Drum Microphone Selection

Time to put in work. Hello all, this week I am going to talk about microphone selection. I got the idea after I had a session this past Friday. I was recording a band and had to decide how to capture the sound of drums, guitars, and bass sound. When recording a band it definitely takes awhile to setup and get the microphones placed. Now microphone placement is for another post since that is one of the most important parts of a session. However getting the correct microphones will only make it easier for yourself when you are ready to record. As we should all know the three main types of microphones dynamic, condenser and ribbon, each play a factor in live recording. Before I get ready to choose the microphones I look at how many pieces the drum set has. This gives me an idea of what drums ill capture during the recording. In my session I recorded 4 piece cymbals, kick, snare, high tom, and low tom. Now I did some research and used some of my friends experience to get the best out of my recording. This is how I did it. Note that the studio I was recording in has about 20-25 different microphones so I have a lot to work with. First I placed the drummer in the isolation booth to contain the sounds of the kit. I didn’t know what to expect I was just experimenting. I then started to select and place the microphones. I used a Beta 52 on the kick since the AKG D112 was in for maintenance. I used 2 Beta 57’s one behind the kick and one on top of the snare. I used 2 Sennheiser 421’s on the high tom and low tom. I used 2 Neumann U87’s as the overheads. After using that setup and placement of the drums it worked out better than I expected. The recording was the best I ever had on recording drums. Everything sounded crisp and clean; the isolation booth reduced the room reverb, which makes it easier for mixing. So if you have a studio and record bands try this setup or a similar one and see how the recording comes out. Mix Master Rozay out!!