Finally someone has done a raw audio recording of the drums. As much as I enjoy hearing the polished recordings it is equally important to me to hear the drums in a natural state, without compression, equalizing, etc. Obviously a microphone has to be used so that all of us watching can hear what you are playing, like we are sitting in the room with you.
Even an unprocessed mic take cant really be compared to whatever happens when physically there. The mic has its own sound distorsion, and so have your speakers...
Definitely liked the sm81 the best. Seemed to me it captured the most overall sound of the drumkit without losing much of the body and meat of the sound (unlike the sm57).
For a very different approach: I've heard nice results from placing an omni mic somewhere above the kick foot (high enough to be just above the snare batter head). It captures the most important elements with a close sound.
The SM81 was my favourite because it managed top get the most complete drumkit sound overall, however the ribbon mic captured the toms better with more tone, i thought.
At your first demonstration, I was dismayed because I thought _that_ was with one mic, and I had already gotten myself quite a mic setup and thought I'd wasted a decent amount of money. I soon realized that was your full mic setup, and _afterwards_ you demonstrated the single mics; but I was a bit concerned there for a moment!
Nice tip up front. The ribbon sounds the best to me. Maybe getting the ribbon in closer and using the null spot to your advantage. Looks and sounds like the tom is obscuring the snare. You are probably only getting the reflected sound of the snare due to the position. Recording with one mic is such a great way to do it. It can be tricky to set up. But, fun to mix. Isolated they may sound a little distant, but in context with other instruments, they will sound great. Thank you for sharing.
I found using Garageband for iPad with the internal mic to be pretty decent. Placing the iPad over my right shoulder gives good results. The compressor in the drum preset works well. Open a New session...choose Audio Recorder... Select More Sounds... select Drums... choose between “harder edge” “ punchy Room” or “vintage room” for acoustic drums. Works will with congas and percussion
I have found that you can salvage a single-mic mix pretty well by playing with the EQ. As long as the drums are on their own track, you can boost the kick and limit the high end. Of course always ideal to have individual mics/tracks for pieces of kit.
Ribbon mics are dope but very sensitive to dropping them or storing them wrong, or even using without a pop filter on vocals. The ribbon is literally a ribbon that will tear or rip or bend very easily.
Liked the SM57 and the Ribbon mic. trying one or possibly two SM57' for our setup. Thanks for the tutorial. BYW. I'm the sound guy and not the drummer.
@2:40 omg the feel of this fill is so good. how would you describe this rhythm in the fill? the two snare hits feel like they're so different from the rest of the vibe but I love the way they fit in
The iPad would be great for a more lo-fi sound. I think the sm57 was my favorite, but the ribbon combined with the condenser mic would probably make a good sound. Put all 3 together and I think you’ll have every sound you would want
As I heard the sounds you were getting, the warmest and most 'complete' sounds came from the SM57 and the Nady ribbon mic. The iPad mic ... um ... **coughs** ... and the SM81 didn't give me a sense of a full sound of a drum kit. This video was very informative, to be honest - more so than a lot of kit-miking videos because - as others have said - this is just raw audio of drums through a given mic. And, if you're playing the one performance on the kit with four mics samping it to medium, then the test is actually well-standardised across the four mics since they have the same performance on which to be judged. You're getting nearly scientific on us, man! ;)
I use one condenser mic for my kit. I recently moved my drums and set the mic exactly 4 feet away. It sounds good in my iem. I don’t have any fancy products nor software to record with. I have a presonus interface, studio one on a cheap laptop. I also have an iPad mini. I use my iPhone 5 to record my videos and sound for now. I could really use some advice on how to get better sound quality out of my kit.
I was expecting the ribbon mic to be my favorite and it was. I don't like super bright cymbals so that limitation is a benefit to my ears. I have a Cascade Fat Head ribbon mic that I use all the time for single mic recordings, and also in the "Glyn Johns" technique in the floor tom position. I love it and can highly recommend it for drum recordings.
