

How would you guys record this drumkit?

I've planned to record this way:
1. Kick - MD421 - Joemeek
2. Snare top - SM57 or i5 - DIGI 002
3. Tom 1 - SM57 - DIGI 002
4. Tom 2 - SM57 - DIGI 002
5. OH L - NT5 - Focusrite Green
6. OH R - NT5 - Focusrite Green
7. Room - NT1000 - DIGI 002

Any suggestions on this setup?

 

[nialldoran]

for the mics you have listed there that is what i would do in your situation, when doing this sort of thing on my own though i normally use a beyer201 on snare top and LDC's on toms set at supercardiod to take advantage of the proximity effect, along with a really nice outside kick mic like a re20 or something

 

[BLUElightCory]

Your setup looks pretty sound. If the drummer is playing a lot of ride (as drummers in these types of bands often do) you might consider putting the overheads up really high and wide (to get a roomy, full-kit sound) and then using the room mic to spot-mic the ride. Just an alternative to consider.

 

[Forceps]

Thanks for the input guys!
I'll try some things before we really get to the recordings (we have 2 days for 4 songs) and I'll sample the entire kit.

 

[Colin M. St. Claire]

For softer, more subtle stuff I would definitely add a bottom snare mic. Let some ghosty nuances come through a little better. I've had good luck with the i5 on the bottom, especially if you take out the little foam piece inside. Good luck! It sounds like fun. I have yet to record drums that aren't crazy death metal so I'm a little jealous!

 

[BLUElightCory]

I've had good luck with the i5 on the bottom, especially if you take out the little foam piece inside.

Interesting! I'm assuming it makes the mic brighter?

 

[juarez]

Make sure the snare sounds great in the OHs. IME a 57 does not really do justice to brushed snare playing. Definitely use a bottom snare mic if you can, and/or try and borrow a small diaphragm condenser to use for snare top instead of the 57. 57's are totally decent for stick hits, but they don't sound great with brushes.

Edit: try that AKG C2000 on the snare

 

[Colin M. St. Claire]

Interesting! I'm assuming it makes the mic brighter?

It could be a placebo effect. Haha. But I would think so. Sort of like taking the windscreen off an sm7. Also, I was going to suggest using your nicer pre on snare rather than kick.

 

[Forceps]

Thanks for the input guys! We've just finished recording and I used my intentional setup (didn't check the forum until now). In the end most songs were played with rods, instead of brushes.

I used the Recorderman setup for the overheads, so I got the whole kit in the overheads. The additional mikes will come in handy when I start to mix. An advantage of this way of recording seems to be that you don't get to much ambience/ room sound in the recordings. The room had little to no treatment, so that should be a smart choice.

In the end I must say the recordings turned out pretty nice, better than I had expected! I'll post a sample if you like

 

[DanLights]

I'm really curious to hear a sample, this looks interesting!