How to Mic a Drum Set in 1,2,3,4, and More Mics
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- Опубліковано 20 чер 2024
- More videos like How to Mic a Drum Set in 1,2,3,4, and More Mics 👉 • Studio & Recording Les...
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Join Sweetwater’s Mitch Gallagher and Nick D’Virgilio as they explore multiple ways to mic up a drum kit using 1, 2, 3, 4, or more microphones!
After you watch, check out Sweetwater.com today for all your music instrument and pro audio needs! 👉 imp.i114863.net/4eYPa1
0:00 - Intro
1:10 - One Mic
2:54 - Two Mics in Stereo
4:04 - One Kick Mic and One Overhead Mic
5:01 - One Kick Mic with Stereo Overhead Mics
6:09 - One Overhead, One Snare Mic, and One Kick Mic
7:43 - Glyn Johns Method
10:24 - Two Overheads, One Snare Mic, and One Kick Mic
11:27 - 2 Overheads, One Snare Mic, One Kick Mic, Two Tom Mics
12:41 - Two Overheads, One Snare Mic, One Kick Mic, Two Tom Mics, Two Room Mics
14:05 - Impressions
15:34 - The Mics We Used
18:29 - Thanks For Watching!
#Sweetwater
Got a mic? Then you can record your drum kit! If this video helped you let us know by hitting like and subscribe🔔Thanks for watching!
How do you feel about subkicks?
@@acuralee depends on the vibe you're going for. Using a subkick in conjunction with a kick out and kick in allows for a neat sound when crossing over each mic at specific low mid and high frequencies. 500 and 2k. Bus them after crossing over and eq it as one kick drum mic. Stellar!
T²
If I'm miking a set with only one mic, I'm doing it right in the middle of the kit - put it low, right over the kick, in between the high and mid toms, pointed at the snare. It works unbelievably well to pick up everything on the kit and doesn't get much of the room in comparison to the single mic position shown here.
Yes, this is the best way to do it with one mic. One mic out in front will always sound terrible.
what mic are you using ?
I got a pretty good sound doing a condenser in front / high on the kick 1 inch in front maybe
Mhmmmm facts
Yeah these minimal mic videos they always put the mics too far away, especially when they use the overheads, the overheads need to be waayyy lower, and preferably instead in front or back sound much better.
You bet! (New drinking game)
Came here to make this comment
Tight is a better game. Let's tighten things up!
Haha love it! And man this video really helped
‘nice and punchy’
Or “add a little EQ”
I really appreciate not only how informative this video is, but how positive these two are towards all the methods. I'm working with a four mic setup right now, but hearing how good the mono setups sounded made me much more confident in my abilities and resources currently available to me. At no point did I feel like I was being talked down to. Really appreciate this, guys. Thank you.
Editor must have had fun lining that up at the end lol
The outro with all the different setups was dope. Good idea to all those involved.
It's amazing that Nick was able to give such a consistent performance that you could do that final edit with all the setups.
👏👏👏
Examples:
1 mic
1:25
2 mics
3:00 4:18
3 mic
5:20 6:31 8:56
4 mics
10:56
6 mics
11:58
8 mics
13:02
Pure 5 star video content, guys, thank you to Sweetwater for setting the bar so high and doing this awesome side-by-side video and discussion!
🙌🙌
The Glyn Johns method all day for me. You could add a room mic to that setup to get control over the “roomy” stuff. Pull down the 300Hz snare boxing - the honk - and increase the tops and you are good to go. Also put the right side mic a bit higher away from right side crashes.
I love the sound of that set up as well! My question is can I use that set up for live performance or will o get feedback? Thanks!
@@michaeljacob3231 I'm just guessing, so take that with a grain of salt. If you have lot's of loud monitors (rock or metal) on the stage, it probably will not work very well, because the 3 mics will catch a lot of the unwanted monitor sound. In that situation you want every drum as closely miked as possible.
It could maybe work with jazz, I guess.
Fantastic video. Thanks, Mitch and Nick! Both superb as always. As drummer since '82, I've tried many mic techniques, with the classic Glyn Johns being my favorite by far for "live" sessions and demos.
Very thorough, thank you! That was an excellent summary of microphone techniques for drums, and I liked the extra focus around 2 and 3 microphones, for us that like to keep it simple and phase issue free!
