Miking Drums - by Paul White, Editor of Sound On Sound Magazine

You may have read articles in Sound On Sound or recording textbooks about studio sessions in the 70s where the engineer spent three days trying to get a good kick drum sound, but really there's no great secret to getting a good recorded drum sound and the same miking techniques are broadly applicable in live situations.

Though it seems obvious, you have to start with a well tuned kit fitted with decent heads — and in my experience not everone does! The way the drummer plays also affects the sound — no two drummers will sound the same, even on the same kit. If the drums ring excessively, small pads of tissue can be taped to the heads, but don't overdamp the kit as it will sound like a set of old suitcases when the rest of the instruments are added to the mix. The apparent amount of ring diminishes when the rest of the mix is playing so it’s best to leave the drums sounding slightly too live rather than overdamping them. Avoid rattles and pedal squeaks where possible but again don't get too paranoid about these as they'll be mainly hidden by the rest of the mix and anyway, modern sample-based drum sounds tend to include some rattle to make them sound authentic!

In rock and pop work, kick drums tend to have a hole cut in their front head, which makes it easier to get a microphone inside on a boom stand. You can mic from either the front or the back of the drum if the front head has no hole, but the sound will be quite different to the accepted pop/rock sound. At a pinch you can simply remove the front head just for the session. Damping the bass drum is normally achieved by placing a folded woollen blanket inside the shell so that it just touches the rear head. Mechanical head dampers seldom sound good. If more attack is needed, use a wooden beater or try taping a plastic store card onto the beater side of the head so that the beater hits the card centrally.

The easiest way to mic a drum kit is to use a pair of cardioid microphones (though omnis work nicely in some rooms) as overheads placed above the kit and spaced three to four feet apart. Capacitor microphones are best in this role as their extended high end will capture the cymbals more naturally than dynamic microphones. Usually these will be set up two to three feet above the highest cymbals, but where the ceiling is low, fixing acoustic foam or blankets to the ceiling will help kill unwanted sound reflections. Two further dynamic, cardioid pattern close microphones can be used to pick up the important kick and snare drums. The snare microphone is generally set up around two inches from the drum head and around two inches in from the edge of the rim — as are tom microphones if you add these.

Move the overhead and kick microphones or retune the drums before reaching for the EQ. An important point to note is that most general purpose dynamic microphones don't produce enough low bass to do justice to kick drums so you should pick a dedicated kick drum mic. If you buy a boxed set of the drum microphones, the kick microphone will usually be larger than the snare and tom microphones and will have a good low end response tailored to the needs of the kick drum. The snare and tom microphones are usually dynamic models, though some systems use capacitor microphones, but the overheads will almost certainly be some type of small diaphragm capacitor model. If the tom and snare microphones include clips that can be used to mount the microphones to the drum shells, this makes your job very much easier and avoids cluttering up the drum kit with too many extra microphone stands.

Where the kit provides tom microphones, these can be clipped to each of the toms in the kit to give you even more control over the balance of the various drums, but a good sounding kit can usually be miked satisfactorily with two overheads, a kick and a snare mic. This basic four mic setup is commonly used for small to medium sized live gigs as well as recording sessions, though it may be necessary to move the overhead microphones closer to the cymbals to avoid spill from other elements of the back line or stage monitors. Separate hi-hat microphones are often unnecessary, but if one should be required, a capacitor model is the best choice and should be positioned slightly below the edge of the hi-hat so as to avoid wind noise when the cymbals close. Note that capacitor microphones must be connected to a mixer than can supply phantom powering unless the microphones are designed to run from batteries.

Choosing individual drum mics to make up your own set can cost several hundreds of pounds but there are now several boxed microphone sets to choose from that produce first class results at a far more affordable price. Where possible, choose a set of microphones that includes a pair of overhead capacitor microphones, a dedicated kick mic and enough snare/tom mics to cover the size of drum kit you intend to use.

Where possible, record each microphone to a separate channel of your recording system, though if track limitations force you to mix some parts as you record, it is worth trying to keep the kick and snare microphones on separate tracks if you can as this will provide some leeway for balancing when mixing.

If the drums are in a great sounding room, then you may not need to do much to the sound after recording, but if the room is small and not acoustically flattering, it may be better to improvise acoustic screens using blankets and so on to keep the recording as dry as possible. The overheads microphones are the ones that pick up most room sound so pay particular attention to these. Where you've had to dry up the sound using blankets, you'll need to add a little reverb to the overhead and snare microphones but a short room ambience setting with the bass rolled off is often more natural sounding than anything to obvious.

When you mix, it can help to EQ some of the low end out of the overhead microphones, which should be panned slightly left and right to give the kit a stereo image. This allows the close microphones to provide the punch while the overhead microphones capture the detail and lift the cymbals to the correct level. Also check the balance of the kit and adjust as necessary when the rest of the mix playing, paying particular attention to how the kick drum and bass guitar work together. If you have tuned the kit well an put the microphones in the correct position, you shouldn't need to use too much EQ to get the kit sounding just the way you want it to. More advanced users may wish to try using compression on the kick drum or or the final stereo kit mix.

PA advice, pa system advice, pa help, pa system help, pa tips, pa system tips, pa problem, pa faq,pa setup,pa set-up,pa instruction,need pa system,pa information,pa guide,public address information,pa info,public address help,pa quote,pa installation,quote speakers,speaker information,speakers, pa system problem,pa system technmical help,pa system faq,pa system setup,pa system guide,pa system prices,public address system guide,pa system quote, pa system options,