Recording Drums, How to Record Drums, Record Drums
ON THIS PAGE:
Dave Weckl - tuning drums *video
Tom-Tom Drum Tuning - How To Tune Your Toms *video
Mic placement for recording drums with 3 or 4 mics *video
Kick Drum Tuning *video
Online Recording Studios *article
Great Drum Sounds From Your Home Studio *article
Researching for new articles
Dave Weckl - tuning drums
Posted June 20, 2010
Level: Basic to Intermediate (some pro knowledge helpful but not necessary)
Drum tuning.... Dave Weckl... need I say more.
Tom-Tom Drum Tuning - How To Tune Your Toms
Posted June 20, 2010
Level: Basic to Intermediate (some pro knowledge helpful but not necessary)
Learn how to tune you tom-toms in this drum lesson with Mike Michalkow. Mike walks you through how to tune, and what you should be looking for when you're tuning your toms. Visit DrumLessons.com for more drum tuning lessons!
Mic placement for recording drums with 3 or 4 mics
Posted June 20, 2010
Level: Basic to Intermediate (some pro knowledge helpful but not necessary)
Great example of how to use 4 inexpensive mics to generate reasonably good tracks... with a little production and e.q. knowledge you could sweeten the tracks for a pro sound.
Kick Drum Tuning
Posted June 20, 2010
Level: Basic to Intermediate (some pro knowledge helpful but not necessary)
This video shows me explaining how this guys kicks are tuned and set up and then played... recorded with studio recording equipment. Cool tips...
Online Recording Studios - A New Player in the Music Industry
by: Elad FishThe World of Drum Recording
Many people today, especially in home studios where you often have only two inputs to record at once, record their songs one track at a time. Most people starting a home studio can easily acquire the basic engineering skills needed to record vocals, guitars, keyboards and bass. Recording an acoustic drum set on the other hand is perhaps the biggest challenge a recording engineer has to face when recording a single instrument - mainly because drums aren't really a single instrument. Especially in Rock, each drum will often require its own microphone in order to capture its full depth and "punch" quality so highly desired in hard-hitting rock anthems.
A multi-channel recording system, lots of expensive microphones, acoustic room treatment and knowing where to place microphones and how to get the best out of the equipment make recording drums a highly expensive and complex endeavor.
If one decides to record drums at a studio, they will find themselves paying through the nose for a recording engineer and a professional drummer. Bands often don't have the budget to pay for hours of studio time required for their drummer to nail a decent take. Even if the drummer is well versed in the songs when playing gigs, recording in the studio is different in many ways and requires its own experience.
Online drum recording services such as DrumsForYou.com provide a refreshing alternative. Maintaining a studio dedicated to the sole purpose of recording drums, online drum recording provides a simple and quick method of getting a solid drum track.
For those venturing into a studio for the first time, it can be very intimidating not knowing how big the hole in your pocket will be at the end of the day. In online recording studios, a high volume of customers keeping the studio busy recording drums daily allows the service to offer a fixed price rather than charge by the hour. There is no need to collaborate a schedule of meetings with musicians and producers. As soon as one track is finished there is no problem in getting on to the next one.
How Does It Work?
You may ask yourself, how can someone record drums the way I want them without me there to play along, guide and explain what I need?
The answer is – free preview.
This feature is made practical thanks to the special traits inherent to an online recording service. The entire process will usually begin with the user filling out a form specifying parameters such as how they'd like their drums played, at what sample rate they need the track to be recorded and a choice from several snare drums to play. Then the customer is asked to send an mp3 file with a sketch of their track without drums on the left side and a matching click track on the right. The service is then obliged within a certain amount of time to send a preview mix of the drum track over the song. If the customer for some reason doesn't like what they hear, they can ask for changes or scrap the track without paying. If they do like what they hear, upon payment they may choose between online or CD delivery of the full separate tracks as well as a suggested stereo mix.
With this feature, you have nothing to lose by trying. You know exactly how much you'll have to pay, you'll know exactly when you'll get it and you'll know exactly what you're paying for before you need to make your decision. In a studio, being charged by the hour, you take a lot of risks, because you pay for time spent regardless of the result.
The experience and versatility attained by drummers who record parts for songs every day also means they'll probably nail the track the first time. Most people aren't really that picky about having their drums played a certain way and will often trust the drummer's judgment to play what they believe fits best with the sketch provided by the customer.
Who May Benefit from Online Recording?