How valuable! Thanks guys for making this video! I was expecting to go down a confusing rabbit hole, and here you were! Thank you, so much!
Great of Sweetwater to make these videos. Highly interesting, and builds a lot of goodwill.
Putting all snippets at the end is nice way of comparing. Great idea!
Got my Tascam US 16x08 from u guys a couple months ago , am learning , thanks for the help at my over half a century of age !!!!! nice to have options on drums as a guitar player I need this
This is a great video to bookmark, as there are many times when I’m confronted with a situation outside the studio, where they have limited numbers of mics. You opened my eyes with the idea of a single overhead with direct mic’ing of kick and snare. I have achieved good results also with a pair of overheads plus kick. As for Glyn John’s, you took the mystery away from that, and the next time I’m limited to four mics, I may try it. Glyn John’s plus two room mics would also be very flexible, as you mentioned. Thanks again!
Fantastic job guys! most complete approach on variations ive seen on the capturing drumset sound ive seen . thanks so much.
Thanks for checking it out, Louis! 👍
Just what I needed! Gonna start recording soon!
very interesting video! just got my first acoustic drum kit and will try some of those tricks for sure!
ive found that placing a 57 about a foot above the bass drum beater, facing directly upwards gives a fairly good sound, and gives a deacently balanced sound.
That ocean sunset looking drum finish is GORGEOUS
thanks for sharing precious knowledge!!!
Love nick's videos always they are great!
Great info well presented. Exactly what I needed to know.
This is super helpful for guys trying to get into making professional UA-cam videos. Thanks Sweetwater🤘🏼
Great video, lots of useful info packed in there. If you're doing a follow-up, it'd be interesting to hear different stereo recording types. We only got to hear two here, the Glyn Johns and the A/B-pair. It would be really cool to be able to compare X/Y, ORTF, M/S and Blumlein stereo setups in the same vein as this video.
Great video, thanks for the comprehensive comparison!
😎👍
The Glyn Johns sounds amazing. Their seams to be an openness to it that is very appealing.
Every gig I've played in the last 17 years I've always had the bass drum mic'd up even in a small pub corner / cafe gig. Due to convenience I think I limit at three: bass, left overhead and right overhead. Any more and it's more gear, cables and time setting up.
But more importantly that is a beautiful looking kit.
You are 100% correct. I was always telling bar bands this exact same thing. Always bring a mic for the kick regardless of the size of the room, PA, etc. Anything more than that, is a cherry on top.
That one mic method sounds better than some kits i've heard with 10 mics 😂
Amazing, informative video.
Outstanding presentation 👏
You are doing great work. Thank you. Respect. Love
That’s one nice drum set!
You can check it out here: www.sweetwater.com/shop/how-to-mic-a-drum-set-with-1-2-3-4-and-more-mics/?UA-cam&Referral&ObDMKuromg8
very good demonstration!
Cool edit at the end!
Another great video guys. What was the panning of the Glyn John's more or less? I've seen videos of him saying he never hard pans them but never seen any mention if they're still equally panned or if one mic is panned more than the other, etc.
Nice.super.solid.great.and all the best.good recorded. Sounds.
This was so informative, thank you so much. So far I really dig the Glyn Johns Technique. I’m really liking the mono sound. For some reason, the stereo sound is too roomy for me and my music, although I’m sure the engineers can mix it to sound amazing either way.
Thanks again!
It's amazing how the Glyn Johns method still sounds cooler than using 4 and even 5 mics.
Mitch says it’s one of his favorites
Yup
Just be careful when hitting a crash symbol
Even one mic can sound great in a song. In some songs, it’s might be the best match.
@@ramencurry6672 So true, you gotta do what the song demands
@@Gretsch0997 why?
Very INFORMATIVE....
That Glyn Johns really left me speechless.
Really need to try that with my kits!
Definitely!
This is an excellent video. Honest teachers. No doubt that you care about sound and songs. I didn't feel like this was a video that was overtly trying to sell me something. I felt like it was just a fantastic summary and I'll share it.
About LZ: my fav Glyn Johns drum sounds are those of LZ III (and also 'Dazed and Confused' from LZ I). If he managed that with only 3 mics as you say, that's pretty amazing (Jimmy likely helped in his production role too). IMHO, LZ II & IV sound overly 'live/raunchy', HoH sounds 'muted' somehow and PG sounds 'boomy' on a lot of the tracks, etc.
