mome rath wrote:Automatic Gainsay wrote:
Ever since a friend of mine made it clear to me that drums could effectively be recorded with one mic, I've never looked back.
explain. with pictures?
It's a really basic and primitive process.
I take my Alesis AM51 mic on a boom stand, and I basically move it around whatever room the drums are in, changing location and height and recording a bit, until I find a place in the room where the balance between drums suits my tastes... a place where the highhat and cymbals don't overpower the bass drum, primarily. (although usually, some EQing is necessarily to really bring out the bass frequencies in the kick). It's really an aural process where you use the acoustics of the room and the way the mic picks up those acoustics to mix the drums.
I like it because for me, it is the room that makes drums sound like drums, not just the heads. When I have individually miked heads, I have always been disappointed with the sound. I like the way the drums move air in a room, not the way that sticks move the drum head, if that makes sense.
I record through an ART Tube Pac which gives a bit of tube warmth and distortion to a VS-1680.
Once recorded, I usually beef up the bass drum and the low end of the snare with equalization.
I don't have any pictures... just imagine a sweaty worried-looking guy setting up a mic in a room, playing drums, listening to the recording, jumping up, moving the mic, playing drums, listening to the recording, jumping up, moving the mic, playing drums, listening to the recording, jumping up, adjusting boom height, playing drums, listening to the recording, jumping up, adjusting mic direction, playing drums, X50 and you'll have it. : )
and it's captured nicely. what mic you are using?
