The Score Magazine September 2017 issue! | Page 36
RECORDING
DRUMS
The most challenging tasks in the recording are drums at home. When you don't have the money to spend for a big studio setup and you want
to track for live drums, you can achieve great results even at your home setup. But it requires a little be of practice and understanding the mics
and the room. Ok, let's step into the recording process. Generally, you would require an 8-channel mic pre interface to record your drum kit. But
some case you can also manage with a 4-channel Mic Pre using minimal setup
1. OVERHEAD Mics / ROOM Mics 4. HI HAT Mics
You can use any pair of condenser mics for
capturing the overall cymbals and the kit from
the top. The best is the position about 5.5feet
above the ground and place an equal distance
from the LEFT mic to RIGHT mic, in order to
avoid phase cancellation. You can also position
the mics as XY position closer to get a different
tone in your recordings. You can use the RODE
NT5 or Neumann KM 184 etc depending on
your budget. Next is our Hi Hat cymbals which add that
rhythm in our drums. Here you can place a
dynamic mic or a Condensor mic to capture
that Extra High Frequency in your recording.
Generally, I use the Rode NT 5 small Diapharm
condenser mic because it gets the High frequency
and rejects the off Axis sounds from other
instruments getting into the HiHat Sound.
2. KICK DRUM Mic
For recording the kick drum, place the mic
slightly of the outer skin of the whole of the kick
drum where the air pushes its pressure so that
you will avoid the blow in your mic. Usually, I
place it 2-3 inches away from the whole of the
kick drum skin. We can use the AKG D112,
Sennheiser MD 421 or even an AUDIX A6 etc.
This depends on your mic budget.
3. SNARE DRUM Mic
The most important element of the kit is the
Snare drum. This has high SPL and Attack by
nature. So the best position is the point the Mic
at the Center of the SNARE drum. You can use
any Tape to dampen its ringing sound which
we want to avoid. Also, you can place another
mic at the bottom of the Snare to capture the
Sizzle sound of its metal belt and blend both
the sound in your mix. But watch out for Phase
cancellation. The best mic is SHURE SM 57 dynamic mic or any mic.
But I strongly recommend the SM 57 which is the best for SNARE Drum.
5. TOM Mics
For recording TOMS in our kit, we can use the
Dynamic mic like the MD 421 my go to MIC or
even an SM 58 if you don't have any mics in your
collection. I prefer the MD 421 for capturing two
toms at the same time by placing in the center of two
TOMS. You will get a natural sounding tone in your
recording.
6. CRASH & RIDES Mic
To record and capture the Cymbals in your kit,
I recommend the Small Diaphragm Condensor
mic like the RODE NT5A pair or any brand
which fits the budget. You can place about
few inches away from the cymbals on top so
that you get that Airy sound coming from the
Cymbals of RIDE and CRASH. If you don't have
any mics with your, you can position the two
OVERHEAD Mics closer to capture the cymbals.
7. MIC BUNDLE KIT
Generally, if you don't have the big budget for
buying mics for the kit, you can get the SHURE
DRUM Mic kit or AUDIX DRUM mic kit or even
the cheap SAMSON 5-Piece Drum Mic kit! Hope
these points would be of great help to record
your drums at home. Happy Recording!
Author: L. Baba Prasad. He is the Ownder and Chief Sound/Mix & Mastering Engineer at Digi
Sound Studio. He also teaches Sound Engineering and Music Production courses. For more
details, visit www.digisoundstudio.com / www.digisoundacademy.com
34
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com