Mic SM57 is best option for overall, tho it's not used how it's meant to be used. (It's to far from drumkit and you can place it upward or even too the ceiling, or if you want explosivness, to the side wall). Ribbon is too high, but it seems it express toms pretty good. SM58 sounds like SM57 but boomy and reverb is "darking" it. iPad is less good, but can be used for flavour or gritt.
iPad has a built-in limiter, which puts the comparison on unequal footing. Mics not being in exact same position is the other compromise. Other than that, its a nice vid. Thanks!
Sometimes, only one mic is all it takes. The entire Benny Goodman concert at Carnage Hall was recorded with just one mic suspended from the ceiling. The whole band sounded great, especially Gene Krupa on the drums.
Well, the iPad was definitely the worst, and the others all had their strengths and weaknesses. The condenser mic sounded best on the cymbals, the ribbon mic on the toms and the SM57 was, in my opinion, the best all round. One caveat, I was listening on my phone's speaker (not ideal - my son borrowed my fantastic Sennheiser PXC 500 headphones and got attacked and had them stolen. He's promised to replace them, but they're not cheap). I've got a Bose Bluetooth speaker and will listen again with that. However, it's always a good idea to check a mix on a ‘grot box’; if it sounds OK on that, you know you've got a decent mix and haven't mixed to your speaker's strengths. I've listened on the Bose speaker and have to agree with everyone else, the SM81 condenser mic sounded best. Apart from that, my previous comments still hold and I thought the SM57 came a fairly close second. Given its price, I'd say it was the best value. Good to know, although I use my digital kit for home recordings and rehearsals (I splashed out on a Roland TD50. It's made such a difference. I had a Yamaha DTX500 before, which was OK, but the Roland is as close to a real kit as I've played. It's actually fun to play! It was expensive, but worth the money).
@@23carterking he's 23 and he earns more than I do. I also told him not to take them out. I can't afford another pair, and he's planning to buy himself a pair. I think if he buys himself a pair it's fair enough that he replaces mine. After all, he shouldn't have taken them in the first place.
thanks great info and demonstration. i thought the sm57 had the most presence. but the drums are tuned too low, they surely could sing a little better at higher tuning. loved those Zil K's though.
This video is like perfect timing for me lol, I just bought a set of budget superlux drum mics, I can’t wait to get into recording. You sound great man, what Drum kit is that? Could you do a video on tuning you drums, like badly tuned drums vs well tuned drums as obviously that has a massive effect on sounding good when recording.
trouble is in a mix the room will get lifted into the sound and if its boxy thats bad you cant eq a lot of that out without thinning the drums, rule 1 yes use 1 mic but get a better space to set it up in somewhere, if you are working on music or a song
How was the sound taken from the iPad? Was it ripped from the video file from the camera app or was it recorded in a more sophisticated app where you can set gain levels and such?
Thanks Stephen for another great comparison video. How is your iPad supported? Could I use a zoom h2n and my phone somehow and sync the video and audio together? Cheers.
Great video! Thank you. I've been recording on my d750 with rode videomicro. The audio was okay but I wanted something better so I upgraded to the rode videomic ntg. So far it's an amazing mic but it's so hot. Even when I set my gain to 1 on camera and mic, and -20 DB on, I still get some Distortion even though I can barely hear it once I upload it to my computer. Just wondered if you had any thoughts. Thanks
so the sm57 seems plenty enough for my standards. but im really afraid that since i am going to be playing while a person sings in the same room (wich is a pretty small room) will it be picking up the singers voice? and will it make the final recording have a double voice? in advance Thank you :)
SM57 sounded best for the snare, no surprise! The other 2 made the rest of the kit sound better, but I think the drums need a bit of tuning and damping
The most important thing though is to use what you have. Some people may only have a 57, in that case, they should use it and really pay attention to mic placement. Don’t let gear (or the lack of) prevent you from recording.
Stephen. The snare sounds terrible in all of them. Single mic you get away with Toms and Kick. Cymbals are better overhead, but everything else was worse.
It depends where you're coming from. If it's that iPad, the single mics are pretty fantastic. If you're used to a studio kit, yeah, they don't sound too great. Cheers!
Finally someone has done a raw audio recording of the drums. As much as I enjoy hearing the polished recordings it is equally important to me to hear the drums in a natural state, without compression, equalizing, etc. Obviously a microphone has to be used so that all of us watching can hear what you are playing, like we are sitting in the room with you.
