Recording Drums: The Overhead Mic Techniques You Need to Know
Вставка
- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- Justin Colletti walks us through some of the most useful techniques for recording drums, including diagonal spaced pair, ORTF, Glyn Johns, Recorderman and more.
Hear them back-to-back and pick your favorites!
Big thanks to JZ Microphones for making this series free to the public. Check them out at jzmic.com
Be sure not to miss their Black Friday Sale! And enter the code SONICSCOOP at checkout for FREE shipping.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
8:16 Classic Spaced Pair
8:40 Diagonal Spaced Pair (HH side forward)
9:02 Diagonal Spaced Pair (Ride side forward)
10:59 Over Shoulder Pair
14:54 Glyn Johns (50% pan)
15:16 Recorderman (far setup)
15:40 Recorderman (close setup)
16:27 Mono Overhead (w/kick mic)
19:34 XY
19:55 ORTF
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Diagonal spaced pair (HH side forward) was my favourite by far. Kick and snare nicely centered, nice stereo width and good sound overall.
I was just going through your original footage about a week ago, and I told my wife "I wish he could update this." I appreciate the work greatly.
Shocked at how good the Over Shoulder Pair sounds.
Good stuff! I just have to clarify that the point of Recorderman is to have BOTH the snare and kick equidistant from each microphone, otherwise it's just a version of a spaced pair. Check out the video from Creative Sound Lab where the actual Recorderman guy explains the technique.
More Accurate Time Stamps + Ride Cymbal Groove Time Stamps
8:18 Classic Spaced Pair
8:43 Diagonal Spaced Pair (HH side forward)
9:04 Diagonal Spaced Pair (Ride side forward)
10:59 Over Shoulder Pair
14:55 Glyn Johns (50% pan)
15:17 Recorderman (far setup)
15:40 Recorderman (close setup)
16:27 Mono Overhead (w/kick mic)
19:35 XY
19:56 ORTF
Ride Cymbal Groove
8:26 Classic Spaced Pair
9:12 Diagonal Spaced Pair (Ride side forward)
11:07 Over Shoulder Pair
19:43 XY
When you’re measuring from the snare, there is usually a slightly worn spot on the drum head where the stick lands. Measure from the center of that spot. If it’s a fresh head, have the drummer play it for a few minutes and you’ll be able to see the spot. Thanks!
Once I saw the acoustic micing video I was hoping for this! Thanks Justin you Rock 🤘
The recorder (GJ’s technique high ) sounds the most even! I would use that in this room and drummer!
Thanks Buddy.That was a very helpful video.I guess each technique has it's place when considered in context of the entire recording.However I liked the Recorder Man close position and the ORTF,probably because they give the perspective of the drummer and the drummer is playing the way he/she hears the sounz,reacting to all the nuances of the kit in the space.
That was easily one of the most informative videos I've ever seen on the topic of mic'ing drums, and believe me, I've watched many hours worth of videos on the subject. Thank you so much. Cheers from your latest subscriber!!
same as the old video, ORTF would probably be my fav for combining with close mics! Provided you’re in a good room of course. Also loved Glyn Johns for a tight old school minimal setup, though I wonder about placement with the ride cymbal. Spaced pair with HH forward sounded great too, and I gotta try out that Recorderman close setup!! Mono + panning close mics always works for me, but I ought to experiment more..thanks for the vid!
Thank you so much! Best regards from Madrid - Spain.
👏🏻Excellent as always Justin👍🏻 This gave me a few extra options. Thank you 🙏🏻
I often use the recorderman and add extra mic for snare and kick. Great video! 👍🤘
Great one. Jeez those mics are awesome.
The recorder man technique in close position is where it's at for me. Simply stunning. I wonder what it'd sound like with another FOK mic
yeah definitely diagonal with HH forward worked best here
The snare-overhead techniques like Recorderman and Glyn Johns had a MUCH more solid snare sound. All the other techniques had more of a roomier snare sound, somewhat as if there was a gap in the coverage pattern. As a result, if I only had 3 mics, I'd definitely use a snare-overhead technique. They do sound funny in wide stereo, but hey if you're limited to 3 mics, beggars can't be choosers. If I were doing the others, I'd definitely want a close mic on the snare, so minimum of 4 mics (K+S+2OH). Classic spaced pair pulled the snare a little too far to one side for my taste. Doesn't have to be fully aligned, but on my setup it felt like it was panned 50% to the right, where I would have preferred 10-20%
Would be the best demonstration of overhead techniques. It's only missing MS. :) Great stuff nonetheless, Justin. Appreciate you highlighting the OTS pair.
TIMESTAMPS:
8:16 - Classic Spaced Pair
8:40 - Diagonal Spaced Pair (HH side forward)
9:02 - Diagonal Spaced Pair (Ride side forward)
10:59 - Over Shoulder Pair
14:54 - Glyn Johns (50% pan)
15:16 - Recorderman (far setup)
15:40 - Recorderman (close setup)
16:27 - Mono Overhead (w/kick mic)
19:34 - XY
19:55 - ORTF
Thank you! Added to the description.
Over shoulder shoulder pair, that particular engineer with ribbon mics, is it Steeve A. ?
I see that the JZ mics are cardioid. I usually see A B couples with omni mics. Does the cardioid pattern changes the placement + the setero image / location ?
How high above the kit are you doing the xy
Recorderman close sounds like the kick mic was mixed in, at least compared to the rest. Was this the case or was this just a resonant peak of the room at those exact locations or what?
A little bit of kick was mixed into all of them in exactly the same proportions. What you're probably hearing is the mic placement picking up more of the kick beater head, which makes it sound a little clearer and more pronounced. Definitely a potential advantage of the technique!
-Justin
is it possible to get a video or even just an email on large room drum mic technics? its extremely easy to find small room technics online everywhere but I have 1000sq ft and 23' ceilings and would love to guidance on how you would aproach a room like that. I of course have played with a ton if different stuff but im always looking for an outside perspective. Cheers.
It’s basically the same stuff, but, my favorite thing to do in a large room is surround the drum kit with gobos. (Thick, portable baffling).
This way, you can get a tight, controlled, small room drum feel out of a big room.
And, If you put some mics outside of those gobos, they pick up only the room ambience, making the room sound even more enormous to dial in to taste.
Best of both worlds. Give it a try! Let me know how it works out.
-Justin
@@SonicScoop ya I've been doing that for around 7 years now and had great results... whats your fav room position in a room like that? facing kit, facing away... on the floor... I have played with all of the above and so far the floor gives me the best low end but about 12' up and facing the kit around 13' away has the best overall "room" sound to it.
behind the drummer is albini method
Let's not forget M/S and Blumlein configurations.
I mention those properties in the acoustic guitar mic video I put out just before this one: ua-cam.com/video/NEbj0Tm379I/v-deo.html
I was using single capsule mics for this one so we are looking at cardioid techniques only.
But great options, you can hear them here:
ua-cam.com/video/IfedsTx32ak/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/ybCV8JqfhJU/v-deo.html