building a drum sound

12
Apr
2016
Building A Drum Sound pt2 Is Up!

Building A Drum Sound pt2 Is Up!

 

In “Building A Drum Sound pt1” I focused on getting a complete drum sound with only 2 microphones. A mono overhead and a mic in front of the kit.

Those 2 mics produced a very nice, full, and accurate drum sound. They work on their own but they also give us a strong foundation to build a full, modern, punchy, rock tone.

So now that we have a strong foundation we’re going to add spot mics on the kick and snare to help give our drum sound some punch, presence, and a bit more clarity.

With the ribbon mic supplying our low end and body of the kick, we’ll place our kick mic well inside the drum. This will help give the kick some much need punch to cut through the mix.

Although the overhead mic captured a wonderful snare sound, adding a mic to the top of the snare will help with articulation and, like the kick, help the snare cut through the mix.

Remember, the first two mics are really important. Without them our spot mics will sound small and lack any sense of space or depth.

Last week I challenged you to pick two microphones from your mic locker and record the best drum sound possible. Now I want to you take those two microphones and add a mic on the kick and snare. Send me a message and let me know how it goes!

Enjoy “Building A Drum Sound pt2” and I’ll see you next week for part 3!

Happy recording!

Charlie

Posted by Charlie in Recording Tips, Video Posts, 0 comments
10
Apr
2016
Building A Drum Sound pt1

Building A Drum Sound pt1

 

 

“I put a mic on every drum. Why doesn’t it sound good?”

I’m sure at some point we’ve all asked ourselves that question. I know I have! Either it just didn’t sound good or it was completely the wrong sound for the music. Building the “right” drum sound is about more than just setting up mics on all of the drums.

The drum set isn’t a collection of different instruments. It’s one instrument made up of different pieces.

This is a very important, and often overlooked, aspect of recording a drum sound that has body, depth, and punch. For this very reason I always get the majority of my drum sound from as few mics as possible.

Even if I’m setting up 20 mics on a drum set the majority of my tone will come from 3-5 microphones. This is how I make sure that I’m capturing the drums as one instrument as well as getting a nice, full tone. From this point on I let the music tell me what mics I need to add to achieve a sound that works for the song.

In part 1 of “Building A Drum Sound” I’m going to show you how to capture the drums with only 2 microphones. I’ll explain what mics I use, where I positioned them and why I chose them. Then you’ll hear those mics with our song to see how they fit.

My challenge to you this week is to pick 2 microphones out of your mic locker and get the best drum sound possible. This is also a great way to experiment and learn how your mics sound!

I’ll see you next Tuesday with part 2. Happy recording!

Charlie

Posted by Charlie in Recording Tips, 3 comments