Even an unprocessed mic take cant really be compared to whatever happens when physically there. The mic has its own sound distorsion, and so have your speakers...
Definitely liked the sm81 the best. Seemed to me it captured the most overall sound of the drumkit without losing much of the body and meat of the sound (unlike the sm57).
David F I agree.
It's a classic overhead mic too. It has lost popularity in recent years, but it remains one of the most versatile small diaphragm condensers.
I agree, the sm81 was the best.
SM81 costs three times a SM57 or SM58. Ipad: forget it.
For a very different approach: I've heard nice results from placing an omni mic somewhere above the kick foot (high enough to be just above the snare batter head). It captures the most important elements with a close sound.
Used this exact same method with a Zoom q2n today by coincidence. Put some reverb on it and sounded absolutely great! Ur right!
The SM81 was my favourite because it managed top get the most complete drumkit sound overall, however the ribbon mic captured the toms better with more tone, i thought.
"Mix yourself" is the best advice to any drummer.
#1 Law: “Thou shalt not Suck”
Random question...has that ipad ever fall on you?
Lilromierome lmfaoooo
Uuuu I want to know that 😃
Weird, this is the most important thing and the most difficult to understand for drummers I work with... Great video!
The Nady Ribbon sounded the best. It picked up the toms, snare, and bass the best, gave them a full resounding sound
My favorite was the sm57. It's interesting to read a lot of different opinions on the comments.
Same. I thought the 57 had good tone and everything sounded really crisp and snappy.
At your first demonstration, I was dismayed because I thought _that_ was with one mic, and I had already gotten myself quite a mic setup and thought I'd wasted a decent amount of money.
I soon realized that was your full mic setup, and _afterwards_ you demonstrated the single mics; but I was a bit concerned there for a moment!
Nice tip up front. The ribbon sounds the best to me. Maybe getting the ribbon in closer and using the null spot to your advantage. Looks and sounds like the tom is obscuring the snare. You are probably only getting the reflected sound of the snare due to the position. Recording with one mic is such a great way to do it. It can be tricky to set up. But, fun to mix. Isolated they may sound a little distant, but in context with other instruments, they will sound great. Thank you for sharing.
I found using Garageband for iPad with the internal mic to be pretty decent. Placing the iPad over my right shoulder gives good results. The compressor in the drum preset works well. Open a New session...choose Audio Recorder... Select More Sounds... select Drums... choose between “harder edge” “ punchy Room” or “vintage room” for acoustic drums. Works will with congas and percussion
I have found that you can salvage a single-mic mix pretty well by playing with the EQ. As long as the drums are on their own track, you can boost the kick and limit the high end. Of course always ideal to have individual mics/tracks for pieces of kit.
Thanks so much for teaching to play with volume control and inspiration to record with one mic 🥁🎤👍😎👍
Well, I’m buying a nady ribbon mic now 🤔. Can’t wait for Friday’s vid. Thank u Stephen
Ribbon mics are dope but very sensitive to dropping them or storing them wrong, or even using without a pop filter on vocals. The ribbon is literally a ribbon that will tear or rip or bend very easily.
Liked the SM57 and the Ribbon mic. trying one or possibly two SM57' for our setup. Thanks for the tutorial. BYW. I'm the sound guy and not the drummer.
@2:40 omg the feel of this fill is so good. how would you describe this rhythm in the fill? the two snare hits feel like they're so different from the rest of the vibe but I love the way they fit in
The iPad would be great for a more lo-fi sound. I think the sm57 was my favorite, but the ribbon combined with the condenser mic would probably make a good sound. Put all 3 together and I think you’ll have every sound you would want
I liked the ribbon mic best, hands down. Which surprised me.
As I heard the sounds you were getting, the warmest and most 'complete' sounds came from the SM57 and the Nady ribbon mic.
The iPad mic ... um ... **coughs** ... and the SM81 didn't give me a sense of a full sound of a drum kit.
This video was very informative, to be honest - more so than a lot of kit-miking videos because - as others have said - this is just raw audio of drums through a given mic.