This unique service can be very useful for budding musicians and bands struggling on their own and professional musical producers alike.
Producers will appreciate the speed and professional quality delivered by this service. Because it's so quick, they effectively won't lose time by trying the service, so their options remain open to go the traditional way if needed.
Thanks to the ever advancing computer industry home studios have become very commonplace these days. They are relatively cheap, easy to build and maintain. Therefore, many budding musicians already have the tools they need to record their sketch and use this service. Until recently, they've had to compromise the live feel of their recordings by using drum loops and samples. Online drum recording services finally allow them to mend what has been until now a consistently weak link in their chain.
Finding talented musicians dedicated to one's cause is also nothing to be sneezed at. Having a demo for your songs that sounds good enough to be on a record can help your wanted-ads on the internet stand out from the crowd. You may find yourself attracting more people to work with you in two weeks than you managed to do in two years.
Not Just Drums
It doesn't stop at drums either. DrumsForYou.com, despite its name, provides services for recording bass, guitars and keyboards as well as drums. Granted that equipment becomes less of an issue when recording these instruments, the expertise of a professional player combined with the speed and no-risk policy of online recording makes these services very attractive.
Musicians trying to produce a good track on their own will probably sing their own track, or have a singer, and play one instrument that they know well. Yet many guitar players like to try playing their own bass, only to find it doesn't sit as tight with the bass drum as they'd like. They would have to choose between keeping their part or take their chances hiring a musician. With online recording, you just order a bass track preview and most chances are you'll have the problem solved.
Indeed, online recording services could very well be the shape of things to come in how music is produced. As the infrastructure of the internet expands and advances globally, online recording services will also advance. For example, it will be possible to hear a recording session online, give comments and even play together in real time from anywhere in the world with low latency. Soon after that you will also be able to see each other. Musicians will effectively be able to rehearse, record and even perform online.
The Bottom Line
Sitting in a fully equipped studio with experienced personnel, including a producer, recording engineer and professional drummer obviously has its advantages. At the end of the day, however, most people look for bang-for-buck solutions – amateurs and professionals alike. Using free preview to solve most of the problems that could arise from not being face to face with the client, online recording services provide a viable solution that fits the bill for all but those who are not willing to compromise on having their own musician play the part note for note.
I highly recommend paying a visit to DrumsForYou.com and taking a venture into online recording. After you do, you may find yourself wondering how you got along without it.
NOTE: RecordAtHome.info, while impressed with this site and it's operations is still awaiting results and so recommends you check this out, but is awaiting results before fully endorsing this group.
Great Drum Sounds From Your Home Studio
By the Audio Recording CenterNothing makes a home recording, any recording for that matter, sound better than great drum sounds. Pro engineers spend more time getting their drum sounds than any other instrument on their recordings and it shows. I've personally seen situations where engineers have spent days, several days in fact getting the drums to sound just so, before they'll move ahead with the rest of the record. What a bunch of wussies! Do they actually think the drum sound will sell any more records?!! Maybe not, but it's still very satisfying to get a great drum sound, and most engineers will go to great lengths to get one.
Kits are changed, heads are changed, cymbals are changed, heads are taped up, heads are un-taped, mics are selected, mics are changed, the kit is surrounded with mirrors, the kit is placed on wood, head damping devices are used, mini pads are cut in half and placed on heads, two kick drums are taped together (end-to-end), and after all these variations are tested, the whole process may begin again with yet another kit, or worse yet, another drummer.
The Rx
So without any further delay kids, here's my prescription for a great drum sound you can get in a (kind of average, these days) home studio: The imaginary studio consists of a console with at least eight inputs (let's hope it's a Mackie or something that has good head room and nice sounding equalizers. Let's also assume you've got at least eight tracks (although you won't need them all for this set-up) on your tape deck and seven decent microphones. My recommendations for drum mics on a budget are 4) Senheiser MD 421's, 1) Shure 57, and 2) Shure SM 81's. There are other more expensive mics that I would use in a pro studio, but I'm not going to mention them because this article assumes you're broke. If you had any money, you wouldn't be reading the crap that I write, you'd be reading the Wall Street Journal.
Rule of Thumb
If the mic has a "pad" switch, use it when recording drums. Always better to pad at the mic than the console.