I'm used 8 mic drum on the
Kick
Snare top , snare bot
Hh
Tom1, Floor
OvL - OvR
Miking live a set of drums by 1 OH and 1 kick, Glyn John technique, and also 1 kick 1 snare and 1 OH...
Overall, these 3 technique are the best for me on a situation with limited slots for mic input on the mixer....
I do use dynamics for close mic like kick and snare and a condenser with a large diaphragm for OH...
Awesome video guys!
I love the show but I’ll love to see how you EQ your overhead mics and room mic as well.
Excellent work.
Thanks, Mark! 😎
Literally just bought my first mic kit and this shows up!
Edit: bought it from Sweetwater: Samson dk707
There aren’t many resources like this, other than Glenn fricker, who just does metal.
Not to mention his "techniques" just produce garbage
Glenn Fricker has the best thumbnail pics on UA-cam
then you are not looking. you tube is filled with how to mic drums and mic videos.
@@AP02112 lots of times, not always. got some of our work to compare so i can see who is judging?
@@morbidmanmusic what I said was that there aren’t many resources on UA-cam like what sweetwater provides. Those channels are not like this
These two are the GOAT.
Great, informative video! I’m just a home amateur with one condenser and one decent vocal dynamic mic. One time I used the condenser as an overhead, and placed the dynamic on the beater side of the kick drum, but facing slightly upward so as to catch some snare drum. With some eq, I actually think I got a decent sound.
I like the single mic.. very natural sounding.. no phase
We need more Mitch and Nick videos.
The Glyn Johns Method really surprised me !! Great sound and in my opinion even better than with the snare mic
Great and usable video. From my perspective with all the different variants of 1-3 mics it was only the toms that seemed to really suffer. Their pitch being higher sounding and somewhat distant, but still usable. Tuning the toms differently could help with that maybe, not sure. It's amazing how well 2 good overhead mics can pick up the cymbals so well these days.
Great video.
Great video
Can't forget a nice crush/crotch mic. My choice is the blue hummingbird or beta 87c. You can use just about anything! Lots of compression!
This is Excellent, will be taking this knowledge into the studio next month, do you think these techniques would have sounded different recorded on oldschool tape?
Hey, Laurence. Great question! The recording techniques presented here apply to all recording mediums, including tape. Feel free to reach out with any other questions. Thanks!
Jason Filloramo, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1281, Jason_Filloramo@sweetwater.com
Drinking game idea: take a shot every time Nick says "You bet".
Hie, thank you for the video! I would like to ask would the setups shown here be any different for a live setting?
Hey, Usuthu. Thanks for reaching out.
Absolutely. It all depends on the sound you’re after, though. And also the venue. If you’re in a church for example, I would definitely close-mic the drums. When I’m doing gigs at bars, I tend to only mic the kick and maybe the snare.
I hope this helps.
Jason Thiele, Senior Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1391, jason_thiele@sweetwater.com
i really like the first one
❤ this channel
What cymbals were used in this vid? I‘m especially wondering about that right hand crash.
These how to videos are very informative. The big question is do you use the same techniques/placements with a 5,6,or 7 piece kit?
cool vid, thx
Ok the sound of that one mic in front of the kit sounds INCREDIBLE, a lot better than some close mic setups I’ve heard
Question how would it sound if I separate the drums etc to separate speakers and separate speakers for vocals?
I think that Mid Side mic techniques could have also been explored in this video, for example using a cardiod pattern mic pointed at the snare from above (mid) and using a figure 8 mic turned 90 degrees (side) pointing at the first mic.* I think it's a very good way to get a stereo image, especially in an imperfect room.
*The "side" signal would be duplicated, hard panned left and right, and one of the 2 signals would have polarity reversed.
So nice to hear a kit from the audience perspective vs the drummer's perspective. I prefer to hear it that way even though I'm a drummer. It seems wonky to hear a mix that places the listener behind the drum kit.
As a drummer/ engineer I agree.
I mix as though someone is watching the band. Not playing in the band.
@@billyrayvalentine7972 It's funny how some people are adamant about doing it the opposite way. Makes me wonder if we should also filter the amp sounds as so that they too are from a drummer's perspective :)
This is a very good video.