And, if you're playing the one performance on the kit with four mics samping it to medium, then the test is actually well-standardised across the four mics since they have the same performance on which to be judged. You're getting nearly scientific on us, man! ;)
I use one condenser mic for my kit. I recently moved my drums and set the mic exactly 4 feet away. It sounds good in my iem. I don’t have any fancy products nor software to record with. I have a presonus interface, studio one on a cheap laptop. I also have an iPad mini. I use my iPhone 5 to record my videos and sound for now. I could really use some advice on how to get better sound quality out of my kit.
Thanks for the tip! I don't have a lot of mics for my band so this is great.
SM57 sounds the best "as is." I think it was too far away, however.
You should do a video on the Yamaha EAD 10.
Nice feature & points. Digging the 81 but dug the warmth of the 2nd one too
The ribbon wins to my ear!
I felt like the dynamic compresses the tin nicer, even though you're sacrificing the roundness off of the skins.
SM57 to my ears
I was expecting the ribbon mic to be my favorite and it was. I don't like super bright cymbals so that limitation is a benefit to my ears. I have a Cascade Fat Head ribbon mic that I use all the time for single mic recordings, and also in the "Glyn Johns" technique in the floor tom position. I love it and can highly recommend it for drum recordings.
Mic SM57 is best option for overall, tho it's not used how it's meant to be used. (It's to far from drumkit and you can place it upward or even too the ceiling, or if you want explosivness, to the side wall). Ribbon is too high, but it seems it express toms pretty good. SM58 sounds like SM57 but boomy and reverb is "darking" it. iPad is less good, but can be used for flavour or gritt.
Me and my band are going to record for the first time this weekend and this is going to be value information for when we record my drums.
I love the SM57
iPad has a built-in limiter, which puts the comparison on unequal footing. Mics not being in exact same position is the other compromise. Other than that, its a nice vid. Thanks!
Sometimes, only one mic is all it takes. The entire Benny Goodman concert at Carnage Hall was recorded with just one mic suspended from the ceiling. The whole band sounded great, especially Gene Krupa on the drums.
This is great advice. Thanks.
Well, the iPad was definitely the worst, and the others all had their strengths and weaknesses. The condenser mic sounded best on the cymbals, the ribbon mic on the toms and the SM57 was, in my opinion, the best all round. One caveat, I was listening on my phone's speaker (not ideal - my son borrowed my fantastic Sennheiser PXC 500 headphones and got attacked and had them stolen. He's promised to replace them, but they're not cheap). I've got a Bose Bluetooth speaker and will listen again with that. However, it's always a good idea to check a mix on a ‘grot box’; if it sounds OK on that, you know you've got a decent mix and haven't mixed to your speaker's strengths.
I've listened on the Bose speaker and have to agree with everyone else, the SM81 condenser mic sounded best. Apart from that, my previous comments still hold and I thought the SM57 came a fairly close second. Given its price, I'd say it was the best value. Good to know, although I use my digital kit for home recordings and rehearsals (I splashed out on a Roland TD50. It's made such a difference. I had a Yamaha DTX500 before, which was OK, but the Roland is as close to a real kit as I've played. It's actually fun to play! It was expensive, but worth the money).
Dont get your kid to buy them for you, just because he got attacked. Buy them yourself, he probably needs the money more than you do.
@@23carterking he's 23 and he earns more than I do. I also told him not to take them out. I can't afford another pair, and he's planning to buy himself a pair. I think if he buys himself a pair it's fair enough that he replaces mine. After all, he shouldn't have taken them in the first place.
thanks great info and demonstration. i thought the sm57 had the most presence. but the drums are tuned too low, they surely could sing a little better at higher tuning. loved those Zil K's though.
The ribbon killed it wow
This video is like perfect timing for me lol, I just bought a set of budget superlux drum mics, I can’t wait to get into recording. You sound great man, what Drum kit is that? Could you do a video on tuning you drums, like badly tuned drums vs well tuned drums as obviously that has a massive effect on sounding good when recording.
trouble is in a mix the room will get lifted into the sound and if its boxy thats bad you cant eq a lot of that out without thinning the drums, rule 1 yes use 1 mic but get a better space to set it up in somewhere, if you are working on music or a song
How was the sound taken from the iPad? Was it ripped from the video file from the camera app or was it recorded in a more sophisticated app where you can set gain levels and such?
