Recording Drums

Setting Up The Drums The typical drum kit consists of a kick drum, snare, a couple of tom-toms mounted on stalks from the kick drum, a floor tom, a hi-hat, and a couple of cymbals — maybe a crash and a ride. Obviously, many drummers have a lot more to hit than this simple list, while some make do with less. Naturally, that affects the kinds of microphones we choose and use, the kind of processing that we apply, and the problems we can expect to encounter along the way.

If the drum kit has to be in the same room as the rest of the band, then acoustic screens are a good idea to try to stop too much drum sound finding its way into the other instrument and vocal mics. You can make very effective temporary screens out of piles of cardboard boxes or mattresses with simple wooden frames to hold them upright. You can either use a double mattress on its side, or several singles on end — or a combination of the two — the idea is to screen off as much of the kit from the rest of the band as possible. This won't provide total isolation of course, but it should make a considerable improvement and is generally worth the effort.

It's not just about stopping the drums from leaking into other instrument and vocal mics, though. If the backline is loud you may well find its spill getting into the drum overheads. Hanging a duvet from a ceiling beam in front of the kit to provide some screening for the overhead mics can be helpful in this regard. Give some thought to sight lines too — the drummer may find it easier to play if he (or she) can see the rest of the band.

Microphones Most engineers prefer large-diaphragm condensers in this role, although small-diaphragm mics can be just as effective in most applications. You will see almost everything used in this role, including the Neumann U87, TLM170, TLM103, KM84 and KM184; the AKG C414B, C3000B, C4000B, C1000S and C451; the Sennheiser E664; and the Audio Technica AT4033 and AT4040. Pretty much any cardioid condenser will do. On pure jazz recordings, Coles 4033 ribbon mics also work very well indeed.

Miking The Kick Drum use a purpose-designed kick-drum mic, and most manufacturers have dedicated models, pretty much all of which are moving-coil designs. AKG have their D112 (and the classic D12 before that), Beyerdynamic have the Opus 65, and Sennheiser have the E602, for example. These are all fine performers, although the AKG model is substantially more expensive than the other two. When placing the mic, it is a good idea to stay away from the centre of the drum head, because there will be a wider and better balance of harmonics closer to the edge. If the front head has been removed, or has a large enough hole cut in it, then place the mic on a stand and position it close to the beater head, about halfway between the centre and edge. Small changes in position can make a big difference to the sound, so before reaching for the EQ knobs make sure you have put the mic in the best place to start with.

The snare A small pencil-type mic is the most practical to squeeze in above the snare, and this could either be a condenser like an AKG C451, or a dynamic mic like a Shure SM57. A dynamic mic is often the more attractive option, since it is more robust (the drummer might accidentally hit it) and it has a restricted transient response compared to the condenser mic. The most common positioning for the snare mic is pointing over the rear lip of the drum towards the centre of the skin. Try not to have the mic too far over the drum, otherwise the drummer might inadvertently hit it!

Miking the snare

Tom-Tom Mics The tom-toms are best miked up like the snare drum, with dynamic mics positioned just over the rim looking at the centre of the head. The rear null of the mic should be angled up to reject as much cymbal as possible — again, hypercardioid patterns often work better in this role, since they don't have to be angled quite so steeply

Miking toms You can mic a tom-tom in much the same way as you would a snare.

Overheads If you're multi-miking the drum kit, then use a pair of good condenser mics, placed at a distance of approximately 6 ft apart mics such as Rode NT2. In some cases, you can afford to mike fairly close to the cymbals, although you should choose a direction and location to minimise spill from other instruments for a tighter sound. For more ambience, experiment with mic distance

Drums… A complete drum kit setup