Wow, the single mic sounded amazing
Seems simple is best 👍
Is there any resource that explains how to mix these many mic inputs? Would it be a hardware mixer?
Everyday is a learning day, @Sweetwater
I have 1 mic no stand what i do lye it on the floor right by snare hihat and kick sounds great cheers from holland
I like this video very much! But It made me wonder where to find recordings with the 8 mike setup. In my opinion all recordings (with acoustic drums) should sound like this 😃 So please link some recordings with this technique (8 Mikes) in these reactions❤
My drummer has the symbols rather high (hail, hail rock and roll); in this case how high do you put the overheads? Or where do you put them?
What’s the ride you using on the kit? Thanks
What mic stands are you using with the overheads?
My drummer has kick in, kick out, kick tone, snare top/bottom, hi hat, ride, 2 rooms, overhead, 4 tom mics and a stairwell mic.
Thanks for this superb vid.
A question.
Say I use two overhead condensers.
Two dynamics on kick and snare.
If I take these into my Zoom MRS-8 recorder..one into each track... Will I then EQ and pan to my liking, then bounce onto one track.. ??...
If so..will that, then, be a single, stereo, track?
I'm not using pc technology.
A beginner.. basics.
Thanks.
Nick
Hey, Nick! Thanks so much for reaching out. That’s a great question. The MRS8 will bounce all of your recorded tracks into a single stereo track, which is technically 2 tracks - 1 left and 1 right. This way, all your panning that you do in the mixing stage will be represented within the final mix.
I hope this helps!
Nick Pasquino, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3230, nick_pasquino@sweetwater.com
Now not all mics are created equal lol... What mic did you use for the single set up? That Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun? Things like 1,000 bucks lol. Oh man I'd hope it would sound good.
Edit: it's awesome watching two gents who are amazing in their respective fields giving honest opinions to using minimal items to record one of the most difficult instruments to record. The knowledge between these two is priceless and I'm sure they've got stories for days. (Yes Nick to me knows his stuff, especially being a spoke person for Sweetwater he has hands on knowledge and is a great player. His Sonor kit sounds 2nd to none!
in the 4 mic tecnique with 2 overheads, you have to set the overheads at the same distance from the snare to deal with phase, like in the 3 mic "Glyn Johns" method?
What kit was nick playing for the demonstration?
Two mikes out front had a nice jazzy sound in the crashes. Overall ... probably gotta go Glynn Johns method.
What mixer and speakers are you using?
Is there a general rule to keep in mind with phase? They mention room mics and a piezo mic attached to the drummer, tom bottom mics. The 3 mic method with one on the side of the kit, they mentioned phase measurement based on distance to the snare, could this make the floor tom out of phase? Is it a compromise? How do you know when there is potential for phase issues, besides just listening to playback in a control room and using your ears.
Can you get a bad recording with Nick playing? I think not. And also, that Mapex kit looks and sounds beautiful.
Is this with the mics straight into the recorder or are they connected to preamps?
I play in a rock cover band that usually plays in smallish bars and I’d like to mic my toms and snare I already mic the bass drum but whenever I bring up micing the toms and snare I get shut down because “when you mic the toms and snare it makes it too loud” but I just want it for tone not volume how do I convince them that it would be better to mic the toms and snare to sound more professional and it doesn’t make it any louder because you can turn it down.
Is it best to have an open port hole in the front kick drum head and what is the advantage with or without the hole when miking a kick drum?
Hey, Bradley. Thanks so much for writing. They both have their advantages. Cutting a hole into the kick drum will knock about 20% of all frequencies out of the kick drum. It’s more noticed in the low end. It is easier to mic the kick drum with a hole, though.
I personally prefer the sound of a non-vented kick drum.
Thanks again.
Jason Thiele, Senior Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1391, jason_thiele@sweetwater.com
What’s the software you are using in the laptop?
what was the 1 mic first one I think. Would love to know the name of that mic
Hey guys, what's you approach to mic overheads? (Specially in this video) Thanks a lot!
I like pointing them at the drummer ears. That’s just me, experiment and see what works for your room!
The sound of setup one and 2 was bass drum heavy because of the port. You could modify this by not cutting open the head. 🤷♂️ Glyn Johns method was the coolest is my opinion.
I’m assuming there’s some really good DAW work happening to get this good of sound out of 2 mics