I thought the ipad sounded sweet for what it is too
Great video! When recording where are your levels? Are you ever peaking?? How do you set your gain??
Definitely the sm57 and the iPad the absolute worse. The sm57 has more clarity as to the correct sounds from each instrument.
i thought the sm57 was best - didn't expect that!
Might have issues trying to record pretty fast metal with double bass on one mic but I could see it working for most other styles.
For fast metal drumming you can just use triggers for the bass drum.
@@JessevanNijnatten Sort of defeats the whole purpose of using 1 mic when you need to use $400 - $500 in equipment?
@@blackmetalden you will need them anyway if you wanna play fast (200-300BPM)
what gear are you recording through?..interface?
Thanks Stephen for another great comparison video. How is your iPad supported? Could I use a zoom h2n and my phone somehow and sync the video and audio together? Cheers.
Nick Ferrence this question is interesting for me, too 📌
Great advice, but I'm still not at the level where I have super control over dynamics... 😂
SM81 for the win IMO.
Great video! Thank you. I've been recording on my d750 with rode videomicro. The audio was okay but I wanted something better so I upgraded to the rode videomic ntg. So far it's an amazing mic but it's so hot. Even when I set my gain to 1 on camera and mic, and -20 DB on, I still get some Distortion even though I can barely hear it once I upload it to my computer. Just wondered if you had any thoughts. Thanks
Ribbon mic. Dark and boomy without too much attack
so the sm57 seems plenty enough for my standards. but im really afraid that since i am going to be playing while a person sings in the same room (wich is a pretty small room) will it be picking up the singers voice? and will it make the final recording have a double voice? in advance Thank you :)
It would be way better to first record the drums and then afterwards record the vocals
and @denkobert,
Yeah, I'd record the vocals after, but with the drum recording playing to the singer's in-ears.
SM81 sounded best overall but the ribbon mic sounded nice, quite old school sounding. Reckon that would be good for jazz or some lo fi hip hop.
great feel - nice
Home boy looks like captain America before the secret sauce 😂
Your drums sound great!
what mic to buy for just 1 mic drums?
the sm81 sounds good!
thanks....always great -
I really appreciate your videos man and I think the like/dislike ratio is a testament to that!
how do you get an overhead camera?
8:05
Well, I have the I Pad, I don´t know about the drums tho
Ipad was my favorite sound bye far
SM57 sounded best for the snare, no surprise! The other 2 made the rest of the kit sound better, but I think the drums need a bit of tuning and damping
Can I record with a sm58 ?
3:05 yur
SM 81
81 had the most "balanced" and full sound to my ears....
My biggest problem has always been the cymbals killing the sound of everything on mic
2 and 3 combined
Like the ribbon mic best, iPad is a no no!
I am only using my iphone.. for non professional recording I guess that is okay
Also, since the SM57 is a dynamic mic, it's useless for long-distance recording. Do this with condensers only.
The most important thing though is to use what you have. Some people may only have a 57, in that case, they should use it and really pay attention to mic placement. Don’t let gear (or the lack of) prevent you from recording.
what is the name of that roll he does at 5:22 ?
mindyo biznis you mean a buzz roll/multiple bounce roll?
Condenser mic sounded the best
Nady Ribbon sounded the smoothest. The cymbals didn't wash over anything. Just pleasing to listen to.
I think the iPad mic sounded the best. :)
Laptop attached to the ceiling.... what could go wrong?
:3 ipad cuse sounds like my recording
Great common sense.
I prefer the 57, but I don't think the drums themselves sound very good.
Ipod was clearly best
its funny because the Ipad was probably the most expensive
Do this for casual videos. Don't do this for professional recording since you can't mix the drums.
Dude needs some protein
my neck is gay
sm81 sound better
Stephen. The snare sounds terrible in all of them. Single mic you get away with Toms and Kick. Cymbals are better overhead, but everything else was worse.
so much talk ugh
Misleading title. How to record a "fantastic" drum sound with one mic. There was nothing fantastic about those sounds.
It depends where you're coming from. If it's that iPad, the single mics are pretty fantastic. If you're used to a studio kit, yeah, they don't sound too great.
Cheers!
Too much effort. Just mic up every drum :)