Recording drums

[Lima]

Hi, I need to record a couple of drum pieces for a friend. He can't move the drums to my home, so I need to go in his house and take the tracks there.

I'll probably use a minidisc as support, but my question is:
I haven't a lot of expensive mics, so have you got any suggestions about how to make a nice recording? For example about the positioning of mics, the eq having in mind that later I'll process the tracks with my pulsar, anything just to keep in mind or care of, etc...

The hardware I was thinking to use is:
A 12 channel mixer and a minidisc as recorder.
mics are: 1 shure SM58, 1 shure sm57 and a nady dm80. Maybe I'll have another couple of cheap mics from my friend (for voice i think), but I'm not sure.
As monitor I'll use AKG's K240S headphones.

The genre of the music is '70s Rock and the aim of the recording is a 2-3 tracks demo, so nothing special or professional.

Thanks a lot for anything you wanna suggest

[garyb]

a condensor mic would be nice....
dm80 on kick, 57 on snare and the 58 on the room. you will have to move the 58 a bit to see where the best sound is. if you had a condensor, you could use that on the room(or overhead). keep it simple, it should sound just fine.

[blazesboylan]

I agree with GaryB (surprise surprise) but don't be afraid to experiment, Lima. For example:

1. Nady DM80 back from the kick about 3'
2. SM57 on snare
3. SM58 overhead

Or:

1. SM57 close to the kick, with some low end boost from the mixer
2. SM58 on snare chain (sometimes snare sounds better from the bottom)
3. DM80 overhead

Or:

1. DM80 3' or more in front of the kick
2. SM57 OH, pointed toward the snare
3. SM58 OH, pointed away from snare

Etc.

Many people swear by 3 mic drum recording. Having some flexibility to play with mics is always nice, but I have no doubt you can capture excellent drums with what you've got. And you can *always* get a better recording by spending more time playing with what you've got, than you can by rushing out and renting unfamiliar gear, or by hastily setting up a recording with an infinitely deep mic locker. Time == quality.

$35!

Johann


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blazesboylan on 2005-06-29 22:22 ]</font>

[Lima]

Thanks guys for the suggestions!(very appreciated, indeed)

I know I can't make a finished and pro recording, but that isn't the aim.
Have you got any suggestion about the effects I can apply later?
For example: once the relative volumes are choosed (no clipping and a good balance) is better to use the eq of the mixer or apply the eq later in the pulsar? The relative volumes change a lot in the 2 cases.
Another example: maybe I will use a compressor or a limiter. So I need to take any precaution during the recording? (like keep the bd a little louder... etc)

Thanks

[garyb]

a limiter isn't bad, you might want to limit and/or compress after recording.

i like to eq after, but there are no hard, fast rules.......

[blazesboylan]

I love squashing the heck out of drums with Vinco, during mixing.

I also like a little plate 'verb on snare (unless the room mic does the trick for ambience).

I almost never use EQ during tracking, and don't use it very often during mixing either. Kick does sometimes needs it during mixing. But otherwise my preference is to move mics around til they sound good, and avoid EQing as much as possible.

However I also tend to use outboard comps to colour and shape the sound. A dbx 160XT on snare sounds incredible, and a dbx 163 on kick isn't half bad. Both comps shape the sound in a way that makes EQ kind of irrelevant. Vinco does this, too, though to a lesser degree.

But that's just me! Have fun with it Lima,

Johann