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With home computer recording as sophisticated and reasonably price as it is, getting a studio quality sound when recording drums is within reach of most serious drummers and musicians. This is not to say the mixing and mastering of these raw tracks is easy. In my opinion this is usually better left to pros with years of experience and high end consoles and processing gear. If you are just doing drum or band demos, than a unit such as the Alesis "Masterlink" is enough to handle the post tracking duties. The idea is to track the drums for a quality of sound as if it were a "real album" in a major studio. That way you're covered either way - demo or full blown CD release. To get started you will need either a dedicated multitrack or an interface to use with your computer. That's a topic of its own. A few to look into are Pro Tools Digi 002/003, MOTU and M-Audio interfaces, along with the Yamaha, Roland, Korg, and Akai stand alone digital recorders. If the thought of recording drums combined with a computer and music makes you dizzy than consider the dedicated all-in-one box solution. Believe me I understand the feeling after a few "patience testing" days with Pro Tools. However, once it's running smoothly the control you get is well worth it.
Also having a large monitor (or two) is a thousand times better than those little
LCD screens on the digital recorders. (note: monitor outputs are on a few of the
high end dedicated recorders)
Miking Drums On A Budget
The first step after getting your recording gear is to purchase a few drum
microphones. My suggestion is to get three and preferably four to start.
Two condensers for overheads, a bass drum mic and one for the snare.
The reasoning is that the two overhead mics will capture the whole drum kit and the kick drum mic will record what the condenser mics don't pick up. You could start with only one overhead mic but stereo micing really gives the drum set a much clearer and more spacious sound. There is a huge selection of low to mid priced condenser microphones available. I have used a pair of MXL 603s with excellent results and now have a pair of EV Cardinals. Some engineers like the really full sized large diaphragm models. The only drawback is you need heavy duty stands as they can topple over on lighter mic stands. Shure, EV, MXL, Rode, Audio Technica, and others have many large condensers to consider that are resonably priced. An industry standard bass drum mic is the AKG D112 which does really sound great in most situations. Very versatile and full sounding. My choice these days is an EV N/D 868 and it sounds incredible. It's also easier to place inside the kick drum than the AKG D112 due to more compact size.
The Shure Beta 91 and Audix D6 also are superb bass drum mics worth checking
out. The snare mic choice is really easy. The Shure SM57 is "the" industry standard
for snare drum, and one of the best bargains in new microphones.
Microphone Basics For Recording DrumsMiking drums can be a bit complicated due to the nature of all the competing frequencies, so take it slow and learn from trial and error. Try placing the bass drum mic inside the drum between two and six inches from and facing the batter head. Make sure it will not move or vibrate by using a mini boom stand or taping it down to a secure pillow, etc.Place the snare mic aiming at and very close to the top head. Keep the hi-hat in mind when tweaking the snare mic position. The overheads usually cover the cymbals pretty well, but the high frequencies of the hats will leak through. Two common overhead miking techniques are "spaced" left and right pointing straight down or very clsoe to each other and crossed in an X-Y pattern facing down at the kit. The X-Y method tends to minimize phase problems, with the trade off of less stereo separation. Take these ideas and experiment with you own recording twists. With more mics you can individually get close to the toms like the snare drum, preferably using very narrow pattern directional dynamic mics. Sennheiser, Audix and Shure among others have very high quality compact mics made specifically for recording drums. Just A Start ...This intro to recording drums is a starting point for you to expand on with your own research into the digital gear and microphones that fit your situation. It pays off to put in a few weeks of investigation using the internet and visiting your local music store before making your final purchase decisions. |