The Killer Kick
Mic the kick drum with a Senheiser 421, but only after throwing a sandbag in the drum to weigh it down. Let the sandbag touch the head (that the beater hits) just enough to dampen out any obnoxious overtones, but not the good, natural sounding ones. The mic should be placed about half way in to the drum itself and pointing at the beater. If you bring the mic in from the right side of the drum and angle it at the beater you will be avoiding leakage from the snare drum which is a good thing to do. You can experiment with the depth of the mic, but always keep the mic pointed at the drummer's shin bone on the leg that controls the hi-hat and in line with the beater.
The Sumptuous Snare
For the snare drum, it's always a safe and highly effective choice to use the venerable Shure SM57. Bring it in from the audience side of the kit and give it a 45 to 60 degree angle with the capsule about an inch or two above the head. Again, the farther out it is from the head, the roomier the sound, but the more potential you have for phase problems. By the way, it's always a good idea to point the mic at the drummer's crotch - not that it's a particularly good sounding part of the anatomy, but because it's away from the hi-hat and any potential leakage problems.
Thunderous Toms
Mic all three toms with the 421's set at a 45 degree (or there abouts) angle to the drum head with the end of the mic (the capsule end) pointing at an imaginary spot about 2" past the rim nearest you as you place the mic (this is assuming you're working from the audience side of the kit). The floor tom mic can be placed a little close to the center of the head, but not too close. The distance of the mic from the actual head should range between one inch and six inches depending on how "roomy" you like your drums to sound. Once again, the further the mics are from the drums, the roomier the sound, but you'll have to pay more attention to possible phase cancellation problems.
Overheads Easy
For the overheads use the SM 81's with the roll-off kicked in. Place the mics about 16 inches over the cymbals' centers and towed out at about 45 degrees. That will give better separation, and also reduce the amount of low end from the toms that is picked up in the cymbal mics. Who needs bottom end on their cymbals?! Please note that I haven't mentioned a hi-hat mic. That's because in most cases, you don't really need one. You'll get enough hi-ht bleeding in to the other mics. If you have the luxury of plenty of inputs and tracks, go ahead and mic the hi-hat, but chances are you won't need to.
And now here's the quick and dirty run- down on equalization and track assignments:
Kick drum - Assign it to track #2, and give it +2@ 100HZ for bottom, -2@300 - 500HZ for posterity, and +2@2.5 K for added attack. Set your mic pre to somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 o'clock (of course this will depend on your console's individual mic pre's). Your input levels should be peaking around -3db VU. Notice the "VU." If you're using peak meters, you're on your own. I was raised on VU's, and they remain my preference.
Snare drum - Assign it to track #3, and give it +2@100HZ, -2 to -4@300 - 500HZ, and +2@ 5K to8K for more snare and general crispness. Be careful on the top end, too much will make the snare sound thin and paper-like. Set your mic pre to somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 o'clock - possibly lower. Your input levels should be peaking around -2db VU.
Tom-Toms - Assign the high tom to track #4, the mid tom to tracks 4 &5, and the floor tom to track #5. Follow the same guidelines as the snare drum for the equalization. Again, set your mic pres to somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 o'clock or lower. Your input levels should be peaking around -2db VU. Pay special attention the mid tom. Because it's assigned to two tracks simultaneously and appearing down the middle of your monitors, it will generate less level at the meters and in your monitors and should be goosed a little to compensate. Have the drummer do a two-stroke on each tom in succession and you should hear a nice even "tacka - tacka - tacka" moving from one side to the other (I usually pan track #4 full left and track #5 full right).
Overheads - Assign the cymbal over the hi tom to the same track as the hi tom (track #4). That will help keep it in phase. Assign the cymbal on the other side of the kit to the same track as the floor tom (track #5) for the same reason. Cymbal mics usually don't need too much in the way of EQ, but you may want to use the high-pass filter to roll off the bottom end and add just a pinch of top end (around 8 - 10K). Keep the input levels of the cymbals fairly low as they have transients that can fool meters and blow tweeters faster than you can say, "Oops." Final Thoughts
Always check your drums in mono. If anything in the kit seems to disappear, then something's out of phase. Be systematic in tracking down the culprit.
If you follow this prescription closely and then, and only then, start to experiment with slight modifications of positions, level and eq, you'll find yourself getting a drum sound that just might sound professional. Of course, individual drummers have drastically different levels of "feel," and feel is very important to the sound, sometimes more important than the drums themselves or anything you can do in the control room.
Reprinted with permission from Audio Recording Center: Good sound advice for the independent music maker. Includes helpful articles, a well organized Links section, and other useful resources. © 2001 Audio Recording Center. All rights reserved
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